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Job Opportunites

The following links may prove useful in learning about job opportunities in statistics.

• Why do statistics?
  • 66 business and commerce professions which require mathematical skills
  • 30 reasons for studying mathematics
• Job Opportunities
  • Some facts about jobs for statisticians.
  • A number of job opportunities in Australia and New Zealand in statistics can be found here. This list is updated frequently (at least weekly, and often daily).
  • www.math-jobs.com/ This page lists a number of jobs in mathematics and statistics from around the world, and includes a section on jobs in statistics.
  • ASA Job Web is hosted by the American Statistical Society, and collect statistics jobs from around the world, with a particular focus on the United States of America.
  • Graduate programs offer a way for graduates to enter many government departments, and receive some training on the job. These are very popular programs for graduates.
  • Actuarial jobs in Australia for those wanting to get into the actuary profession.
  • Mathematics jobs listed by the Australian Mathematics Society.
• Employers of Statistics Graduates Many companies employ statistics graduates.
• Careers in Statistics
  • Discover some of the careers where statistics can take you!
  • Royal Statistical Society lists of careers
  • Careers in Statistics (2MB), by the Royal Statistical Society

There are many opportunities for employment in the area of statistics (though not all jobs titles use the words "statistics" or "statistician"). The following disciplines employ statisticians:

• bioinformatics;
• biology (biostatistics or biometrics);
• climatology and meteorology;
• computing or computer science (statistical computing is a highly sought-after skill);
• economics (econometrics);
• finance (financial statistics);
• psychology (psychometrics);
• physics (statistical physics is a modern discipline in physics);
• the health industry (medical statistics);
• market researcher;
• social researcher;
• survey researcher (survey is a big business, in private industry and government; a big employer in Australia is the Australian Bureau of Statistics);
• quantitative analyst;
• risk analyst;
• forecast analyst;
• epidemiologist;
• pharmaceutical scientist (pharmaceutical companies, such as Lilly, are one the largest employers of statisticians in the world);
• secondary/tertiary maths/stats teacher (there is a shortage of good maths teachers).

Jobs for statisticians can also be found under such names as Industrial Engineers, Biometricians and Econometricians. Many other job opportunities exist where statistics is a required skill, even though the job title may not mention statistics.

Previous statistics graduates from USQ have obtained jobs at employers such:

• the Queensland Office of Gaming Regulation;
• the Australian Institite of Health and Welfare;
• the Australian Bureau of Statistics;
• the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (as a statistical programmer);
• the Queensland Treasury;
• a Lecturer in statistics.

Other graduates have gone on to further studies, such a PhDs and MPhils.

As well as offering a major in statistics, USQ also has two other programs of study that draw heavily on statistics in combination with other disciplines: Climatology and Bioinformatics.

The Statistical Society of Australia has recently introduced an accreditation procedure so that the profession of statistics will be recognised Australia wide. It will also maintain a code of ethics and promote statistics as a viable profession.