Case studies : Biostatistician: Jocelyn Gardener

Jocelyn works as a biostatistician at a contract research organisation. She studied Mathematics BSc at the University of Bristol before completing an MSc in Statistics at the University of Sheffield.

After graduating from the University of Bristol, I chose to follow one specific area of maths and do a Masters in statistics. During this year I received an email from a woman who worked at a contract research organisation in Sheffield who had also done the course at Sheffield. She was asking for the CVs of any student who was interested in the possibility of a job there, so I sent mine off and they invited me for an informal meeting, after which I was invited to a formal interview session.

My degree was extremely relevant to securing my job. Most statistician jobs are impossible to get into without postgraduate qualifications and an MSc is the minimum requirement for many. It is possible to do some MSc courses part time as a distance learner over two or three years while working at the same time - indeed, some jobs will take someone with a BSc only on the provision that an MSc is completed alongside the job.

I undertake the analysis and running of clinical trials for large pharmaceutical companies who are looking to outsource. Most days require a lot of computing, mainly using the statistical analysis package SAS. There is also contact with clients and departmental meetings to do with the different trials we are covering. The main role of the statistics department is to write statistical analysis plans prior to a clinical trial taking place and analysing the results after the trial has finished.

I have only been in this role for a short time, but there is an obvious career path here. There are different levels of biostatisticians and the opportunity to lead projects and be the main client link. I aim to one day be running a small department of statisticians.

I enjoy the variety of the trials; we work with many areas of medical treatments and there is no predicting what the outcomes of each trial may be. There is always something new to be learnt and the team I work in is great fun. There are good socialising possibilities and the emphasis is on a good work-life balance.

Getting to grips with the computer programs the company uses was difficult as they were so different to the ones I used in my degrees and just getting used to such a full-on, 'proper' job has been tiring.

One of the best things about working in this sector is the amount of variety in the work and also knowing that I’m putting what I’ve learnt in my degrees to use.

I would recommend interested students and graduates sign up to ALLSTAT Mailing List , an email newsletter sent out daily, with information about courses and jobs in the statistics sector. Also, join the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) , which is free for students, and above all, an MSc is absolutely the best thing you could do to become a statistician. If you cannot afford to study for an MSc then look into the Government Statistical Service (GSS) who take people with BScs, and if you see a job you like the look of, get in touch with the company and enquire about doing an MSc part time while you work. Enthusiasm about the work and a good grasp of the basic statistical ideas is a real bonus.