Sample SOP for Masters of Data Science and Innovation, Australia

Thank you in advance for your perusal of my application. I hereby introduce myself as an dynamic professional who stands to gain a wealth of experience from a higher education program in Australia.

As a keen student of computer science and business, I previously held a belief that an astute business sense and novel technology were the mainstays of any venture. However, after having spent four years in the analytics industry, I am convinced that harnessing data structures and analysing market trends are the most important pillars of a successful organization. To back up my epiphany with a formidable set of skills, I have decided to apply to the <program> at <university>

I graduated as a computer engineer from IIIT Delhi in <year>, having built up a solid base in algorithms and data structures, while battling an acute epileptic condition. A point of pride for me was my project on mobile OS simulation, which won first place at  <competition>. My MBA from <college> grounded me in information technology, statistics, and business intelligence. 

My career so far has been a period of enormous personal and professional growth for me. Never one for remaining in a state of inertia, I constantly applied myself on various project. During my role as a business analyst with Cognizant from <year-year>, I was responsible for streamlining the accounts receivable from my clients’ customers, and improve the TAT while reducing errors. To accomplish this, I completed an additional training and certification from USA healthcare industry experts.

Most of my business acuity and learning developed while I was setting up my personal business ventures. I first worked on developing a music-based social networking platform that generated content multiple streaming services of a single user and connect them with innovative features such as, listening together, dedicating songs, creating snippets, real-time push notifications of their friends’ playlists, etc. During this time, I learned how Spotify using collaborative filtering, NLP, and audio models to build features like weekly playlists and recommendation systems, which gave them the competitive edge in the market, which galvanized me to want to learn more about the subject. Eventually, my project was shelved because of the different strategic market approaches that led to a variety of legal problems.

In my current venture, I strategically streamline the processes of small manufacturing businesses  by analysing their dataset of different divisions. For example, to reduce the lead time of our client Cool Way entertainment, we developed swimlane diagrams of each process and identified bottlenecks based on the cycle time of each process. 

Choosing to go back to the classroom is a critical decision and am willing to invest time and money in order to receive a formal degree from a world-renowned institute. Australia is a beautiful country and the balanced quality of life enjoyed by the local people is an attractive prospect for me. Alongside the natural beauty, it is coming up globally as a leading educational hub. In terms of student life, Australia currently boasts of a mix of cultures, affordability, quality of life, and employer activity. Due to these factors and my own initial research, I have concluded that there is vast choice afforded to students in terms of internships and observer-ship opportunities in the industry. While my progression in my career and balance of lifestyle is paramount, the monetary gains from such jobs will allow me to build a secure future for myself.

<University> is a dual-sector university, which offers flexibility and choice in picking the right study pathway. The smaller class size and low student to teacher ratio will ensure that I am able to approach my professors and avail their advice frequently. I thrive in different work environments and am an excellent communicator, and I want to take that a step further by taking advantage of <University’s> focus on multiculturalism and diversity to make myself feel comfortable in any professional interaction globally.
<School> comes across as being a vibrant place, with a welcoming environment for international students. It has consistently produced accomplished graduates and boasts impressive alumni that have gone on to be in high demand as employees in the industry or launched their own hugely successful entrepreneurial ventures. I am looking forward to being one of a diverse class, developing my communication skills by learning from different people and contributing a part of myself generously to the community. 

In India, the focus in Masters courses tends to be more on theoretical knowledge and high examination scores. All of them are also not recognized globally. Therefore, I wish to be part of a program that is practically strong and will allow me to use the skills I have gained in my professional career. 

My short-term goal is to challenge myself in the initial period of my job post-study by exposing myself to different projects that enable me to solve complex problems, refine my skills, and gain a deeper knowledge of data science. In the long-term, I wish to innovate data-driven solutions for small businesses in India. These companies generally have a turnover of around 50-200 million but are very reactive to market trends. I believe that I can effectively apply strategies like predictive analytics in inventory management, automating the pricing strategy based on scrapping current and the historical data of the market, and reducing supply chain forecasting errors to improve the overall performance of their operations.

I have witnessed India’s exponentially growing economy, in terms of trade and exports to a multitude of nations including Australia. Given this globalization of markets, I seek the necessary exposure to remain at par with an inter-connected business world. I am aware of the rigor demanded by the program and believe that I am more than prepared to handle high-pressure projects. I have been completely captured by the plethora of possibilities offered by this new globalized business world, and I want to contribute meaningfully to this tide.