Twin Cities Chapter’s Third Career Fair
John Fieberg, Stan Lipovetsky, Zengri Wang, An Liu, Shon Magnan
The Twin Cities (TC) Chapter of the American Statistical Association held its third Career Fair,
consisting of two events. First – participation in the University of Minnesota’s (UMN) Graduate
and Professional Student Career Fair held on March 23, and second – discussions regarding
careers in statistics during a Chapter Meeting the subsequent week, on March 29, 2006. The
timing of the two events was highly beneficial. The UMN Career Fair provided an opportunity
to talk to statistics and biostatistics students seeking jobs and summer internships as well as
students from other related fields who expressed interest in pursuing jobs/internships or
advanced degrees in statistics/biostatistics. A number of these students decided to attend our
next Chapter meeting to learn more about careers in statistics and to network with statisticians in
the TC area.
The TC Chapter hosted a table at the UMN Career Fair along with 43 other organizations
representing a diverse range of employment settings, including several state and federal
governmental organizations, non-for profit groups, and private sector companies. Admission
was free and open to students, UMN alumni, and Chapter members. Chapter members were on
hand to discuss various career opportunities, and ASA Career brochures and articles were made
available for interested attendees. The career fair provided a first introduction to ASA for many
students and professionals attending the fair, who were motivated to follow up conversations
with Chapter members by attending our subsequent Chapter meeting.
Picture 1. University of Minnesota Graduate and Professional Student Career Fair held on
campus at the Hubert H. Humphrey Center on March 23, 2006. Pictured left to right are: John
Fieberg (Chapter President), Zengri Wang (Chapter Past-President), An Liu (Chapter
Webmaster).
On March 29 our Chapter held a meeting that featured a stimulating statistical talk by Professor
Mike O’Fallon from the Mayo Clinic, titled “Methodological issues encountered in the review of
the TPA trials: a statistical and neurological odyssey.” The meeting was held on campus at the
UMN, and food and drinks were provided (free to newly registered members of the Chapter).
We added 18 new members to our Chapter, including 14 new student members. These new
members were fortunate to hear a very interesting talk by a former ASA president, Professor
Mike O’Fallon.
Picture 2. Professor Mike O’Fallon from the Mayo Clinic addresses a full room of TC ASA
Chapter members on March 29, 2006.
Following the statistical talk, Mike O'Fallon also spoke about careers in Biostatistics in general
as well as specific career paths (e.g., BA, MS, and Ph.D. level positions) available at the Mayo
Clinic. He described his educational and professional background and related several enjoyable
experiences involving collaborative efforts with other statisticians and project team members
during his career as a Biostatistician at the Mayo Clinic.
Picture 3. A former ASA President, Professor Mike O’Fallon from the Mayo Clinic describes
his educational and professional background and related enjoyable experiences at the Twin Cities
ASA Chapter Meeting on March 29, 2006.
Mike’s presentation was followed by a discussion of career opportunities in market research by
Shon Magnan (GfK Custom Research Inc.). Shon described several career paths available to
statisticians in his company and emphasized the importance of both technical and
communication skills. In particular, he stressed the value of being able to communicate
statistical results in simple layman terms. Students were very encouraged by Shon’s description
of possible internships at market research companies in the Twin Cities area. Overall, the
meeting was a great success. Seasoned Chapter members enjoyed hearing a very inspiring
statistical talk as well as interacting with students drawn to the meeting by a desire to learn more
about careers in statistics and to network with established statisticians in the TC area.
Picture 4. At the Twin Cities ASA Chapter Meeting on March 29, 2006. Pictured in front left to
right are: Stan Lipovetsky (Chapter Secretary/Treasurer), John Fieberg (Chapter President),
Shon Magnan (Chapter President-elect).
The TC Chapter hopes to continue to host career awareness opportunities in the coming years
and looks forward to speaking with officers from other Chapters that have held career events in
the past or are planning to hold their first career day. We would like to thank Lynne Schuman,
Jane Vega and Barbara Laporte for organizing the UMN Career Fair and Yuriy Malashenko for
taking photographs at the Chapter Meeting. Past-president, Sarah Kogut, was instrumental in
planning the Career Fair. We also appreciate support from the ASA Career Development and
Career Day Grants Committee for their support of our activities by providing us with a Chapter
Career Day Grant.