Return To Work Series featuring Chaitanya Vembar
Indian Women in Computing is excited to present a blog series that is dedicated to recognizing amazing women who have embarked on a brave journey to return to work. We are spotlighting their journey and accomplishments true to our mission to amplify, grow, and connect.
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Chaitanya Vembar was part of a coveted leadership training program at Cemex, a cement manufacturing company, after completing her Master’s degree from Georgia Tech. When the program was cancelled in 2009 due to the financial crisis, she lost her job and with it her visa status which allowed her to work in the United States. Over the next decade, she led product design for a company in India, helped set up an artisan wholesale baked goods manufacturing company in Seattle, and volunteered as a data analyst at a non-profit organization. She is currently looking for a job in business analytics and continues to upskill herself through courses and freelance projects. Apart from work, she loves writing for her blog and volunteering for an animal sanctuary.
You are trained as a mechanical/industrial engineer. How did you decide to move into data analytics?
I came to the US to obtain a Master’s degree in industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech. After graduation, I started as a leadership trainee at Cemex. It was a prestigious program in Operations. Unfortunately, 2009 was a bad year for construction due to the ongoing financial crisis and the leadership program was dropped. I lost my job and visa status which affected my ability to get another job in the US.
I interviewed for a few months but companies were not willing to wait for 6 months for the H1b approval. I had no option but to wait for the work permit. In the meantime, I decided to work on my passions, regardless of whether I was getting paid for them.
I took a hard look at my skills and passions. Although my training and expertise was in Operations, I had built data models in all my previous roles to solve specific problems. In fact, I had immensely enjoyed building the models. I quickly realized that I could leverage my experience in data and analytics to build a career in business analytics. I was fluent in Excel for the analysis of smaller datasets, so I decided to learn R to extend my toolbox to attend to larger datasets.
“In the meantime, I decided to work on my passions, regardless of whether I was getting paid for them. ”
What are some of the challenges that you are facing coming back to work and exploring a field that is different from your formal training?
To start with, it has been difficult to find jobs in manufacturing and operations background since the Seattle job market is dominated by tech jobs. This is why I pivoted to business analytics and upskilled myself.
Even after the pivot, getting interviews has been challenging. It has been hard to get through to employers with a gap of several years on my resume, a gap that is somewhat larger than many candidates. I have found that referrals have been very helpful to me and they at least brought me to a screening call with a hiring manager or recruiter whom I could talk to about what I bring to the table.
The interviews themselves were challenging for various reasons. During interviews, I felt apologetic about the employment gap on my resume. Although I spent those years making a tremendous impact in a small business and upskilled myself, it has been difficult to convince employers to see value in these experiences. Added to that, even I have understated my skills because of severe imposter syndrome.
“Although I spent those years making a tremendous impact in a small business and upskilled myself, it has been difficult to convince employers to see value in these experiences.”
How are you working on getting the right technical skills and experience?
I couldn’t afford to attend another graduate school, so I gained experience by finding roles where I could use my expertise to make an impact. I helped a wholesale baked goods manufacturer grow from a small to medium sized business. Over 5 years, I redesigned their processes, cut costs significantly and focused their product line to build a loyal customer base. I wore many hats and it was thrilling to see my models being implemented successfully. I performed data analysis with R for TINFA, a non-profit organization, to determine the success of their educational programs and identify schools for future programs. Hearing from my managers about how they loved my work helped my confidence a lot.
I also attended networking events and conferences and upskilled myself with a Data Analytics course, where I finished top 5% of my class. Finally, I took the help of a career coach. My coach asked me hard questions but helped me recognize the value I could bring to a team and understand my personal brand. It was a huge confidence booster. He also helped me draft a recruiter-friendly resume. It was immensely helpful to understand which roles would inspire me to do my best everyday and helped me build skills suitable for these roles.
“My coach asked me hard questions but helped me recognize the value I could bring to a team and understand my personal brand. It was a huge confidence booster. ”
How do you feel about the future of your job search?
Although there have been several bumps along the way, I feel my journey has added many dimensions to my personality. The process of building myself up from scratch has given me a fresh perspective. It has made me hungry to get back to work to maximize the impact of my skills. It has also made me grateful for all the rich experiences and maturity that I have gained.
Apart from this, I am also pursuing my passion for writing and helping animals, for which I never had time before. I wrote a book and am working on another one now, wrote the storyline for 2 movies (my business partner is currently looking for producers), and I volunteer at a sanctuary for abandoned farm animals.
