What's your job about?

RCBC provides a wide array of financial products and services which addresses the needs and pain points of clients across all segments. The bank tailors its offers through two different approaches:

1.) Front-end: Our BRMs personally engage with our clients, and 2.) Back-end: Data-based campaigns and analytics. As a Data Scientist, it is my responsibility to strategically serve our clients in the back-end based on their demographics and purchasing behavior, and work hand-in-hand with those in the front-end to provide them with data-driven insights.  We work alongside business groups when they have initiatives in mind and need help in decision making, such as deep-dive analyses to know and size their target market or a list of pre-qualified clients they can reach out. One example I can give from one of my projects is profiling one customer segment, determining their distinct features, and applying those conditions to identify their “lookalikes.” This enables the bank to further expand their market and offer similar financial products to these clients. With an understanding of a teenager, there may be technical skills needed like knowing the basics of programming languages such as SQL, R, and Python, but understanding the core objective of the project analysis is considered a good start. And with DepEd already making great strides by piloting Analytics and AI curricula in Senior High schools, Data Science and Analytics is yet to open more doors for young bloods.

What's your background?

Growing up in the province of Isabela, it took me months to adjust when I transferred in Manila. The home sickness, language barrier, and the challenge of being in a place where I knew no one, were a lot to take for a 16-year-old girl. But while there are downsides, studying in Manila gave me the opportunity to explore my interests without leaving behind the values instilled by my family. I had been actively involved in various school organizations and leadership training during Junior High, which is why I continued to stay engaged throughout Senior High and College. I also became part of a non-profit organization focused on community development and pursued a voluntary internship at a top consulting firm to cultivate my knowledge and skills in managing administrative processes. My endless thirst for learnings and responsibility ultimately led me to become the Block President on our last year, where someone recommended me of this management training at RCBC. DELTA (Digital Excellence Leadership Training Academy) aims to equip fresh graduates of learning experiences in relation to the banking business, operations, processes, and digital approaches to banking. This program paved the way for where I am today—working as a Data Scientist at RCBC’s Data Science and Analytics Group, where I’ve been for over a year.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes! I, myself, am a perfectly example of this. Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, I dived myself into a field dominated by statisticians. So, even when linear regression is widely used in both economics and statistics, there are still many other regression techniques and programming languages used in statistics that I’m unfamiliar with. However, I’m not the only one—I work alongside people from diverse backgrounds who are really excelling in this field. Analytical thinking and data storytelling are essential. And of course, constant hunger for new knowledge.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

What I love about my job is that they believe in Data Science. RCBC’s current President and CEO, Mr. Eugene S. Acevedo, strongly promotes a data-driven culture, may it be in a macro or micro level. Seeing the conversion rates of the initiatives done from our analyses make my job more fulfilling as we may have served our clients on the back-end but we’re able to come up with proposals that are tailor-fitted with their needs. 

What are the limitations of your job?

Clean datasets exist only in an ideal world, so extracting data is never truly easy. Fortunately, our boss gives us reasonable deadlines for crafting our analyses. As we promote a data-driven culture across the bank, this involves conducting workshops and working to influence business groups, helping them understand that creating analyses or models can take time, depending on its complexity.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

I would advise her to, first, keep moving forward—you’re on the right track. Looking back, I don’t regret any of what I did during my university life since where and what I am today is just the fruit of that college student’s labor. Second, always remember your ‘Why.’ It’s what constantly reminds me of my starting line and set me back on the right path. Third and last, believe in yourself. This is for the opportunities I didn’t seize because of doubt.