Overcoming Rejection: Divya’s Journey to a Data Analyst Role

Remember when hiring was at an all-time high during the pandemic? But now layoffs are through the roof, happening left and right. 

No one is safe, not even the MAANG employees.

Divya was unemployed, struggling to find a better-paying job even though she had a working experience of 6+ years under her belt.

She was in a tough spot facing issues with cracking interviews. 

Challenges: Unemployed and lack of direction 🚨

“It was hard for me to articulate my thoughts and structure the answers”, says Divya.

Divya has held diverse roles in the IT field but had little experience in the analytics field.

Preparing for interviews was becoming a challenge as she didn’t know where to start.

“It felt like a blank slate, I was not able to put the pieces together”, says Divya.

Unemployment further affected her spirits.

Her major pain points were: 

👉 Weak interview skills

👉 Outdated resume

👉 No clear prep plan

Within a few days of her preparation, Divya realised that she needed someone’s help to get through this. 

This is how she became a Preplaced mentee.

Solution: Getting 1:1 mentored by a Data Scientist 🎯

“I did my fair share of research before joining Preplaced,” says Divya.

She was impressed with the reviews and thought of giving the mentorship program a try. In her search for selecting a suitable mentor, she liked Chetan’s Profile.

Divya says, “He had all the skills that I was looking for in a mentor, his profile was impressive and I booked a trial session with him right away.”

Chetan Mahajan is an Advanced Analytics Specialist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and has an experience of more than 9 years in this domain. He helps mentees to prepare for Data Analysts, Data Scientists and Data Visualization (Power Bi, Power Platform) Developer roles.

These were the personalised suggestions made by Chetan after the trial session for her:

✅ Constant mock interviews

✅ Improve the interview preparation plan

✅ Build her resume and portfolio

✅ Complete weekly tasks: Going through his curated resources and upskilling through recommended courses

Divya got her doubts cleared and went ahead with the 1:1 mentorship program.

Since Chetan pretty much evaluated Divya’s current level in the trial session, he created a personalised and flexible interview preparation plan for her to follow in the first session.

The timeline recommended by Chetan was 3 months. 

The first month included upskilling following up with practical assessments.

Chetan shared resources with her to help her upskill and increase her knowledge.

The second month was focused on conducting mock interviews to strengthen both her soft and hard skills followed up with consistent feedback.

Divya recalls that getting mentored by Chetan was like talking to a friend. He was understanding and valued her opinions. 

Divya says, “Chetan told me that my communication skills and body language were good, it boosted my confidence because even though it may seem insignificant, this statement positively diminished the negative self-talk and frustration that I felt.” 

Finally, in the third month, Chetan helped Divya with her projects and resume. He also prepared her for the Bar Raiser/HR Round to help her negotiate a better salary.

“Preparing for the HR Round was important for me as I didn’t know how to sell myself better and present my worth in front of recruiters,” says Divya.

They discussed the current market standards and the points that affected salary negotiation. 

“This was also challenging because I was seeing experienced and skilled people accepting jobs at lower rates because of the layoffs,” says Divya. “It won’t be wrong to say that I was also considering this under peer pressure. I am really glad that I didn’t give in because I would’ve surely regretted it.”

Results: Got placed in a Tier 1 Company with a 70% hike 🚀

“To say that I am thrilled would be an understatement,” says Divya.

By the end of the interview preparation program, she was confident and felt like she could crack any interview that’ll come her way.

And that’s exactly what happened. 

She got job offers for the position of Senior Data Analyst from 3 companies. One of them included her target company where she got a hike of 70% compared to her last CTC.

“I was over the moon. I didn’t know that it was in me but with Chetan’s guidance it became a reality, he helped me from getting my resume shortlisted to planning my interview to helping me ace it,” says Divya.

She says that these 3 months were great and memorable, and is thankful to Chetan and Preplaced for their support throughout her interview journey.

Divya says, “I consider myself fortunate to stumble upon Preplaced. The best thing about this program was that I didn’t feel alone, Chetan was there to guide me, and console me, and it boosted my morale.”

Listen to her success story in her own words.

Advice to fellow preppies 💪

“Take help from someone who can help you realise your worth. Reach out to mentors if you are stumbling,” says Divya. “It will save you a lot of time and mental exhaustion. If you believe in yourself strongly, success will come to you.”

Divya says that there is no shortcut to success. You cannot just wake up one day and crack interviews without preparation. 

But there sure are ways to improve quickly, the results of your efforts will be compounded only if you put it in the right direction. 

“There are a lot of resources around you, you just need to look at the right places,” says Divya.

Divya was able to get the job that she wanted with the salary that she desired. 

Now it’s your turn!

Book a free trial with a mentor today.

⭐Watch the interview: