Current Position:

Business Technology Analyst, Analytics and Information Management Consultant, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Major (s)/Minor (s):

• Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Minor in Statistics, NC State, May 2014
• Master of Science in Analytics, NC State, 2018

Was the degree you earned required for the work you do? How did you find yourself in your current position?

Yes, the degree (or any STEM-related degree) was required. Technology consultants need to have strong logic, problem solving, and programming skills, and the mathematics degree provided me with a great foundation to use when faced with new clients problems I needed to help solve. I applied to this Business Technology Analyst position at Deloitte through the Engineering career fair. I was excited about the opportunity to work on different kinds of projects since I wasn’t sure coming out of school exactly what industry I wanted to focus on. I followed Deloitte’s university recruiting process and ended up accepting the offer because of the talented individuals at Deloitte and the opportunity to get to work on different problems every day.

What skills or abilities do you find are most important in the work you do?

Problem solving, creative thinking, and willingness to take risks and challenge the status quo with outside-the-box thinking are extremely important when helping clients tackle new and old problems in what is becoming a data-driven world. It’s also very important to have a strong statistics and analytics background to understand the basics of different models and software in order to help advise clients on what model is best to implement and with what kind of software. However, a highly predictive or accurate model means nothing if a consultant is not able to translate the analytics results into meaningful and actionable insights in terms of their client’s bottom line. Lastly, consultants need to be able to develop relationships with clients and team members using strong communication and interpersonal skills. Working well with others is a huge difference maker in your effectiveness as a professional.

What preparation would you recommend for someone interested in entering your field? Are there any courses at State you would recommend?

I would recommend staying up to date with new trends in technology and advanced analytics techniques. Being able to understand a variety of solutions and when to use them is very helpful when working with clients and your internal teams. I’d also recommend taking as many statistics and programming courses (SAS, R, Python, SQL, etc.) as you can while you are at State if you are interested in advanced analytics consulting. Lastly, I strongly recommend taking the business communications course. I didn’t realize how import this course was when I was taking it until I realized I needed to know how to write professional emails as early as my first day on the job. Exciting results and findings mean nothing if you aren’t able to clearly and simply communicate them to people who may or may not have a technical background.

What other career paths would you suggest a student explore before making a final decision?

First, a student should decide if they most enjoy applications or theoretical problems. Although I majored in Mathematics (rather than Applied Mathematics), I always had a preference for math applications vs. research or more theoretical math. Math to me was all about solving problems and then finding the next interesting problem to solve. If there’s a course you enjoy in another department, explore applications in that field. The great thing about math is that the principles and problem-solving strategies you learn can be applied to any field or industry you find exciting.

If you had to do everything over again, would you do anything differently? Why or why not?

The only thing I would do differently is take more programming classes! I didn’t realize how important and essential they would be to the analytics work I enjoy doing. Being able to take a course in SAS, R, Python, SQL, etc. would have been incredibly valuable starting my career with those skills already in my toolbox.