1050. A Day in the Life: What's It Really Like to Be a Non-Traditional Learning Advisor?

“What we try to do with our students in Divergence Academy is focus on the question of what are the important factors for getting your first job, your second job? The key is getting a job! We focus more on actually getting a job because once you are in the job, and gaining experience, then your world changes. With a little bit of income in your hand and an opportunity to change the way you think about the world of work, you start exploring new areas and new facets of the economy: do you want to buy a new car, a new house, go on vacation? People’s perspectives change very fast. So that is what we are preparing them for. Once you are able to navigate on your own, the world is your oyster. Once individuals make that transition, it’s amazing how rapidly their career moves forward.”

Sravan Ankaraju started his career as a developer of large-scale transactional systems applying various tree-based algorithms. His twenty-five years in the field of data science and innovation provided him with a robust understanding of the intersections between technology and the economy. From 2001 to 2014, Sravan worked at Microsoft as a strategy and innovation leader. In 2015, Sravan co-founded Divergence Academy, where he is responsible for the vision and business development for industry-focused technology education. Divergence Academy offers immersive programs in data science, cybersecurity, and cloud computing and was ranked one of Inc.com’s fastest-growing privately-held companies in America in 2021.