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I was educated to mathematician but failed to get a job because employers were looking for a statistician more than mathematician. I was wondering that if I read lecture notes and books used in university's courses, can I put it on my CV or should I enroll to university again to pass basic courses? I know very well that statistics is so huge field that I'm not looking statistics jobs but mathematics jobs where I can use statistics as well as other fields of mathemtics.

wannaimprovemyself
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    You could start participating in CrossValidated - if you have 1,000 rep there, I'll believe you have an understanding of statistics, whether you formally studied math, stats or underwater basket weaving. – Stephan Kolassa Aug 21 '15 at 13:17
  • Doesn't your study of mathematics have significant overlap with statistics (i.e. you surely took statistics courses during your study programs). Why not review the statistics aspects of your study and then use that knowledge as your credentials when applying for statistics jobs. Whether you refresh those skills with books, lecture notes or online forums is probably not as important as having the skills. – Brandin Aug 21 '15 at 13:25
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    @Brandin You can get a degree in math without taking any statistics. – paparazzo Aug 21 '15 at 13:42
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    +1 to @Frisbee's comment. I have a math Ph.D., took almost zero stats classes - and now work as a statistician. (My personal way to show I knew stats was to do the statistics for studies in psychology and thus co-author scientific papers.) – Stephan Kolassa Aug 21 '15 at 13:58
  • But it sounds like you got the interview so it was not a CV issues. If you had done self study and had more knowledge in statistics it would have come out in the interview. No harm in listing self study but be ready to answer questions. – paparazzo Aug 21 '15 at 14:11
  • @StephanKolassa "I took almost zero stats classes." <-- If you took more than zero, then that is just another way of saying that you needed to take at lest one required statistics class as part of your Maths program, and perhaps optionally you could have taken more had you had the interest. – Brandin Aug 21 '15 at 18:10
  • @Brandin: no, there was no requirement to take even one stats class. I took this just for fun, and not even for credit, so it didn't show up in any transcript. – Stephan Kolassa Aug 21 '15 at 18:15
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    @Brandin That is some strange logic. You took a statistics class and therefore it is required. – paparazzo Aug 21 '15 at 18:43
  • @Frisbee I think you two miss the point. If you're a mathematician with some statistics training, say, from one required course and one or two optional courses, then this is a way to start a conversation about your developing skills and to continue skill building. Compare that to starting with "I read some lecture notes online..." – Brandin Aug 21 '15 at 19:37
  • @Brandin You miss basic logic. I have a math degree and statistics was not required. They are related but they don't overlap. – paparazzo Aug 21 '15 at 19:56

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Whether they believe it or not isn't really the issue. If they doubt you, they'll either test you on it, or ask for clarification. And statistics isn't so rare that they'd be struck with disbelief at recieving a candidate that has some knowledge of it.

However, when you put it on your CV, it might be beneficial for you to angle it such that it tells a tale of how it fits into the position for which you're applying.

Ask yourself if your level of statistics knowledge is relevant for the position. If it is, list it under "relevant knowledge" and be prepared to answer for it. If it isn't, list it under "other skills", and don't bother elaborating too much.

Alec
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    And definitely do NOT put it in the same section as any of your formal education. That could mislead potential employers and leave a bad impression when they discover that you self-trained. – David K Aug 21 '15 at 13:10
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I am a data scientist who basically does statistical analytics and software. A math job where one does statistics is definitely close to what a data analyst/fraud analyst, etc does. Me, being a self made data scientist, so I would share my experiences about how I made up my profile and successfully managed to land the job.

  1. If you have done MOOC's, then put them up in the summary/about-me section of your resume and definitely on your LinkedIn profile.
  2. Employers tend to love people who have done projects. So, if you have done any side-projects on statistics in your courses, include them on the resume and LinkedIn, explain them in detail. If it is a team project, much better, even your soft skills would get a small boost.
  3. Have a really nice Quora/Stats(Cross Validated) StackExchange profile. Having a nice profile in these forums would heavily boost the chances of your resume impressing the interviewers.
  4. In addition to the above profiles, have a nice Kaggle profile, where you can solve real world math/stats problems. If you are not a coder, then get a guy who can code your math and stats techniques for you, and you can participate as a team.

So, the take-away would be do as many micro/nice projects as you can which involves stats and math, and flaunt them on your resume. Firstly, make sure you do projects on the basic algorithms and techniques first, so that it helps you brush them up and know how they can be used for real world problems.

If you want to solve them by coding your techniques and algorithms and flaunt the graphs and simulations, then ask a friend of yours who code, for help.

I have attached my LinkedIn and Quora profiles, which I think might help you prepare your own.

Dawny33
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Getting stats-related certifications would be helpful. The Society of Actuaries exams are good examples, especially the P and C exams.

  • Right. Passing an exam (ideally one with a reputation for rigour) is the generally-accepted way of proving one's knowledge to a potential employer. – A E Sep 02 '15 at 18:01