Applying Business Analytics at Work

Did you know business analytics is one of the fastest growing careers in the nation? The MS in Business Analytics program at St. Thomas provides a flexible enrollment structure with evening courses that allows working students to remain employed during their studies.

Juhaan Johar ’18 knew he wanted to work full-time in the manufacturing industry while pursuing his advanced degree. His courses provide him with real-life opportunities, leading to new professional experiences in other industries.

The program was designed by faculty experts and leading Minnesota analytics executives. Project-based courses provide opportunities for applied learning – critical for students looking to immediately bring their new skills and knowledge to their current job. A focus area is understanding the industry contexts and applications for analytics. 

Johar, who was working as an inventory and pricing analyst, appreciated this aspect of the program: “It wasn’t just us learning data analytics – it was applying that knowledge to actual business cases.”

During his studies he enrolled in Health Care Analytics, a project-based elective course. Student teams select real-world data sets and situations to analyze and identify medical sequences for treatment and prevention. His group picked a Medicare dataset of 30 million records. They predicted which patients would most likely get Alzheimer’s Disease based on previous diagnoses. 

His team put in months of hard work to analyze and report on their findings. “It was probably the most challenging but most rewarding project I've ever worked on,” he said.

Johar accepted an analytics position in the financial services industry shortly before graduation. During the interview process, the complex methods and discoveries of his Medicare data project left a big impression on management. He got the job.

“My St. Thomas education introduced me to different industries,” Johar said. “I only worked three years before St. Thomas, so the exposure to health care and finance was helpful for my current job.”