Rhian Davies

"The Investigator and Explorer parts of my personality are essential to working as a data scientist. Most of my job is delving into data, asking questions to domain experts and experimenting. I often think that being a data scientist is like being a detective! The other big parts of my personality are Trainer and Coordinator. I love to help people and I enjoy teaching people how to programme. "

"I work as a data scientist. I collect and analyse data sets. I talk to people about their data. I build mathematical models in order to understand data. I visualise the data, in a graph for example, and explain any finding back to the clients. I really enjoy engaging with people and learning new things. The great thing about being a data scientist/statistician is that you get to play with all sorts of interesting data sets. Currently, I work for a very small company and there isn't a higher role which I can progress to. However, in most companies, there would be a lead data scientist and other higher positions. There is also the potential to start your own consultancy business."

"My Maths teachers have always been very supportive and encouraged me to keep studying Mathematics. My friends, who I met on my PhD course, are all very inspiring. It's fascinating to see the huge variety of jobs which they have gone on to do. During my undergraduate course, I still loved Maths but I HATED Statistics. I thought the courses were really boring and just couldn't get excited by it. However, I signed up for a Statistics Internship one summer and once I realised how statistics is actually used day to day - I fell in love with it!"

"I live in a beautiful part of the world and love getting outside, whether it's running in the hills, cycling to a cafe or swimming in a river. I think this also appeals to the Explorer part of my brain! I also enjoy knitting, crochet and sewing which can be very logical and methodical. I also play percussion in my local orchestra."

"Most of my day is spent using a programming language (such as R or Python) writing code to interpret data. Another large part of my day is communicating with clients to help them understand how we are handling their data and explaining findings to them. I work from home most days and I find it easier to do any complex coding working from home. However, I also enjoy travelling to chat with clients and run training courses. My hours are often flexible, which is great as I can often come in early and squeeze in a short cycle ride after work, or get away for the weekend a little earlier on a Friday!"

"Secondary education (GCSE/O-Levels) Post secondary education (College, A-levels, NVQ3 or equivalent) Double A Level Maths (Grade AA) Physics (C) AS Level Computing (A) Undergraduate degree (BSc, BA, etc.) BSc in Mathematics with Statistics Post-graduate degree (MSc, MA, etc.) Doctorate (PhD) PhD in Statistics Numerous communication courses as part of my PhD scheme. "