larry85
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« on: January 20, 2012, 12:47:39 PM » |
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I'm a Ph.D student in the social sciences. I think I will stay and finish my program as I don't have that much left to go, but I would prefer to get a job in industry instead of being a professor. The one thing I always go back to and that I really enjoy is statistics. I know there are some stats related jobs out there where social science phds are successful. Yet, what are your opinions on the more intense statistics jobs out there? Such as quantitative analysts at banks etc. Nearly all the jobs I see require at least a M.S. in stats or econometrics.
The problem I have is that I don't have any degrees in statistics. Yet, I feel confident that I can do the job and I have taken all the econometrics and statistics courses that any M.S. student in those fields would have taken. I just don't have the degree that says I did.
In you experience on the job search, how willing are employers to go through transcripts and look at a cover letter detailing your skills that are not made apparent by your degrees?
Or do you think most employers simply assume a social science phd would not be as good as someone with a degree in stats?
I truly feel like I have the skills to succeed in these positions or at least I feel like my skills are just as good as someone with a M.S. in stats or econometrics.
I guess I'm just attempting to make my quantitative skills known to employers without a degree in a quantitative field.
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username2
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« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2012, 04:38:21 PM » |
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Ahem, my social science degree is in a quantitative field.
But more to your point, a social scientist is in some cases better qualified for those jobs where you will have to analyze data that relates to demographics, market groups, organizations, and things of this nature, because you understand survey bias, sampling errors, response rates, etc. Looking for predictors of mortgage failures based on demographic data would be one example at a bank.
In terms of finding jobs, one of my friends had good success using business analytics as the keywords. Other than that, I guess if you roll up to the interview and you see a bunch of PhD astrophysicists in the room, you might not be quantitative enough.
You should also know that lately the big HR application systems are basically a mess, with databases run amok, and the ease of sending in an online application means that businesses are deluged by random applicants. So you would be wise to start networking with people to see if they know of any positions, and you can use your question of figuring out if you would be a viable candidate to start that networking process.
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obprof
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« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2012, 04:52:45 PM » |
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Which social science? Many government agencies and large organizations specifically look for economics (or sociology or psychology) PhDs because they have adequate statistics backgrounds as well as a solid understanding of how to approach the relevant research questions.
In these positions you would be applying widely known statistical techniques and using existing statistical software. It wouldn't really be of too much interest to a lot of stats folks.
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anisogamy
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« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2012, 05:05:41 PM » |
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I have a social science PhD and worked at a nonprofit as a statistician while I was ABD. It can be done. In many cases, you'll know more about statistics than the person hiring you, so you'll just need to present yourself with confidence rather than justifications for why your degree isn't in statistics. Come up with a brief narrative for your cover letter that conveys the range of techniques and statistical packages in which you're proficient. You'll then need to present that narrative with a concrete example or two of ways that you have used those techniques, and demonstrate how those are valid indicators of the work you'd do for them.
In most cases, no one outside of academia will ever want to see your transcripts, so you need to be able to make your case without them.
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A little compassion is better than kicking people when they are down, regardless of who has suffered more and longer or whose bad job market has the biggest dick.
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larry85
New member
Posts: 34
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« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2012, 01:11:26 AM » |
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Ahem, my social science degree is in a quantitative field.
But more to your point, a social scientist is in some cases better qualified for those jobs where you will have to analyze data that relates to demographics, market groups, organizations, and things of this nature, because you understand survey bias, sampling errors, response rates, etc. Looking for predictors of mortgage failures based on demographic data would be one example at a bank.
In terms of finding jobs, one of my friends had good success using business analytics as the keywords. Other than that, I guess if you roll up to the interview and you see a bunch of PhD astrophysicists in the room, you might not be quantitative enough.
You should also know that lately the big HR application systems are basically a mess, with databases run amok, and the ease of sending in an online application means that businesses are deluged by random applicants. So you would be wise to start networking with people to see if they know of any positions, and you can use your question of figuring out if you would be a viable candidate to start that networking process.
I guess economics is a social science that has the perception of being quantitative. Yes, the Hr process seems strange to me. I see many job ads that are so specific in terms of what degrees you need to have etc. that it doesn't seem like they will consider others. I guess they can afford to be picky though. |
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larry85
New member
Posts: 34
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« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2012, 01:15:10 AM » |
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Which social science? Many government agencies and large organizations specifically look for economics (or sociology or psychology) PhDs because they have adequate statistics backgrounds as well as a solid understanding of how to approach the relevant research questions.
In these positions you would be applying widely known statistical techniques and using existing statistical software. It wouldn't really be of too much interest to a lot of stats folks.
I'm in geography, probably the worst social science when it comes to applying for jobs outside of academia. Seems like most have no idea what people do in graduate school in geography. Yeah, I have definitely looked into govt work and am still considering it. I have had a few internships with the govt. I just feel like I have the skills to work in industry but I'm not sure people will look past the geog degree and see them. |
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daniel_von_flanagan
<redacted>
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Works all day. Posts all night. Needs sleep.
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« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2012, 05:45:01 AM » |
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There is a long tradition of social-science-style statistics being used in places like government. The problem you will have with trying to get a core quant job industry or finance is that they are not looking for data analysis, they are looking for stochastic modeling. I know social scientists (mainly economists) who are very good at things like stochastic differential equations, but this is very rarely part of standard training in these fields. - DvF
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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totoro
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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2012, 06:32:17 AM » |
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My assumption would be that you have GIS skills and there is a demand for that I think. I'm a geography PhD without GIS skills. So the assumption is wrong about me.
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username2
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« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2012, 11:02:20 AM » |
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If you have GIS skills or at least a spatial imagination, marketing and demography types of work will be a very natural fit too. If you can program in python or learn how, then so much the better.
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larry85
New member
Posts: 34
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« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2012, 02:50:58 PM » |
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My assumption would be that you have GIS skills and there is a demand for that I think. I'm a geography PhD without GIS skills. So the assumption is wrong about me.
Yeah, I use GIS a lot. I'm not sure this is assumed in geography. I know many geography PhDs who don't use it at all. Also, the demand is not very good imo. Maybe a little better than other areas but not by much. |
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larry85
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Posts: 34
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« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2012, 02:53:55 PM » |
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If you have GIS skills or at least a spatial imagination, marketing and demography types of work will be a very natural fit too. If you can program in python or learn how, then so much the better.
Yeah, I have definitely looked into those jobs as well. Yet, the stats they use are very basic from what I have seen. I'm sure there are some places that use more advanced techniques. Eh, I wouldn't say that I am good at python right now but I hope to be in the next few years. I am decent at all the usual stats programs (Stata, SAS, R etc.) |
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juillet
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« Reply #11 on: February 09, 2012, 06:04:09 PM » |
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What about applying with the Census Bureau as a social science statistician?
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drdata
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« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2012, 12:50:30 PM » |
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I've been able to parlay a fairly worthless social sciences PhD into a career that has been heavy in institutional research and institutional effectiveness positions.
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juillet
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« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2012, 10:50:13 PM » |
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This is why I am planning to get an MA in statistics after I finish my social psychology PhD; I'm attracted to a lot of those statistics jobs and I really like modeling and higher-level stats work. Most of the stats MAs I have looked up take one year full time or 1.5-2 years part-time, and there are a few post-docs that allow you to earn an MA in applied statistics while doing research (one being the Prevention and Methodology Training one at Penn State).
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melba_frilkins
Doing laundry.
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Doing laundry (still)
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« Reply #14 on: March 05, 2012, 01:45:45 AM » |
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Larry85, could you officially earn a minor in statistics?
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