Snakes and Ladders: Building a Career in Statistics

摘要

This article is based on a talk I gave at the JSM 2007 meeting for the ASA Committee on Career Development. But, I should confess at the outset that I have no particular qualifications or any expertise on this topic, aside from having held a lot of jobs (which ought to raise questions about my suitability in the first place). Years ago, I was involved in drafting the New Researchers' Survival Guide (available at www. imstat.org/publications). Reading over it again, we were awfully earnest and a bit naive, but I think it has a lot of value for people who are beginning an academic career. So, I refer new faculty members to that, and, in this article, shall focus on topics that apply to everyone, not just recent PhDs and not just academics. Although statisticians are relatively homogeneous in our training, we have the usual range of talents, personalities, and utility functions. This creates many career paths and many ways to be successful. It also means you can be miserable if you get caught on a path that doesn't fit your personal strengths and values.