Many companies now prioritize tracking their data. So, statisticians are valued by many companies because they can collect, analyze, and display important data. This makes it possible for companies of all sizes to draw useful conclusions.
The variety of job opportunities makes this career interesting. Yet, before considering a career in this direction, you must thoroughly research the job requirements, education, qualifications, and experience.
If you want to know the essential information related to statistics, this article is for you. Scroll gently to get all the necessary information.
Job Description
Statisticians are often gifted mathematicians. This statement is partially correct when statistics are a part of mathematics.
Between a statistician and a mathematician, there are many differences in roles, workplace, and work nature. Keep scrolling down to review information below.
What Is a Statistician?
A statistician is a person who collects and analyzes data. They can complete their tasks manually and using assistive tools.
The statisticians’ main task is to assemble and render science-oriented datasets and statistical models for reporting to executives and stakeholders.
Organizations, especially trading companies, need an experienced statistician. The data collection, classification, and statistics greatly influence operational decisions and business development orientations.
Duties and Responsibilities
The main tasks for a statistician are complex. Besides collecting and analyzing data, they have to select the data that impact the company and prepare reports to provide information to management, thereby improving business operations.
They are also responsible for the following ones:
- Aggregate data from multiple sources accurately and completely
- From aggregated data and identifying trends.
- Generate reports on the conclusions that can be drawn from the data.
- Responsible for every stage in the data analysis and reporting process.
- Use statistical techniques to make predictions from the collected data.
- Propose methods and trends for the company’s business activities based on collected data.
Where Do Statisticians Work?
A statistician can work for the government or private businesses. Advanced knowledge and skills will allow them to become consultants for federal projects. They can even teach at universities if they have the right qualifications.
Job positions in private enterprises for statistical work are also quite diverse. A statistician may work in pharmaceutical and insurance companies to collect data, calculate risks, and provide business advice.
Education Requirements
Statistics is a smaller branch of mathematics. Hence, you must have strong mathematical thinking and skills to work in this field. Yet, to thrive in this field, you’ll need to meet qualifications and work experience requirements.
Education & Training
If you’re aiming for a career as a statistician, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree in data analytics or data management.
A bachelor’s degree in mathematics or a related field is also acceptable if you pursue courses supporting database management.
A master’s or doctoral degree in data analytics is also essential for teaching. A higher degree will also give you a competitive edge in the eyes of employers.
Work Experience
Companies often appreciate candidates with experience in this field. To prepare for your career, start working as a statistician as soon as possible. Data analysis sessions will also help you practice what you’ve learned while testing your skills.
Certifications
Certifications related to data analysis, numbers, and programming languages will open up career growth opportunities for anyone aiming to become a statistician.
Certifications that help statisticians include BS Data Management, MS Data Analytics, GStat, and PStat, issued by the American Statistical Association.
Essential Skills
Like every other profession, statistics is a competitive job. To be successful in this field, statisticians need different skills to be successful. These skills include technical prowess, business acumen, and strength for teamwork.
They must also have sharp problem-solving and critical thinking skills to use all these other essential abilities.
Hard Skills
Statistics is a branch of mathematics that requires high precision. And the professional skills a statistician needs to ensure good performance are:
- Big data analysis techniques.
- Collect, process, and visualize data.
- Knowledge of theoretical and applied statistics
- Knowledge of calculus, algebra, and probability in mathematics
- Understand at least one programming language, such as R or SAS.
- Embrace the cloud and machine learning, and use a database like NoSQL
Soft Skills
Here are some soft skills you need to practice to develop in the field of statistics:
- Planning skills.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Independent working skills.
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the data.
- Good communication skills, both written and verbal.
Essential Tools
SPSS statistics
SPSS Statistics is statistical software that requires no coding. Statisticians can use this tool to process large data sets and uncover the data needed to increase reporting accuracy.
SPSS is a pretty intuitive tool because you need to drag and drop to perform operations on filtering, sorting, and aggregating data. Even users just starting with statistical tools can quickly master them for their work.
R
Similar to SPSS, R is also a statistical software with high applicability. This software is quite powerful, effectively supporting the data processing steps.
Yet, users must have specific coding knowledge to utilize this software fully.
SAS
SAS is no longer a strange platform for statisticians. This software provides statistical analysis techniques, data visualization, and statistical modeling.
This versatility makes SAS a software among statisticians and data scientists.
Minitab
Statisticians often use Minitab to analyze data and visualize results. This software can explore many different types of data sets. With just a few simple taps, you can centrally analyze data and make informed decisions accordingly.
Graphpad Prism
Statisticians working in scientific research will often need help from Graphpad Prism. It does not require the user to have coding skills. With just a short click, statisticians will get the expected scientific, statistical results.
Microsoft Excel
MS Excel is no longer a strange tool that supports basic data analysis operations. You can use its graphical features to visualize your statistical data effectively.
This software also has quite a few recipes available. As a result, you can perform many big data tasks quickly. MS Excel has many essential features, such as task management and a friendly interface suitable for small and medium businesses.
Apache Hadoop
Apache Hadoop is open-source statistical software. It can solve complex computational problems and multi-data tasks.
Its simple unstructured data processing helps you optimize your research time and virtualize the data. So, you can quickly improve your work performance.
What impressed me most was its decentralization. It does not handle large files directly but splits files for more efficient processing.
In short, Hadoop is the best budget software for data research. You will surely be satisfied with its innovative integration features and ease of use.
Rapidminer
As the name suggests, it’s a tool you can use to quickly mine and model data.
This software supports users with data modeling steps. When statisticians want to implement predictive models, Rapidminer also meets the requirements.
Tableau
Statisticians often use Tableau to visualize data. This software supports creating tables for the most complex data files in just a few minutes.
This software is relatively easy to use. The most routine operations are drag and drop and set filters on demand. Thereby, you can process substantial online analyses extremely fast.
Python
Python is a programming language that statisticians should understand and master. This language is simple and has many features available specifically for statistics and data science.
Job Outlook
The career outlook for statisticians began to grow positively. In the United States, job demand for this job increased to 128.13% and continues to grow.
According to some statistics, by 2029, the US will need up to 18,650 in this area. From 2020 to 2030, this career will likely increase employment opportunities by about 33%, much higher than the average.
Companies drive business growth using conclusions from the analysis. Therefore, statistics is still a job with high job demand.
Salary
Statisticians’ earnings will vary depending on their years of experience and education. On average, a statistician earns about $77,542/per year. The experienced people in this field earn $110,000 yearly.
- Statistics by experience: After 15 years of work, some statisticians will receive an average income of $130,000/year. Meanwhile, people with 1-3 years will receive a salary, about $116,701.
- Statistics by industry: Statisticians working in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector earn up to $146,290/year. Meanwhile, those who work in colleges have lower salaries in the $81,740/year range.
- Salaries for statisticians also vary depending on the country and city. In Seattle, WA, the median salary for a statistician is $106,114. Meanwhile, people who work in Washington, DC, receive about $81,513 per year.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Statisticians will use data to devise a solution to the problem. This work has both advantages and disadvantages. If you are considering a career in statistics, here are the pros and cons:
- Attractive salary.
- Good career prospects.
- Less stressful work.
- Can work in many different fields.
- Suitable for people with arithmetic thinking.
- High educational requirements.
- Not a job that excites extroverts
- Requires independent work
FAQs
Statistics is a promising career with high salaries and benefits. Before deciding to develop a career in this direction, don’t ignore the information below.
What makes a good statistician?
Mathematical ability is a must for a statistician. People who are interested in numbers and understand complex mathematical formulas will be able to harness the power of statistics.
What is the essential thing in statistics?
The critical statistics elements are comparison and measurement. Randomness is also an essential factor that can create patterns of variation.
What can statistics not be available for?
You can hardly apply statistical tools to qualitative data. Sensory data will not be able to measure, making statistical rules no longer accurate. The resulting use of these data may result in misinformation.
What are the limitations of statistics?
Statistics cannot be available on heterogeneous data. It is also why you should care about the completeness of the data before analyzing and interpreting it.
What are the two types of variables used by statisticians?
The two main variables are categorical and numeric. A categorical variable is used to represent variables that cannot be measured.
In contrast, variables are available on measurable values. When dealing with digital data, you must ensure continuity and discreteness.
How are statistics used in daily life?
Statistics is highly applicable in everyday life. With information regarding means and medians, statisticians can solve office, business, and educational problems.
What type of data is collected by statisticians?
Quantitative data is the primary type used by statisticians.
Statisticians will conduct sample surveys, research, and observations to collect information. In addition, case studies or in-depth interviews were also beneficial for their research.
What are 3 fields that use statistics to operate?
Statistics affect operations in many different areas. Statistics play the most crucial role in finance, mathematics, and market analysis.
What are statistics made of?
Statistics is a branch of mathematics. The main mathematical theories that may be available in this profession are probability, integral, and differential theory.
Which tool is most suitable for statistics?
Some of the most effective statistical tools are SPSS, R, and Tableau.
Career Advice
Statistician is a job with good prospects with many job opportunities. You can work in offices, organizations, and private companies. With the proper statistics knowledge and degree, you can get into teaching jobs at the university.
Hopefully, through the above sharing, you will better understand the opportunities and challenges in this industry.
You may have made the right decision for yourself after reading this article. I hope it is helpful to your future career. Thank you for reading the article!