- Name: Brett Shoemaker
- Undergraduate school: University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2004)
- Position: Statistician
- Company: Arkansas Employment Security Department
- Industry Sector: Finance and Insurance
What he does:
- Brett works for the Arkansas Employment Security Department Occupational/Career Information as a Statistician. He assists colleagues with providing statistics for various publications and the AESD website. AESD has a publication called Career Watch Magazine that has information on the top 25 in-demand industries in Arkansas as well as the top 10 in-demand jobs in those industries. Brett also works on the website and predicts long-term job demands and wage information for Arkansas.
Math on the job:
- Brett uses a variety of statistical models at the AESD. Although he uses a computer program which uses five different statistical models, he must choose the model that will yield the most accurate results and evaluate the results.
Brett’s background:
- Brett received a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2004. In addition to taking the Applied Statistics course required for the math degree, he also took several additional statistics courses.
Advice for students:
- “I would suggest that any student considering a mathematics degree get a B.S. rather than a B.A. unless they are going into education.” In addition, Brett feels that a graduate degree should be pursued if the student is able. A graduate degree is “not only more financially lucrative but opens up a lot more opportunities.”