A statistician works with applied or theoretical statistics. This profession is available in both public and private sectors. Statisticians can combine their statistical expertise with other subject knowledge. They may be employed or statisticians.
Statisticians are professionals who use statistical models and methods to solve real-world problems. They analyze, interpret, and gather data for many business decision-making purposes. Statisticians can be valuable employees in many industries. They often seek government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, business, medicine, physical sciences, and environmental sciences.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Statistician
Statisticians will be expected to perform specific tasks daily depending on their industry and the organization they work for.
In general, statisticians in the private sector work to interpret data so that it can be used to inform business and organizational strategies. For example, understanding consumer buying habits and changes in consumer behavior is one way.
On the other hand, analysis in the public sector will be more focused on the public good. For example, they might collect and analyze data about the environment, health, or demographics.
No matter if the job opening for a statistician is in the private or public sector, their day-to-day tasks will likely include;
Data collection, analysis, and interpretation
Data analysis to identify trends and relationships
Data collection processes: Designing processes
Communication of findings to stakeholders
Consulting on organizational and business strategies
Assisting with decision making
Required Skills for Statisticians
Statisticians need to have unique leadership skills, technical and analytical areas. These skills include:
Analytical skills Statisticians should be specialists in statistical analysis. They should spot patterns in data, identify anomalies, and take computer programming classes to become familiar with data analysis software.
Technical skill Statisticians need to be proficient in computer systems, algorithms, and other technologies to collect and manipulate data effectively.
Strong Communication skills Statisticians must be skilled in communication, despite being experts in statistics and mathematical techniques. Communicate the results of their analysis effectively With other employees in the organization.
This includes verbal and written communication and the ability to present data in a visual format that is easy to understand.
Leadership skills To be practical statisticians, they must be able to think critically about the data they analyze through the eyes of key stakeholders and executives. Statisticians can learn to think like leaders and identify patterns that could make a difference in their organizations.
Importance of Statistics
Statistics do the work quickly and provides a clear picture of what we do every day.
Statistics allow us to study different areas, such as medicine and business statistics, economics, sociology, agricultural statistics, etc.
Statistics provides us with different types of organized data through graphs, tables, and diagrams.
Statistics can be used to quantify the variability in data patterns.
Statistics allows us to understand large amounts of data efficiently.
Statistics is the best way to collect accurate quantitative data.
Types of statisticians
There are at least two ways of categorizing statisticians and what they do.
One route might be to follow academic specializations, such as:
– Theoretical statistician
(studying theory of inference, sampling, etc.)
– Mathematical statistician:
Self-explanatory, studying the underlying mathematics, asymptotic behavior, measure theory, convergence modes, etc.
– Experimental designer
(designs experiments to allow social scientists and scientists to pose problems correctly, collect the data in a way appropriate for their budgets, and draw valid conclusions.
A philosophical debate could be another way to classify it.
– Frequentist:
This school of thought draws inferences solely from data.
– Bayesian:
This school of thought introduces prior beliefs about the probabilities underpinning the parameters we are trying to estimate and then combines these beliefs with the data to produce inferences.
The third, and perhaps more helpful, way to determine the type of work statisticians do is to look at what they are doing (which can – to a certain extent – also draw more or less from some areas of statistics than others).
– Actuaries
are statisticians who support the financial or insurance disciplines
– Biostatisticians:
Supporting biological sciences
– Econometricians –
Statisticians that support economic forecasting and economic statistics.
– Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics
support: Statistical physicists
Along with other disciplines in which statistics play a significant role, such as information theory (coding and compression). Machine learning is an addition to the statistical foundation and statistical method that provides many algorithms for solving non-closed-form problems.
Five Steps in Gaining a Successful Career as a Statistician
Step 1: Obtain your Undergraduate Degree
To become a statistician, you will need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject. A bachelor’s degree in statistics is the most important. You will need to take courses in linear algebra, calculus, and computational thinking. A good foundation in statistics can be achieved by pursuing several other degrees, such as mathematics (mainly applied math), computing science, and economics. If you are interested in using your training in a particular field such as biostatistics, many scientific degrees include coursework statistics.
Step 2: Obtain experience through internships and data analysis competitions
While you are still at college, there are many options to help you prepare for your career in statistics. To get a job in statistics, you need to have experience. So start looking for internships that will give you real-world training while earning college credit. There are also data analysis competitions where you can test your skills using accurate data, such as DrivenData, Kaggle, and KDnuggets. These challenges are more challenging than the typical problems that you would encounter in an undergraduate course.
Step 3: Earn an Advanced Degree
Professional statisticians hold master’s degrees in applied mathematics or statistics. Many also have doctoral degrees. For those who wish to become teachers at universities, a doctoral degree is required. Master’s degrees are sufficient for employment in the private and public sectors.
Step 4: Addition Professional Certifications to your Resume
There are many certifications and portfolio reviews that can be used to demonstrate your skills. The American Statistical Association offers the title of accredited professional statistician through a review of a professional portfolio. Two levels of certification are available: the entry-level GStat for those with a graduate degree and the PStat, which requires letters of recommendation and work samples. Check out which of these two certifications is the right one for you. For those statisticians who want to show their proficiency in SAS, the SASⓇ Certified Statistical Business Analyst is a good option. To determine which certifications are most valuable and valued by potential employers, you can consult the job listing requirements.
Step 5: Specialize in a Field
Although professional statisticians may find work in many areas, it is essential to demonstrate how your education and experiences are perfect for the job. Statistics can be found in finance, education, psychology, marketing, product development, and government at all levels. Statisticians will likely be more sought after in government positions and for jobs at pharmaceutical companies.
