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The full survey is to be published in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A under the title Graduate Recruitment and Employment Destinations. Below is a brief introduction to this report. What Could We Learn From Job Advertisements? A database of advertisements for statistical posts was compiled between March 1996 and May 1997, relating to 444 distinct vacancies. These ranged from ‘Graduate opportunities and studentships’ through ‘Research Assistant’, ‘Statistician’ ‘Researcher’ and ‘Lecturer’ to ‘Senior Statistical Post’. The more senior posts were included to give some indication of upper limits to the pre-requisites and job requirements for new and recent graduates.
Iterative qualitative data analysis (QDA) techniques yielded
25 variables describing the content of the advertisements, plus
others relating to the recruitment process;
• Job description; Type of job, Application area, Location,
Salary
• Applicant description; Qualifications, Subject area, Years
of experience, Type of experience (Varied, In field of
application, Of particular statistical methods, In computing and
IT)
• Requirements of post; Collaboration, Communication,
Teaching and consultancy, Analysis, Research, Report and give
presentations, Leadership, Initiate projects, Speed and
efficiency, Accuracy, Enthusiasm, Work under pressure,
Independent work, Critically appraise other work.
The posts spanned 11 main application areas. Entry-level posts in pharmaceutical, social/behavioural sciences, business or government contexts did tend to be open to first degree graduates. A postgraduate qualification (not necessarily a Doctorate), however, was generally required in order to enter employment in the medical, as distinct from biostatistics, field.
Computational statistics and science/engineering contexts seemed to have two rather distinct levels of recruitment; one for candidates with a first degree only, and the other for candidates with a Doctorate.
The required qualifications were classified as ‘first
degree’, ‘post-graduate (Diploma, Masters or Doctorate),
and
‘Doctorate’. In fact, only one advertisement mentioned
a Diploma as being a possible pre-requisite post-graduate
qualification. Some advertisements stated that the posts were for
‘professionally qualified’ statisticians, but only
three specifically referred to CStat (Chartered Statistician)
status.
Four main types of experience were identified. The first one, ‘varied experience’ was noticeable by its absence. Only three of the advertisements mentioned this. In contrast, approximately one third of the advertisements specified experience with particular types of statistical procedures. A (different) third demanded IT or computing skills, or experience of using a particular piece of statistical software, e.g. SAS. Finally, a third of the advertisements asked for applicants with experience of the field of application. The tendency to supplement first degree courses with postgraduate experience (and qualifications) of a more applied kind is the conventional route to many employment opportunities. Expectations that this will be the case take the pressure off first degree courses to prepare students for employment. Rather, they tend to be seen as preparation for further training.
Members of the project team had expected that ‘good communication skills’ would feature prominently, because this was what employers and educators were telling them. In fact, relatively few of the advertisements specified this requirement. Failure to draw attention to such a key aspect of most jobs involving statistical duties may serve to de-emphasise the need for training in relevant skills, making it even less safe for advertisers to ‘take it as read’ that potential recruits will possess this quality.
There was a general under-emphasis of the required personal
characteristics. People differ in what they have to offer, and
different vacancies may well suit different people. For example,
some posts need people who are good ‘parallel processors’,
who can operate on several projects at once, prioritising their
work to meet appropriate deadlines. Others suit ‘serial
processors’ who prefer to concentrate on one task to its
completion, and do not cope well with the pressure of many
competing deadlines. Both may be admirable employees, but not
necessarily in the same work context. It might be expected that
universities would have a part to play in helping students to
identify and develop their personal work-styles, and yet there
seemed to be no real incentive for them to do so based on what
was said in the advertisements. It is clearly important for
employers and employees to understand what is required for a
particular post if the ‘square peg in a round hole’
syndrome is to be avoided. Moreover, precise job specifications
can provide telling insights into how universities can make their
graduates more employable. For their part, universities would do
well to take heed if they wish to continue to attract students,
especially when those students will increasingly be looking for
good returns for their tuition fees.
