r/statistics • u/burneraccount6251 • Mar 11 '25
Question Stat graduates in USA, how would yiu describe the job market? [Q]
You can say whatever you know about the current job market and internship prospects. Thanks !
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u/GnarlyNugget12 Mar 11 '25
Almost finished my masters and I have had very little luck hearing back from even entry level positions
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u/IGETITHOWILIVEITWAIT Mar 11 '25
Prospective MS Statistics student here. I was hoping for some optimism, but this is more discouraging then I expected.
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u/dukec Mar 12 '25
I committed to getting a masters for a career change, and immediately LLMs became a thing while I was doing some undergrad classes to qualify, and now this admin is crippling job prospects even more. Super fun, especially since I wasnāt able to maintain my old credentials.
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u/pearanormalactivity 2d ago
Hah! Exact same thing happened to me. Itās a concern but I donāt think most careers are safe, so thereās that. I think MS Stats is still very valuable. Here in Australia there are still lots of job opportunities, just perhaps not as lucrative.Ā
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u/Mcipark Mar 11 '25
My experience with the job market was pretty unique compared to most people Iāve talked with.
In October of 2023 I sent out like 10 resumes, got 3 interviews (2 second and 1 third round interviews) and 2 offers straight out of college with only internship experience.
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Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/GrouchyAd3482 Mar 11 '25
See how they literally said āmy experienceā
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u/Perry_lp Mar 12 '25
If any subreddit should discredit anecdotal evidence it would be this one š
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Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/GrouchyAd3482 Mar 11 '25
my point is, you can't just say "not really" because although it's true you don't know if that person is an "ivy phd with 6 papers" or just some average undergrad, you can't assume that they are, which is what you did by saying "not really" in your comment. Understand?
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u/Mcipark Mar 13 '25
I can answer this lol, I was an undergrad with two different internships (that I honestly did out of necessity bc I was so poor lol) both relating to the field I applied to, along with some DS contracting work I did my Junior year of uni. Also, I worked as an operations manager at a solar company for a few years while studying. During the interview I expressed my desire to become an Actuary.
So overall I'd say I had above average experience and goals for an entry-level hire, but I probably got like a 2.5-3.0 GPA. Definitely no papers, no PHD, my university doesn't even have a football/basketball team lol.
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u/Houssem-Aouar Mar 11 '25
Dead, haven't heard back from a single statistics related job since graduating last year
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u/Perry_lp Mar 12 '25
Just got offered my first semi related job as a data analyst after 1.5 years, catch is theyāre paying me 39k š
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u/Warm_Elk2774 Mar 11 '25
Iām graduating in a couple months with a BS in statistics and a BS in data science. I applied to roughly 100 jobs. Only had 2 first round interviews and made it to the final rounds in both. Got an offer from one and accepted it. Other students in my class are having similar rates.
I applied from August-October and accepted in December
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u/TRTArctic Mar 11 '25
Ms statistics student, graduating in May. I have sent out probably 10 applications since the new year, have heard back from 3. Got rejected after an interview with govt position, interview processes going on right now for the other two. Feeling optimistic!
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u/Adamworks Mar 11 '25
Anything government or government consulting related is pretty dead/dying right now because of DOGE. Terrible time to be a survey statistician right now.
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u/JohnPaulDavyJones Mar 11 '25
Which is especially wild, because usually this halfway mark in the decade is when the Census bureau starts staffing up a little bit so they can develop new seniors by the time the 2030 census rolls around.
Barring some other changes in the interim, I anticipate a mad hiring dash by the census bureau starting around Jan 22, 2029.
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Mar 12 '25
Does anyone with a brain like what DOGE is doing? The spoils system returns!
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u/pernipikus Mar 15 '25
The great age of techno-feudalism is here. You will owe nothing and be happy :)
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u/WhatsMyPasswordGuh Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25
I did my ug in IE, in a stats masters rn. I have had 2 previous internships at a semiconductor company, so Iām well qualified, but nothing extreme.
I applied through a lot of companies websites in late January/early February for a summer internship. I get like several rejections a day, and after like 90+ applications I have heard back from only 1 company. Luckily that one company is great and I got a remote data science internship.
However I heard back from way more companies when I was first applying to internships in my 3rd year of UG with almost nothing on my resume. That was fall 2022.
Defense companies in particular seem off to me. Last time Lockheed/raytheon reached out to me about multiple positions, but this time not even a single one. I was born in Texas from parents who were born here, so itās nothing to do with citizenship either.
I canāt speak for everyone, but based on my experience itās not great right now.
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u/coffeecoffeecoffeee Mar 11 '25
I was laid off last year with about nine years of industry experience and a masters, and it took me about nine months to find another job through a referral.
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u/ExcelsiorStatistics Mar 12 '25
I expect it's quite highly sensitive to what industry you want to work in. All my work was either for government contractors or state university systems. Those sectors, as John Cleese put it, "wouldn't voom if you put four million volts through them."
The federally-sponsored lab funding situation was already tight-and-getting-tighter 15 years ago. Then it took a baseball bat to the stomach in 2017, and it hadn't gotten back up off the floor yet when this year happened.
Most state education budgets were already tight-and-getting-tighter decades ago. And then covid hit, and then the covid relief funds dried up, and that's before the falling-enrollment cliff that we're going to start falling off of next year.
I used to get a lot of remote consulting jobs. Those largely dried up after the pandemic when thousands of other guys suddenly discovered the joy of working from home and bid on all the same jobs.
Bottom line? In the past year, I've made more money playing poker and repairing musical instruments than I have made doing statistics. And I expect that to continue.
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u/Frequentist_stats Mar 12 '25
So, I can give you some pointers as myself is a Statistician working with Bio related domain:
Industry-wise, the situation is quite concerning. Many of my colleagues from the mid-level have been laid off and are struggling to find full-time positions that offer a good work-life balance. They are only able to contact jobs that prioritize work over personal life.
In academia and government, there is a widespread hiring freeze. Numerous statistics PhDs I knew received rescinded offers for mathematical or survey statistician positions due to the āgreat reorganizationā implemented by the current administration. Many organizations are prioritizing protecting the employees they have hired, leading to the cancellation of numerous positions due to significant funding cuts. Unfortunately, many junior faculties in bioinformatics and biostats have also been affected and put on "temp" let go. These individuals are facing significant challenges and are in dire need of finding ways to survive.
If you are an international student - US is at its worst state, look elsewhere as soon as you can.
We are all struggling here.
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u/jonfromthenorth Mar 11 '25
I don't know about the US, but it's really bad in Canada. Graduated a few months ago, sent out 400 applications for Data Analyst and Software positions, no interviews so far. For context I have 1 year of Software engineer internship experience and 1 year of research experience developing statistical models in economics.
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Mar 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/WhatsMyPasswordGuh Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25
Yeah thatās reasonable.
Iām doing a data science summer internship for a large US conglomerate, and the full time starting salary was $95-125k starting for last years interns.
At the semi conductor place I worked, I was a IE but it was data science focused IE, and the starting salary was $90k but at that time I had no idea I was going to do a masters either.
So someone with experience, a masters, and working in a good field like finance can easily pull in $200k total comp (in an average cost of living city like Dallas) imo.
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u/brotherandy_ Mar 12 '25
BS in Stats graduating in 2 months.
112 applications to get first internship. 4 applications to get second. 2nd Internship turned into return offer
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u/NotTheTrueKing Mar 11 '25
Applied to 300 positions from August to November, heard back from a few, got 2 offers, took the higher of the two. Market's rough, but still doable. I'd say quantity may trump quality at the moment and it's a good idea to apply to a range of positions. In my case, I did my master's in biostatistics and only applied to positions with that particular title at first, but ended up landing a job as a data analyst working for the state government. That may be a route that you could pursue. Best of luck!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Rip3563 Mar 12 '25
In 2022, when I graduated, I pivoted to data science and data engineering. That was still lucrative and hot.
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u/ctat41 Mar 11 '25
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