Statistics & Data Science Jobs

Dr. Matthew Beckman
Asst Professor & Director of Undergraduate Programs
Department of Statistics
Penn State University

beckman@psu.edu

Here’s a link & QR code for this webpage:

https://mdbeckman.github.io/PSU-Data-Science/

Are there really jobs in Data Science & Statistics?

• Yes! but you should Google it yourself
• Frequently listed among top careers in 2017 by
  • Glassdoor (Data Scientist #1)
  • US News & World Report (Statistician #4)
  • CNN Money (Actuary #20; Biostatistian #48)
  • CBS News
  • CNBC
  • and lots more…
• It even pays well (but that’s not why you should do it–or any other job)

Why is it so popular?

…because Data

• There’s a ton of it and more data will be generated in the next 2 years than the previous 5000 years of humanity
  • Anyone wondering what kind of data they produced in 2983 BC?
  • Here’s some 3000 BC stuff just to get our minds around that statement…
    • City of Troy Founded
    • They started building Stonehenge
    • Earliest written language on Earth (Sumerian)
• Everyone has it, produces it, uses it, and people want to learn from it
  • Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Target, and the NSA are really good at learning from it… that’s how
    • Gmail filters your spam
    • Amazon recommends stuff for you to buy (that you didn’t know you want)
    • Facebook autotags your photos
    • Netflix picks the right shows & movies
    • Target prints just the right coupons at checkout… (How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did)
• There are so many cool questions to answer
  • We finally have the data, skills, and tools
  • We just don’t have enough people to work on them… (a 2011 estimate endorsed by the US Govt (NIST) thinks we’re short by about 190,000 with “deep analytical skills”)

What skills do you need?

How can you get started?

• Start learning statistics and computer science
  • Classes at school
  • MOOCs–massive open online courses
  • Web tutorials like DataCamp.com
• Penn State
  • Nittany Data Labs
  • PSU Stat Club
  • We R… (Penn State R User Group)
  • Statistics Major (or Minor) with tracks available for
    • Actuarial Science
    • Applied Statistics
    • Biostatistics
    • Computational Statistics
    • Graduate Studies
  • Data Science Major with tracks for
    • Applied DS
    • Computational DS
    • Statistical Modeling DS

Contact Info

Dr. Matthew Beckman
Asst. Research Professor & Director of Undergraduate Programs
Department of Statistics
Penn State University

beckman@psu.edu