then analyzing the data to watch for patterns. My role was
to analyze the results and then to enter those results on a
spreadsheet that was eventually presented to
management. It turned out to be a very successful study.”
■“One of the main functions of my job is analyzing costs
and then making recommendations. A recent cost analysis
resulted in a major change in the way that costs are
tracked. This saved the company more that $1000 a day.”
■“I would say that my job is part analyzing and part
customer service. Because the focus has shifted to
customer service at the present time, I have had to deal
more with the customer one on one. However, analysis is
still a major part of my job, and there have been occasions
when my analytical skills saved a customer time and
money, but it is no longer the main focus of my job.”
“What has been your biggest analytical challenge?”
■“Believe it or not, it was when I did an internship for a
Fortune 500 company. The project I worked on was one of
the most difficult of my career. I spent long days—as many
at 10 to 12 hours data mining. I had a specific project I was
working on for human resources and was able to show a
correlation between attendance and performance. I
presented my findings to the directors and VPs and
received great praise for my intense work.”
■“It was while I was working abroad in a marketing depart-
ment. I could see from the figures I was receiving that
there was something wrong with the introduction of a
new product. I had the team I worked with go out and
interview users to find out why we were missing our mark.
It turned out that we were targeting the wrong audience.
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