Never too late: Meet a lecturer, economist and singer who became data pros

Ongoing digital transformation is also epoch-making. But no matter how much the world has changed, it is clear mankind has learning and adaptability in its nature. 

Now that artificial intelligence (AI) whipped up a storm of changes, True Blog sat down with three young people to learn more about their beliefs in humans’ boundless learning potential. 

German Lecturer-Turned Data Engineer

Pichaya “Anik” Charoonpongsakdi, had dreamed of a teaching career since she was a young girl because her parents were university lecturers. After receiving a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in German language from the Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Arts, she successfully made her dream come true. Not only that she taught German at a school, but she also conducted German-language courses for members of the interested public at her alma mater.

Her interest in the German language was influenced by her early childhood time with “classic music”. As she studied this foreign language deeper, she found out that Germany’s knowledge management system was superb. Rooted in German’s structured thinking, the system enables German-language users to conveniently retrieve and study knowledge that dates back hundreds of years. Pichaya even noticed how the distinctive characteristics of each epoch had spurred the popularity of certain words.

Despite her long-time passion for the German language, Pichaya one day felt her horizons were “narrowing” because she had kept herself in just one field. All of a sudden, she felt like her life had nothing else but the German language.

Her former classmates, on the contrary, had stepped into their new world. Embarking on different career paths, some work in the HR field, some engage in marketing activities, and some join the diplomatic corps. Although they graduated from the Faculty of Arts just like Pichaya, they have jumped into various new fields.

Pichaya thus decided to pause her teaching career in search of new experiences. To expand her horizons, she joined True Next Gen project. In 2021, the project welcomed young people with a passion to drive True Corporation forward. Applicants could graduate from any field as long as they were ready to learn more, rotate, and take up any given assignment.

Under the project, Pichaya’s first assignment was to handle the Digital Council’s affairs. Not only that the assignment give her much knowledge about policy-based management, but it also triggered her interest in data. With the second assignment, she handled the development of the VLEARN Platform. So, she got opportunities to produce online classes, conduct marketing activities, and develop applications. Her last assignment was to serve at the Digitalization Center, which seriously exposed her to data science. 

Recognizing that specialized data knowledge could bolster her potential, Pichaya quickly applied to True’s Data Science Immersive program, as soon as it opened.

Pichaya admitted that in the project’s first class, she could not understand what was being taught at all. But she did her best to get the gist. Every day, she learned new things. After classes, she also had coding homework to do,

Her linguistic background helped her somewhat because it equipped her with skills to recognize the structure of data sets. There were similarities between databases and the content of her thesis, which addressed the topic of “Simplicity of the German language”. Her dissertation has identified the structures and formats of the German language to make it easier for people with learning disability to understand official documents. 

Despite some similarities, human and computer languages have had significant differences. Pichaya said it was thus necessary to understand hardware, which determines data-transmission capabilities and related energy usage.

“Computer languages are different from human languages in that they communicate with hardware. Similarities lie in structures only. If you understand the structures, what seems complex will be easier to comprehend,” Pichaya explained. In her view, a good data practitioner should have abstract-thinking skills because they provide a holistic viewpoint. 

After Pichaya completed the project’s extensive course, she joined the team that developed the MorDee application’s software. She has now served as a data engineer. Her job is about designing data routes in a way that maximizes users’ convenience.

Economist’s Journey to Data Science

Life is pretty much like a roller-coaster ride, because it really goes up and down. Unexpected turns happen every now and then. Chalermchon “Im” Wongsopa has learned this fact firsthand. With two economics degrees in his hand, he still can’t resist the appeal of data. 

Chalermchon recounted that back in his school years, he really had no idea what he wanted to do in the future. He just went to school like other children. When it was time to enter a varsity, he chose economics simply in hopes that he would become a civil servant at the Finance Ministry or the National Economic and Social Development Council.

But after his graduation, he felt “unconfident”. He was afraid he might not be able to apply his knowledge well enough. So, he chose to further his education right away in the same field – economics.

“Economics is a multidisciplinary science, covering Mathematics, Statistics, Social Sciences, and more. Its appeal lies with the application of knowledge,” Chalermchon explained. 

Eager to apply what he had learnt, Chalermchon started working as a data analyst at a research firm too. Thanks to this job, he acquired a better understanding of data science and statistics. 

“At work, my data analyses provided jigsaw pieces. When I later put these pieces together, I got a complete picture and answers,” Chalermchon said. He continued that as his horizons had expanded, he found many people had worked as data scientists. Interested in what they were doing, he took short courses on the subject. 

After two full years of graduate studies and research, Chalermchon received a master’s degree in economics and turned a new page in his life. He became a business intelligence analyst at a big bank and took charge of its dashboard development. Despite his familiarity with data, he felt like he needed to start from scratch again because programs used in his new job were different from what he used to work with. 

To ensure he could fulfil his new duties, Chalermchon took courses at his own expense in the morning before his shift started for a full understanding of how these unfamiliar programs worked. His efforts have finally paid off. On top of receiving the knowledge he wanted, he also had much fun working with these new programs.

Yet, he felt “unfulfilled” somewhat because he by then realized that there was much more for him to learn. He, for example, also wanted to know more about related fields such as data-collection techniques. 

So, when Chalermchon saw an advertisement for True Corporation’s Digital Science Immersive project, he quickly submitted his application. This initiative has offered opportunities for people interested in data training and career paths. Chalermchon was one of the two applicants who could study under the project for free.  

The Data Science Immersive course was conducted by the General Assembly. Headquartered in the United States, this educational institute has presented data training for people keen to switch career path towards the tech and digital industry. It took three months to complete the course. As classes ran from morning to evening, Chalermchon felt like he was a high-school student once more. 

Via this course, Chalermchon felt more fulfilled and had a clearer idea of what he wanted to do as a data scientist. According to him, the General Assembly’s lecturers proved very caring and attentive. Their teaching styles, added to his love for data, have enhanced his data capabilities by between 80% and 90% in the matter of just three months.

Chalermchon found General Assembly’s course very different from Thai courses. Its lecturers reviewed content every morning and adjusted their course syllabus based on students’ learning pace. They constantly checked if their students were following. If any topic was too complex or difficult, they put extra effort and added a sense of humor. Classes thus were fun. 

“Importantly, lecturers prepared a session for everyone in class to constructively discuss topics that were happening outside classrooms. Such activities allowed us to share our perspectives. Lecturers also taught us to prioritize data ethics during the debates,” Chalermchon said.

Currently, Chalermchon is a data scientist at True Corporation. Working under the People & Organization Strategy, and Analytics Division, his team has been a driving force of the Human Resources Department. Though his position was created not long ago, it really contributes to the company’s goal to transform itself into an AI-First Organization. 

Data Communicator Who Left Behind Music Career

If you were a fan of The Star in its early years, Pukwalun “Dink” Chotpitchanan may look familiar. She, after all, managed to stay in the show as one of 20 finalists in its Year 4. Judging by such background, it was not surprising to hear from Pukwalun that she dreamed of becoming a singer or composer during her childhood. Her dream, backed by her determination, led her to the Silpakorn University’s Faculty of Music as a teen. She majored in commercial music there. 

Pukwalun pursued and realized her dream through hard work. For several consecutive years, she had practiced singing every single day. Rewarded for her discipline, she was hired as a singing teacher at the Mifa Music Home at the age of 18. This institute operates under GMM Grammy. She was also a KCI Advance Instructor at the KPN Music Academy. 

But after conducting singing classes for eight years, Pukwalun felt like her dream career was losing its magic. So, she started looking for new challenges. Around that time, she had just graduated from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) too. So, she could use her master’s degree in marketing as a credential to start a corporate life. She landed a job at a service center. But later on, she was reassigned to take charge of her company’s internal communications.

In 2017, social media were booming in Thailand with their content becoming more varied in formats. Pukwalun was most impressed by “infographics” and “short-form video” because they digested data effectively for their presentation of easy-to-understand messages. By then, she considered herself a communicator and really wanted to produce such content. Pukwalun therefore started developing her hard skills. She enrolled in design and video editing courses until she could produce graphics and VDO clips herself. “Her thirst for knowledge has resonated well with changes” in society. 

Still, Pukwalun believes her turning point was the Data Storytelling course that her then-supervisor (On-Uma Vattanasuk, now Head of Corporate Communications and PR at True Corporation) arranged for her team members. The course was launched to upskill the team based on the vision that data-based communications would generate value and positive changes for the public. Pukwalun recounted that she became fascinated with engaging data-based storytelling techniques during the course.

At that time, these techniques were also widely used on the world’s leading websites. Driven by her interest, Pukwalun explored the skills needed to achieve such communications. Coding languages like SQL, Python and R, for example, help with data analyses and data visualization. Another group of languages, which cover HTML, CSS and Javascript, meanwhile support interactions. 

Just as Pukwalun improved her skills, she was promoted to the post of project manager. As she oversaw various projects, she has done a lot of upskilling and reskilling. As a result, she has acquired a solid understanding of UX/UI and prototype making. Her scope of work covers maintaining corporate website, gathering academic information from databases, and analyzing mobility data to provide recommendations in support of planning and public policy formulation related to the development of secondary cities,  She is now actively studying Generative AI to better understand its concepts and application.

“If you are going to be a jack of all trades, make sure you are a multipotentialite. Learn fast, expand your horizons and get ready for life-long learning. With multiple skills, you will see the overall picture and be able to apply well,” Pukwalun said.

Today, Pukwalun has worked on data and digital platform-based communications under True Corporation’s Corporate Communications and PR Department. 

Comparing her self-improvement to that of musicians, Pukwalun said, “All musicians practice to reach a new height. I too do a lot of upskilling. Improvements start with growth mindset and follow with practice. It’s best to welcome changes. When having a good role model or coach, musicians will progress fast. So, on our upskilling journey, we should find ourselves a good mentor. When we get the right guidelines and support, we will definitely be able to beat our goals”. 

Our interviews with these three inspiring employees show they have four common characteristics: 

1.    They know themselves. They can tell what their “heart” wants.
2.    They believe in their potential. They trust that they can do better. 
3.    They are doers. They take action, practice and finally excel. 
4.    They frequently review their life and what they want to crystalize their ideas, fix problems and move ahead.