Careers in Statistical Software
Cheryl Pammer
Minitab Inc.
cpammer@minitab.com
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
About Me
► Education
• BSE Mathematics, Truman State University
• MS Statistics, Penn State
• PhD Coursework, Penn State
► Minitab Experience (21 Years)
• Currently User Experience Designer and Technical Training Specialist
• Previously Technical Support, Information Development, and Quality Assurance
► Other Experience
• Biometrics Research at Merck Research Labs
• Statistics Instructor at Penn State
• Statistical consultant for Vespa Labs and Penn State Department of Food Science
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Benefits of Working in Statistical Software
► The reach of your work extends far beyond your organization
► Great variety in projects
► Software companies generally allow great flexibility and nice benefits
► You will obtain skills transferable to other industries and jobs
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Statisticians at Minitab
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Example Problem
Problem
Customer needs to design an experiment for a process improvement project, but doesn’t know
where to start.
Customer
► Has a quality improvement role in financial, manufacturing, or healthcare industry
► May be math-phobic. Greek letters and symbols like < can be intimidating.
► Has to do a little data analysis; but will never be a data analyst.
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Technical Project Manager
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© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Define problem
Understand customer
Develop solution ideas
Prototype
Obtain feedback
Repeat
User Experience Design
Create the user experience
• Design inputs and outputs
• Fill in all details
• Deliver detailed design
document
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Statistical R&D
► Maintain statistical credibility
► Determine statistical details
• Should we offer Plackett-Burman designs, classical 2K designs, or definitive screening
designs?
• Do these designs have enough power? How many replicates should we require?
• Which assumptions in the analysis are critical?
• What method should we use to fit the model?
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Software Engineering, R&D, QA
• Software Engineer:
Implement design
• Software R&D:
Optimize the algorithm
• Quality Assurance:
Verify results are correct
and error conditions are
handled
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Information Development
Take highly technical
information and make it
consumable by a nontechnical audience
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Product Marketing
• Promote products online and print
• Provide webinars to get users
started with new products
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Technical Support
Provide phone and email
support:
• Why is Fit Quadratic
unavailable?
• Why does this not match my
text book?
• Why is alpha set at 0.1?
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Training and Mentoring
• Create relevant examples
• Teach concepts
• Analyze customer’s data
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Business Development and Market Research
► Develop new business
► Find existing customers that are likely to be interested in new products
► Create new product opportunities
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.
Skills Needed
► Solid foundation in statistics and data analysis
► An interest in developing software solutions
► Exceptional communication skills
► Creative problem-solving ability
► Strong computer skills, understanding of data sources is very helpful
© 2014 Minitab, Inc.