A Really Rewarding Experience: Video Transcript

Alex Martishius (MS Statistics, Miami, 2014) [Quantitative Analyst at Fifth Third Bank]: I chose statistics because my undergraduate degree is in math, mathematics, that was my bachelor's degree, and I really wanted to enter a more applied science for my graduate degree. That would give me the tools that I need to get a job in a more professional environment where I'm going to be using the skills that I learned. So, statistics was a great gateway into that. The company that I work for now, I feel like a lot of the tools, a lot of the knowledge that I've gained in school, I'm using a lot of that. With this degree in statistics, I feel like the vast majority of the things that I've learned I have used in my job, which is very rewarding.

Miami has been a really rewarding experience for me. The reason why I decided to come back is because I loved it here so much.
The faculty really, I mean they have the chops that they need, I mean they have the PhDs in the field, they know what they're talking about, but at the same time they really have a deep interest in education, they really have a deep personal interest in each student's success. They were really, they were proactive in trying to get us job opportunities, have us go to events, participation, and just being involved in our day-to-day life. I really feel like a lot of the faculty ended up as my friends after I left here.

The second year of my program, which was statistics, there was a lot of interviewing, looking for jobs, trying to find employment, just trying to find interest from employers. So, I started that process early in October, before graduation, so quite a few months early.
I felt like a lot of the skills that I developed when I was here, I was using those in interviews. I felt like a lot of the questions that were being asked of me, I was prepared for those. And I feel like the program in general, the faculty, the material, the subject matter really got me ready for interviewing, got me ready for success with interviewing and got a few offers.

I'm passionate about math and stats, which is what my degree is, but I'm also passionate about, you know, building something up, developing something, and I feel like the program that I'm in now, as a result of what I've received at Miami, I feel like I have the tools that I need to build that up, and bring others to it. So, I think, I mean I want to rise up in my career just like anybody else does, but at the same time I want to feel like I'm building something and accomplishing something.

The process at Miami, the two years that I was here for the graduate degree really matured me. I feel like I am more sensitive to things that are happening around me. I feel like I'm more receptive.

Being here, just in general the atmosphere, the conversations that I've had, the challenges that I've gone through, it's really widened my perspectives, so I feel like the whole experience has made me, made my experience, experiencing life in general, experiencing my career, making new friends, meeting new people, the whole process really helped widened my perspective a little bit.

Get your hands in as many job opportunities as you can before you graduate. I know a lot of students, a lot of my friends, they did that and it was rewarding for them. I’ve talked to a lot of people in, at previous schools, who kind of waited until they graduated to get a feel for the job market. I would say that's one of the biggest mistakes you can make. I think it's really important to, you know, as early as October, before you graduate, just get online, get to the job search websites, go to career fairs, just get as much information as you can about possible careers that you could be in, in the future.

[October 2014]