Joseph Faddoul (MSc MAI 2021) felt that something was missing from his career, despite having a successful start as an operations graduate in the defence industry.
But he found a new sense of direction when he enrolled for the MSc in Marketing Analytics and Insights (MSc MAI) programme. He even discovered his passion for analytics, clinching a permanent role after his internship with Dell, where he was awarded the Best Intern Summer 2021.
An engineering graduate, Joseph enjoyed problem-solving in his operations role but missed interacting with people. “I used to work in a silo and never got to interact with internal or external customers,” he said.
“I’m someone who thrives on getting feedback, being part of a team, and understanding the impact of my work,” explained Joseph.
He decided to go for a change in career path, and the best way to do so was to go back to school.
Joseph Faddoul at NUS Business School's Mochtar Riady Building.
Joseph felt that marketing enable him to explore his desire to be in a more interactive role. He also thought of taking the opportunity to develop marketing-related technical skills such as analytics and coding.
The answer came from the School’s MSc MAI programme. “I felt that the MSc in Marketing Analytics was the best technical course in all the global master’s offerings that would bolster my analytics skills while also letting me explore customer-facing careers,” said Joseph.
Embarking in a new direction
And when Joseph started the MSc programme, he would then discover his passion for analytics and the impact the field has on his career.
But what is it about analytics that Joseph enjoys? For a start, the field suits his working style. “It allows you to immediately get insights on how well a current process is performing and offer data-driven recommendations,” he said.
“So for someone like me who appreciates affirmation, analytics is a great field,” added Joseph.
The MSc MAI faculty played an important role in shaping Joseph’s analytics journey. For instance, Joseph credits Assoc Prof Liu Qizhang in guiding him to view analytics as a process of exploration and problem-solving. “He also taught me to think like a coder and how to ask the right questions when approaching an analytics problem,” he added.
At an internship with Dell Technologies Singapore, Joseph saw his newly-found analytics skills create a positive impact at the workplace.
Joseph saw that the procurement team struggled and spent hours pulling out data on under-performing laptops and decided he could help with analytics.
“I wrote code that would pull data on the machines, analyse it, and display the results with the click of a button,” he said. As a result, Joseph estimates his colleagues could save around 800 hours each year, while the automated process removes human error in the reporting process.
“It felt like a bit of a consulting project where I learned about the process, understood the needs of the user, and then developed a data-driven solution,” he added. Joseph’s efforts did not go unnoticed. In addition to the Best Intern award, he has secured a full-time role in robotic process automation at Dell.
Looking back at the past few years, Joseph felt he had entered an exciting career phase. “Now I head to work with a bounce in my step, I’ve stumbled onto something that I’m good at, and I enjoy,” he said.
Joseph is even open to returning to NUS for further studies in computing or analytics, but right now, he is enjoying his new life and chasing his passion for analytics.
