So, it’s happened, the day has arrived, you have finally finished high school. Everything you have learned up to now through school has been about this moment and looking at what is next. You are officially ready to embark on the next stage of your life.
It’s an exciting time to be in, one you will certainly look back on in years and reflect on. It’s understandable to find yourself feeling slightly overwhelmed at all this as you face the terror of the unknown, but most importantly, it can also be one of the best times of your life.
It’s the time to look to the future, envision what sort of life you want, and more importantly, what sort of career you think can help you get it. We are here to tell you why statistics could be the option for you.
Statistics are a part of almost everything in life. They help us learn about things and develop new ideas; statistics refers to the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities. It’s used in so many different fields of work, with the possibilities of jobs being endless. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that statistics has been one of the most popular choices among students to choose as their career. These careers can be in anything from the field of economics, public health, marketing, sports, medicine, sales, and more.
Why 2021 is a great year for statisticians
Many people claim that in 2021 being a statistician is the best job. With the new year’s job rankings putting statisticians and data scientists high up on their lists of best jobs. It has held this high ranking for the last few years. One of the ways that statistics have been particularly important in recent times is to do with the chaos of the Coronavirus. With the help of statistics, we can have a much better understanding of what is going on all over the world. You get to see the impact the virus is currently having from a clear-cut data point of view. As well as this, statistics can help to see election projections and stock market predictions.
The U.S News 7 World Report 2021 100 Jobs rated statistician as number 6 overall best job, number 5 best STEM job, and number 2 for the best business job. Now you might be asking yourself why this job ranks so highly, and the answer that you will find popping up time and time again is salary. The average salary for a statistician is $91,160; as well as this, there is always the opportunity for growth in your career as this job role can lead to so many different places.
With issues like the current pandemic and climate change, it’s clear that statisticians will continue to be in high demand, meaning that studying the subject will result in a high percentage chance of employment after university, something that can’t be guaranteed with every course.
Whatever type of career path you might be interested in, statistics allows you to work in them all. The number of varying options makes it even more clear why it is a popular subject to study.
The data-driven world
As the world is becoming increasingly data-driven with advances in medicine and technology, it’s no surprise that being able to turn information into meaningful insights that can then help companies, people, and organizations is such a good skill to have. Whatever your interests are, it’s likely statistics can help in some way; click this link to find out more.
Best job options for people who have studied statistics
Actuary analyst
You will use statistical formulas as a way of figuring out risk.
Data analyst
Data analysts are in charge of looking at data and inspecting it as a way of sorting information from it. This information can then be used to help a variety of businesses and people.
Data scientist
You will play a key role in inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and remodeling data, with the aim being to find out new and useful information.
Financial risk analyst
As a Financial risk analyst, you will look at the risk that occurs in the world of finance and then go on to advise people on your findings.
Investment analyst
An investment analyst is in charge of giving information based on their research to help stockbrokers and traders invest; they need to work hard to gauge how they can provide information that will best result in a profit.
Market researchers
Market researchers collect and Analyse data and information in order to then show this to their clients. This information will help people make informed decisions on which direction they should be taking their businesses or organization in.
Operational researchers
Operational researchers are in charge of analyzing the way organizations operate. They do this through the use of mathematical and analytical techniques so that they can help businesses perform better.
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with applied or theoretical statistics. They can work in private or public sectors and often work as a sort of consultant within them.
Business analyst
Business analysts are in charge of analyzing existing organizations and businesses to help the business know-how to move forward with its processes, products, and services. They do this to benefit the businesses and help them reach their overall aims and goals.
Chartered accountant
Chartered accountants look at all of the financial information and documentation that their clients have and provide this as information. It is a popular job in the finance system.
Economist
Economists can do a whole range of things; they look into economic issues, conduct surveys, and collect data as well as analyzing data and software. They also advise businesses and can help different governments.
Areas of employment
The most common employers of students who have studied and specialized in statistics are in the government. Statisticians work all over in different government departments.
The other most common fields of work that statisticians are used and wanted to work in are;
- Financial and banking companies
- Insurance and accountancy firms
- IT companies
- Logistics and transport companies
- The NHS and private health companies
- Market research organizations
- Not-for-profit organizations and think tanks
- Pharmaceutical industries
- Universities and other education bodies
A Skillset for life
Other than the variety of hiring opportunities for students of statistics, there is also the benefit of the other skills that studying the subject can bring to you. No matter what you end up deciding to do going forward, whether it’s a job in data analysis and statistics’ or not, the skills that you are taught as part of your course, degree or a master’s, will be ones that you use forever. They will benefit you on whatever path you choose to go down career-wise.
These skills include;
- You will learn a variety of analytical research methods
- You will learn how to interpret results as well as how to draw conclusions and recommendations from data
- You will learn to be able to identify different data patterns and how to manipulate them
- You will get better at problem-solving and develop your logical thinking skills
- You will learn how to apply abstract mathematical concepts to practical problems.
- You will get better at communicating with other colleagues and with your data results
- You will learn presentation skills and get better at speaking confidently in front of people to do this
- You will learn information management, how to organize information, how to put importance on certain parts of it, and how to share this information in the most effective way
- You will get much better at organization and planning, and you will learn how to properly organize your time to work by seeing what needs doing first; this will help you to properly prepare information
- You will get better at teamwork, and you will learn how to work with others effectively and learn to access who has what skills and how they can be used to work as part of a group
Options of further study on a path to a successful career in statistics include applied statistics, medical statistics and statistics, and data mining.
Data mining
“Data mining is the process of finding anomalies, patterns, and correlations within large data sets to predict outcomes. Using a broad range of techniques, you can use this information to increase revenues, cut costs, improve customer relationships, reduce risks, and more.”
Graduate life
With a huge variety of areas available to statistics graduates, we have narrowed down some of the most popular choices; they are finance, investment analysts and advisor, actuaries, business and related associate professionals, programmers and software development professionals, and IT business analysts, architects and systems designers. After initial graduation, around 37% of graduates go straight into employment, and around 51% go on to do further study.