Even as a customer relationship management (CRM) analyst, Payal Narvekar (MSIM ’23) still finds herself referring to her class notes on Python when she needs inspiration. When not building dashboards or reports, Narvekar is most likely building Lego sets.
Where do you work, and what is your role?
I work as a junior CRM analyst at Surya, a home furnishings company. I create Salesforce and Power BI reports for the Sales and Marketing teams. I also handle Salesforce administration, creating new accounts (customers who do business with our company), assignment of accounts (to sales reps based on their territories), and also work on ad-hoc reporting (one-off requests to pull specific data).
What do you like best about your job?
I love the collaborative aspect of my job the most. I work in the Marketing department but work closely with the Sales and Product Development team as well. This brings about healthy discussions and new approaches to projects.
What do you see as the most important impact of your work?
Surya is a medium-sized company, and anything I do has a direct impact on processes, which is different from how it worked at my previous company that was much larger in size. I get to learn and implement new processes as we are currently updating our enterprise resource planning (ERP) and CRM systems. I like being a part of these projects, as they are making our work more efficient.
How did the iSchool at Illinois help you get to where you are today?
My coursework was heavily focused on analytics and data visualization at the iSchool, and everything I learned, I was able to apply to my co-op internship at Bose and use in my current role. It helped me think of the ways in which I could approach a problem. Especially at Bose, I was able to add in a lot of suggestions to the reports and dashboards we created to optimize and make them accessible because of the tips and tricks I learned. I still work a lot with Power BI and sometimes revisit my Python notes if I get stuck somewhere!
I also connected with a lot of alumni of the iSchool and still keep in touch with them. It is great to have a community where everyone is helpful and always up for a good chat!
What advice would you like to share with iSchool students?
Take coursework you believe you would enjoy learning. Network and make good friends, and find activities outside of school that keep you busy and help you unwind!
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I love going on walks, something I did a lot back in Champaign. I also enjoy building Lego sets and puzzles and unwinding with anime/TV shows after work.