What does upGrad do and why should one join it?

upGrad is an online platform offering higher education courses and is designed to provide rigorous programs. Postgraduate programs, diplomas, Masters, and Bachelors are multiple courses offered by the company. upGrad has the motive and agenda to promote the idea of learning anywhere and everywhere. It offers skills in various courses like digital marketing, product management, data analytics, machine learning, business intelligence, etc. The main idea of the startup is to reach places where students have no access to quality education or it is available but is not feasible for students from a lower economic background. Joining and learning through upGrad gives one a personalized learning experience and you get an opportunity to be taught and mentored by world-class professionals.

Are online courses and programs worth it?

The world is getting digital. The work-from-home and learn-from-home cultures are thriving. With everything becoming online in the past two years due to the pandemic, the world has adopted ways to work efficiently online. The online learning industry saw a boom in the last years and it is definitely worth it. You can learn and work at your ease from your desired location. Online courses give you immense flexibility in terms of what, when, how, and from where you want to study. Students can watch lectures at their ease. Students can choose courses taught by the best professionals worldwide. They can learn from mentors from reputed colleges abroad. Online learning is the future and has a great scope ahead in time.

Which postgraduate programs are offered by upGrad?

Multiple postgraduate programs are offered by upGrad in collaboration with reputed universities worldwide. MBA with Liverpool Business School, MBA with Deakin Business School, Master of Business Administration, Executive MBA, MBA (Digital Marketing), MS in Data Science, MS in Computer Science, and Post Graduate Certification in Software Engineering are few of the multiple postgraduate programs offered by upGrad.

Checkout the 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017

It has been an awesome 2017 at UpGrad. We turned two, expanded internationally, invited our learners for offline meetings, launched UpGrad Talks 2.0 and crossed several other such milestones. Including this, the 200th article on the UpGrad Blog!

Marking the end of this year with a trip down memory lane, we decided to do our very own #ThrowbackThursday in honour of the accomplishments of 2017. Here’s a sneak peek:

UpGrad Turned Two

The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
In March 2017, UpGrad turned 2 years old. In these two years, we have succeeded in launching new programs such as in Machine Learning/AI, Big Data, Digital Strategies, Software Development and Management; scaling the existing Data Science, Digital Marketing and Product Management programs; building a stronger presence in India through university partnerships (BITS Pilani, IIIT-Bangalore, IMT Ghaziabad and more) and many more initiatives; and taking programs to international students with the Cambridge Judge Business School Partnership for the Executive Program in Digital Strategies – getting our first few international payments from countries like Nigeria, Germany, etc!

4000+ Learners

We achieved the magical number of 4000! These learners assure us of our objective to build the credibility of online learning, increase recognition of in-demand skills and keep young Indians on their feet when it comes to knowing the pulse of the industry and riding the future wave. Their ambition to upskill themselves in futuristic technologies while on the job gives us more energy as we go along.

How The Online World Is Shaping Education?

Successful Transitions

The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
The whole UpGrad team celebrates and applauds each and every successful career transition. Out of our 850 learners who have completed their programs, some of them got transitioned to various roles in companies like Google, Adobe, Zivame, ShopClues, PayTM, PWC, Robert Bosch, TCS, BCG, etc. One of our learners got an offer from a New Zealand based group and transitioned himself to a Big Data tester role, within the second month of our new program Big Data.

Peek Into The Success Stories!

The Team Trebled

The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
With great power comes great responsibility and vice versa. So, the UpGrad team expanded gradually and we are now 250+ strong, with an office in Mumbai and Bangalore and one in Hyderabad very soon! And yes, we still have an amazing open office work culture. We organised offline events in multiple new cities this year, like Delhi and Hyderabad too.

Strengthened Our Bonds

UpGrad partnered with some great academic and industry brands. We started programs in collaboration with BITS Pilani, IMT Ghaziabad, S.P. Jain and Cambridge Judge Business School in addition to our existing programs with MICA and IIIT Bangalore. We also collaborated with brands like Uber, Amazon, Saavn and others to make our programs unique, interesting and effective. These partnerships reflect Upgrad’s core ethos in providing industry-relevant learning that equips learners with applicable skills as well as the best academic knowledge accessible.

Launched Programs in Futuristic Technologies

We began our journey at UpGrad insisting that “entrepreneurship can be taught” and now have expanded to truly building the careers of tomorrow with our offerings across data, digital, technology, etc. We strongly believe that the only way forward, is to learn what is relevant and all our programs are a testimony to this.

Check Them Out!

The Indian Express UpGrad Talks

The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
For UpGrad Talks version 2.0 we launched with a bang – Nandan Nilekani and DJ Patil talking about “Data Analytics Transforming India”. For the subsequent talks on the future of learning, changing industry tides and narrowing the employer-employee expectation gap, UpGrad partnered with the Indian Express, to make the leadership discussion platform even bigger and better.
The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 – You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
This time around Rishad Premji and Manish Sabharwal were in talks with Ronnie Screwvala and Shaji Vikraman and it was a truly sensational discussion with some sharp insights for young and experienced working professionals, and entrepreneurs alike. Both events saw a great audience response at the event as well as on social media; so far that and more, we would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement!

What’s Happening Next?

Mayank Got Achiever of the Year

September came with an immense moment of pride for all of us when our Co-Founder and CEO, Mayank Kumar was awarded as the Achiever of the Year 2017, by BW Disrupt (Business World) at their 40 Under 40 event.
This among many other things is a testament to the kind of work we want to do and the recognition we are slowly gaining for it.

Read How He Did It?

UpGrad Labs: Learners Solving Real-World Problems

UpGrad Labs is an initiative which invites real and live problems that are holding back startups and corporates from achieving their full potential. Our learners are then tasked to analyse these problems and help the companies. They are to work in cross-functional teams of 4-5 with learners from different programs and build solutions for the company to implement – all in a period of 60 days.

What’s UpGrad LABS?

BaseCamp: Learners Getting Close

BaseCamp gave us an overwhelming response from our learners, praising our efforts and telling us about their wonderful experience with us. They met their cohort-mates, professors and won kindles in quizzes. Yes, that was the prize! The company has caught on the BaseCamp fever and we are now 11 BaseCamps down across 3 programs.

Idea Behind BaseCamp

DSAT: Professionals Assessed Themselves

We organised an All India DSAT which is an assessment test for professionals who are interested in Data Science and adjacent fields. It gives them a comprehensive understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement in order to excel in the field. The DSAT saw a great response as 950 candidates took part in this offline test held in Bangalore.

Shattered Some Windows Too!

The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog
We keep up with the fun at work, be it our weekly football outings or daily dart challenges. With events like Dandiya, Diwali decoration competitions and Secret Santa events – UpGrad always wins. This year we organised an indoor gully-cricket tournament too – forget windows, concrete pillars were shattered!

Check out this awesome infographic, summarising the above accomplishments:
The 12 Best Things at UpGrad in 2017 - You Don’t Want to Miss this List UpGrad Blog

So, On That Note…

With all the above milestones in the kitty, 2017 was an excellent year for UpGrad and we are all set to welcome 2018 with a new zeal and a hunger for grander and even more achievements – all for the purpose of building careers of the future and instigating the habit of continuous learning in each and every individual who decides to put their trust in us.

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