In Nikita Kirane’s home country of India, earning a master’s degree is a cultural expectation. Since she already spoke English and wanted to see how things work in the United States, she moved across the world for graduate school in 2019. She found the M.S. in Information Systems (MSIS) at Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business appealing for several reasons.
“The curriculum included a mix of business and technical courses, and the program was only a year and a half long,” she said. “I also liked that an internship was required, so I could gain practical experience while still in school.”
The deal was sealed when Kirane searched for MSIS program alumni on LinkedIn and saw how many of them are employed at reputable companies.
“Everyone wants to work after they graduate, and Robinson had a good record,” she said.
During her studies, Kirane explored database management techniques, Python programming, data visualization, and machine learning algorithms. Through class projects, she built equally important communication skills that came in handy during her job search.
Kirane attributes her career success to her MSIS degree. In fall 2020, she landed an internship with UPS, where she conducted performance measurement and analytics. After she finished the internship, UPS offered her a full-time role as advanced analytics supervisor.
“I felt fortunate to secure an internship during the pandemic when it was difficult for many people to get a job,” she said.
Kirane now works as a senior analyst in the supply chain domain at Lowe’s. So far, one of her greatest contributions is helping streamline inventory management. Previously, to track down a product, employees scoured multiple Excel spreadsheets and contacted several colleagues. The process was inefficient and wasted people’s time. Kirane and her teammates built a system that locates an item across the Lowe’s network of stores with the click of a button.
Another issue: Customers would receive an estimated delivery date for appliances that were already in stock. The new system identified more than 122,000 orders that could have been delivered eight days earlier on average, and has drastically improved fulfillment times.
“The system my team and I deployed is used by regional distribution managers, company executives, and everyone who makes supply chain decisions,” she said.
Through the MSIS program, Kirane realized that to stay relevant, she must always keep growing and upskilling.
“That’s the current challenge because in tech, there’s always something new,” she said.