Anna Andersdotter

Which year did you graduate with a Master's of Science in Statistics from Umeå University?
2010

What do you do now?
I work as an analyst / statistician at Novus. The work is primarily project-based and very varied. My analyst role includes construction and programming of questionnaires and descriptive statistics including simpler statistical tests such as chi2- and t tests, handling of samples and other survey-related tasks. As a statistician, I do different types of more advanced statistical analyses, as well as support and educate my colleagues in statistical questions.

At my previous position, as an analyst at Svenskt Kvalitetsindex, the work consisted of designing surveys at the request of different companies and organizations, helping them with everything from questionnaire design, sample design, and model estimation, to summaries of the results. Also, I analysed data from SKI:s annual surveys in a large number of industries in Sweden and Scandinavia.

Which knowledge or skill that you acquired during the master courses do think you have been most useful for you?
Generally speaking, my ability to formulate concrete statistical questions and hypotheses based on clients' generally formulated problems, has facilitated in helping our clients carry out relevant investigations and deliver concrete action proposals. In terms of courses, I have greatly benefited from Multivariate analysis as we work extensively with different types of multivariate analyses, such as eg. CHAID, segmentation, PLS and multiple regression. We also work a lot with SPSS and our own programming language, which has been easy to adopt thanks to the R courses I took.

What was the best with your studies in Statistics and Mathematical Statistics at Umeå University?
Career wise, the best thing is that I have a degree that guarantees interesting and relevant jobs in an area that I think is both fun and challenging. I also really appreciated the Department of Statistics and its care about its students.

What was most difficult with your studies in Statistics and Mathematical Statistics at Umeå University?
In terms of courses, the mathematical courses at the advanced level were most challenging. But most difficult in general, was probably to find my own "good enough" level.

How did the contact with the teachers work?
As I already mentioned, I think the teachers at the Department of Statistics were absolutely great at teaching and motivating their students. They always had time and energy for both course-related issues and mentoring of a more personal nature.

How is the student life in Umeå (social activities and so on)?
Student life in Umeå is great! The proximity to nature and sports or outdoor activities as well as nightlife and social student activities means there is something for everyone.

How did you find housing in Umeå?
I got help from the housing service at the student union, but I cannot remember what this service was called. The first weeks I stayed in a hostel down in the centre of Umeå in the waiting for my dorm.

Do you have any advice to students thinking about coming here to study?
Do it! If you want a good degree from a well-considered university, Umeå university is a great choice! Especially if you, as me, like that everything is close; geographically (campus, training, nightlife, communications, and shopping) and educationally (relation to faculty and staff, and to business and industry).