How these folks pivoted their careers to enter the world of data science

What inspires a career switch to a whole different field?

For Wee Teck Lee, it was an article from the Harvard Business Review titled “Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century”, which was published in 2012.

“I was an operations manager, and I knew that it wasn’t something that I wanted to do for the rest of my career,” he says. “The article spurred me to explore data science – I started learning about it with platforms like Coursera to become acquainted with what it was all about”

Wee Teck Lee, head od data at Cariuma / Photo credit: Wee Teck Lee

In 2014, Lee took the leap into the sector, resigning from his day job to pursue a Master of IT in Business (MITB) at Singapore Management University (SMU).

Changzhong Zhuang also joined the MITB program in 2021, taking a breather from the intense world of litigation.

“After five years in private practice as a lawyer, I wanted a meaningful break,” he shares. “I knew I wanted to explore new horizons, especially in finance and technology, which had piqued my interest among the various types of work I was involved in as a lawyer. The MITB program enabled me to delve into both fields concurrently.”

Changzhong Zhuang, assistant vice president of compliance at SGX Group / Photo credit: Changzhong Zhuang

Both of them have since pursued careers in data and analytics, working for companies like Cariuma and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Group.

Getting to this point, however, involved being a student all over again.

Up close and personal

Lee and Zhuang chose SMU’s MITB program due to its established track record. The program was launched in 2007, making it one of the earliest of its kind in Singapore.

They were particularly drawn to SMU’s pedagogical approach, which prioritized seminars and classroom interactions.

Lee with his MITB classmates / Photo credit: Wee Teck Lee

“The class sizes were very small, just 30 to 40 people in one class,” Lee recounts. “So we got really close to each other, and to the professors, during classes. It’s very easy to ask questions, and it puts pressure on us to pay attention and ask questions as well.”

Zhuang agrees, saying that “with the small class sizes, you have maximum interaction with your professors and classmates.”

Project work was also a focus of their experiences at MITB.

“Each project involves different team members, so we got to work with different people from different backgrounds, and we got to experience and build different connections,” Lee shares.

“Project work equips us with soft skills for collaboration, communication, and presentation, which are very useful in the corporate world,” Zhuang adds. “You get to practice your presentation skills and learn how to engage others.”

Learning by doing

Under the MITB program, students can choose between four tracks – analytics, AI, digital transformation, and financial technology and analytics – to specialize in.

Lee – who only had two choices back in 2014, between analytics and financial technology – was on the analytics track, while Zhuang picked financial technology, choices that influenced the kind of hands-on learning opportunities and real-world experiences they got out of MITB.

As part of the program, Lee did a six-month internship at a healthcare institution, where he worked on a customer segmentation project.

“I was able to apply what I learned in class to real data coming out from a business,” he recounts. “This was back in 2014, so the work I was doing was like a testbed for what they wanted to achieve with data analytics.”

For Zhuang, he interned with a startup focused on tackling financial crime, where he was tasked to investigate certain companies to identify any red flags in stakeholders’ networks or financial activities. While there was some commonality with his litigation work, coming at it from a more technical angle gave Zhuang a fresh perspective.

“I learned so much from working at that startup, through conducting investigative work and actually having to code to produce some functional solutions for the company,” he says.

Zhuang in Helsinki as part of the MITB program / Photo credit: Changzhong Zhuang

Zhuang also had the opportunity to go overseas while he was in the MITB program, spending two weeks in Finland. There, he did a module on digital business, which culminated in presenting digital transformation solutions to Finnish companies.

“That was especially cool, because we actually get to meet the companies’ stakeholders, understand their problem statement, and help design a solution for them,” he shares. “At the end of it, we would present our solutions to them, and they would seriously consider adopting the solutions.”

Evolutions and growth

The MITB program set Lee and Zhuang up for the next phases of their careers.

After graduating from SMU at the end of 2014, Lee secured a role at Zalora. He’s held multiple data science-related roles since then, working at companies such as Cognizant, Publicis. He’s currently the head of data at Cariuma.

Lee with his team at Cariuma / Photo credit: Wee Teck Lee

“MITB kickstarted my career change to data analytics,” he says. “All the progress I’ve made, from the time I did the program to now, wouldn’t have been possible without the fundamentals that it gave me.”

As for Zhuang, MITB enabled him to trade the courtroom for compliance – he’s now assistant vice president of compliance at SGX Group. He secured the position while he was still enrolled in SMU, switching from doing the program full-time to part-time in order to take on the role.

“I initially intended for the program to be a sabbatical, and that I would go back to being a lawyer in private practice after,” he shares. “But through conversations with my peers, I learned about the different opportunities that having this master’s degree opened up for me to utilize the new skills and knowledge gained in MITB.”

Zhuang with his SGX colleagues / Photo credit: Changzhong Zhuang

The unique combination of skills he had from MITB, along with his legal background, made him a compelling candidate for SGX.

“Thanks to the exposure to financial systems, fintech, and financial crime through my internship, I could understand SGX’s business and contribute in the areas of regulatory compliance and data privacy,” Zhuang recounts.

Future-ready

In an increasingly data-driven world, where analytics capabilities are becoming more valuable than ever, being able to keep up with the changes in tech is paramount.

While Lee and Zhuang have equipped themselves with the data science skills that are essential to work in the 21st century, they both point out that lifelong learning is crucial. Whether through online resources, short courses, or embarking on a master’s program like they did, staying relevant is important.

“Tech is advancing very quickly. Every few months you learn about some new development in AI or data, and trying to keep up with all these developments is hard,” Lee points out. “We need to keep relevant and up-to-date so that we can identify the new opportunities for development, to drive productivity and growth at our companies.”

“On top of just learning and gaining knowledge, it’s important to learn how to learn,” Zhuang says. “Have frameworks to help you, to synthesize new information and pick up on new things, especially in this rapidly changing world – quick adaptation is crucial.”

In an era of disruption, rapid technological innovation has placed an increasing demand on business leaders to lead with the relevant know-how.

Drawing from thought leadership in the ambits of data analytics, technological platforms, and business strategies, the Master of IT in Business program at the Singapore Management University uniquely resources students to lead competently and decisively. The program is ranked second in Asia and 24th worldwide in the QS Business Master’s Rankings 2024.

Learn more about the program here.

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