From left: David Morganstein (Westat/George Mason Statistics Department Advisory Board), Binbing Yu (AstraZeneca/MedImmune), Pin Ren (MedImmune), Siyu Qing (EY), Gonzalo Rivero (Westat), and Christine Wagner (McKinley Advisors)

A classroom filled to capacity with students is the last sight you would expect on a Saturday, yet the Washington Statistical Society and The George Washington University Statistics Department managed to buck the trend when they hosted a career day in statistics and data science at the school on April 1.

Nearly 70 undergraduate and graduate students attended the six-hour, multiple-panel event featuring 13 speakers from industry, including the pharmaceutical, surveys and polling, and statistical consulting industries. The students capitalized on the opportunity to ask questions and hear from area leaders and hiring officials about how to best make the leap from the classroom to the workplace.

Perhaps most popular was the networking lunch, affording the students a more casual opportunity to interact with individual panelists over sandwiches one-on-one or in small groups. The day ended with a social hour for continuing lunchtime conversations or engaging in new networking opportunities.

“We began work on this event last October,” noted Arnold Saunders, the Washington Statistical Society student representative. “The ASA student chapters at George Mason and The George Washington University partnered to enthusiastically support it from the start. The day’s success owes much to their leadership, advocacy, and volunteerism.”

Washington Statistical Society president, Michael Larsen, agreed. “We are fortunate to have such active student chapters. Hopefully, this is the first of many annual events.”

Financial support for the career day came from the Washington Statistical Society, the American Statistical Association, and The George Washington University Department of Statistics.

Visit the WSS website to read about upcoming events and activities.