You’ve Come a Long Way, Barbie

Maybe Barbie and her manufacturer, Mattel, have caught wind of the news that math-based jobs are now considered sexy. Or maybe it’s that at 50 years old and having tried more than 120 other careers, Barbie is going for something a little more fulfilling than achieving the perfect Malibu tan. Whatever the reason, the latest version of the Barbie® I Can Be™ dolls is … wait for it … a computer engineer.

Perhaps even more interesting is how this latest iteration of the Barbie brand came to be. It seems Mattel ran a poll on its Website asking girls to vote for Barbie’s next career and, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, adult female computer engineers “launched a viral campaign on the Internet to get out the vote and ensure Barbie would join their ranks.” Talk about life imitating consumerism. The rallying cry that brought in the votes? “Help Barbie get her Geek on!”

This wasn’t just a whim or a Twitter phenomenon. Many heavy-hitting organizations backed the campaign, including the National Academy of Engineers and the Chicago-based Society of Women Engineers. It seems the industry as a whole is eager to recreate its image.

According to a follow-up WSJ article, despite the fact the computer engineering is a well-paid, fast growing career, only half as many women are graduating in the field today than did so 20 years ago. Ann Zimmerman wrote: “Other research suggests that young people in general, and especially girls, often don’t know exactly what a computer-science career entails.” Can a Barbie doll turn the tide and encourage young girls to pursue a career in math and science? Only time will tell.

For those of you who are interested in pushing for a Statistician Barbie or a Mathematician Barbie or maybe even a Marketing Research Barbie, you may want to contact the American Statistical Association to get a jump start on next year’s vote. In the meantime, if you’re more concerned with your own career outlook than Barbie’s, you should be feeling pretty good these days. According to 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment of mathematicians is expected to increase by 22 percent during the 2008–18 decade, which is much faster than average for all occupations.” We concur, and would be happy to talk to you about how to plan your next career move.

In the Swim of Things

Jay taking a dip in a saltwater oasis near the Libyan border.

Like many families with school-aged children, we recently returned from a spring break vacation. We needed a break from the long Chicago winter — a little bit of warmth and relaxation and, of course, some swimming.

What is it about swimming that makes kids so happy? It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s an Olympic pool at a luxury resort, a small spring-fed lake in Wisconsin, or one of the great oceans of the world — if you can swim in it, my kids are in their element.

This trip, I chose to lounge by the pool as Jackson (12), Jay and Becky (14), and our Japanese exchange student Yuichi (17) splashed their way through our vacation. They are all good swimmers, so my main priority was to make sure they didn’t disturb the other guests. Watching them swim and play, I thought about the wonder of water and how water recreation is such a global phenomenon — for kids of all ages.

Those of you who know our family, know that we are seasoned travelers. After a four-year hiatus prompted by a very unpleasant plane ride when the twins were two and Jackson was an infant, my husband Doug and I were eager to hit the road again. And the kids are happy to tag along — as long as there is the promise of swimming.

Over the years, those swimming experiences have taken many turns. We have played in local public pools in Japan, where it was easy to spot my American children in a sea of black-haired Asian swimmers. We’ve been doused by a waterfall and a simultaneously drenching monsoon rain in Chang Mai, Thailand. Once, we jumped off a fishing boat into the muddy Amazon shortly after catching piranha, and we have even squeezed in a quick dip at the Heathrow airport hotel pool during a six-hour layover on our way to Africa.

In Egypt, we were forced to make a beeline for the pier after spotting a giant stingray while snorkeling at Sharm el Sheik. Still in Egypt, Becky and I were the only girls in sight jumping off the masonry edge of Cleopatra’s pool in Siwa, among several dozen school-aged boys, all taking a break from the 110° heat. While swimming in the Nile was discouraged, the kids spent every afternoon joyfully doing cannonballs into the cruise boat’s postage-stamp-sized pool. In Morocco, each riad (or courtyard home) had a beautiful pool, which I suspect were designed more for aesthetic purposes than natatory ones, but which provided us with a wonderful place to relax after a busy morning of touring. And closer to home, our northern Wisconsin farm has an 80-acre lake where no amount of algae bloom will prove too daunting to prevent my kids from taking the plunge.

Along the way, we’ve learned always to pack a swimsuit, because you never know when a perfect little swimming hole may present a temptation too great to resist. This year, our travel destination is Mongolia. We’re not sure how many swimming opportunities we’ll find, but we’ll be prepared. Like many of you, we’ve discovered the joys of swimming in global waters — both figuratively and literally. Have you dipped your toes into an exotic pool, or are you looking for ways to expand your horizons? We’re always interested in hearing about your goals and experiences.

Statisticians Leading NBA Teams to Victory

While centers and point guards may still get all the glory, for half the teams in the NBA, the hottest player may just be the team statistician. According to a March 12 article in the Wall Street Journal, writer David Biderman outlines how the winningest teams in basketball have “all invested heavily in statistics” and have earned a combined win average of 59.3%. The 15 teams who do not have a dedicated data analyst on board have won just 40.7% of their games. Coincidence? You know analytical professionals don’t believe in coincidence.

Neither do I. For example, it’s no coincidence that here at Burtch Works we are seeing the job market for statisticians break wide open. Industries that have never counted on data analysts before — high profile, exciting markets like the NBA — are now seeing the value that highly trained, professional statisticians can bring to the team. In fact, most of our strong candidates are receiving multiple offers, even as the economy in general is just getting up off the bench.

Are you ready to take your game to the next level?

(photo courtesy of www.freshapps.com)

2010 Forecast: Partly Sunny and Clearing

John Kenneth Galbraith once said: “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” It seems the media agrees, as they are having a hard time these days deciding whether the economy is recovering, stagnant or still on a downward slide. New numbers released almost daily can seem contradictory and confusing, so let me try to shed some light on the trends I’m seeing in the quantitative job markets.

While our industry was not hit with the same force and immediacy that struck many other fields during this recession, like the economy as a whole, we have experienced long months of layoffs and hiring freezes. The tail end of this recession seems to be following the same pattern of the 1991 downturn — a V-shaped model with a prolonged period of layoffs and hiring freezes, followed by a robust hiring recovery. This is in contrast to the 2001 recession, where hiring was slow to recover and increased only gradually over several months.

We first began to see an increase in the hiring of analytical professionals this past September, just a trickle at the time, but definitely trending upward throughout November and December — typically slow hiring periods. I’m happy to report that since the first of the year, we have been seeing widespread hiring increases throughout the country.

In many ways the layoffs in analytics, while certainly painful to those affected, were shorter and not nearly as widespread as in most disciplines. Even at the low point of the recession, most organizations understood that quantitative talent is scarce and that they would face significant challenges if they had to replace lost employees. Though bonuses may have been eliminated and salaries frozen, the vast majority of quantitative professionals kept their jobs, and most who were laid off last year have already found new positions.

The prevailing sentiment among hiring authorities is that there is an abundance of talented, qualified candidates available and eager to accept positions. This is simply not the case in analytics. Even in these early moments of the recovery, competition for the premier candidates is, as always, fierce. We are seeing multiple offers and counteroffers for the top talent in analytics.

Human resource and quantitative group heads who have been congratulating themselves on low attrition rates should take heed — pent up demand is going to whip up the recovery froth. Many analytical employees knowingly set aside growth plans for the last 18 months – choosing instead to play it safe with companies where their value was recognized, rather than risking moves where they would have short tenure, no proven history, and no established mentors. The common recessionary tactic of salary freezes or worse — pay cuts — means that those who have put career plans on hold are eager to look for growth opportunities in the recovering economy. Small or nonexistent annual bonuses (usually paid in the spring) mean that many will not wait until later in the year to look for new, more lucrative positions, creating a wave of applicants looking to jump-start their careers.

Of course, all this movement creates more openings and brings significant churn to the job market. The tsunami is coming, and I suspect it may go on for a year or more before things settle back into a normal hiring pattern.

There are certainly still challenges in some sectors. The continued weak housing market means many people are anchored to an area because they are unable to sell their homes and relocate. The area of credit analytics, while somewhat improved, will continue to offer limited growth for years to come. We have seen that salary increases as an enticement to move are still generally modest, but I suspect that will change soon. While there are some virtual positions for consultants who are willing to travel extensively, most companies are still not willing to consider corporate managers or directors who want to maintain a remote home office. Globally, we are seeing increased interest in US-trained analytics professionals, but salaries for equivalent positions in other parts of the world are much lower, so most candidates are not willing to make an international move.

Despite these lingering concerns, the outlook for the analytical job market, even at this early stage of the recovery, is very positive. Here at Burtch Works, we are busy, and when we’re busy that means clients are looking to hire and candidates are looking for new positions. Our level of activity is one of the clearest indicators that the economy — at least our part of the economy — is moving ahead at a steady pace. But please know we are never too busy to hear from you. Just give us a call or drop us an email and let us know how we can help you with your own recovery plan.

Three Thanks and a Wish

It’s pretty traditional around the holidays to do an assessment — a year in review kind of thing. Given that we are just getting started here at Burtch Works, I decided to forego that tradition for a simpler one. This year, I’d like to offer three thanks and a wish.

First, I’d like to thank my family for their support during this period of transition. Change is good. Change is inevitable. Change is hard, especially on husbands and children, or so mine keep telling me. Doug describes his role as the person who does everything I don’t want to do. And I have my son Jay hooking up and troubleshooting the computers at $5 per hour (we are a start up!). Becky and Jackson made some beautiful signs out of our logo that are all around my office. So thank you to my family for taking this exciting new ride with me.

Second, thanks to those who have worked with me to get Burtch Works up and running. This last month or so has been a whirlwind of activity, and your talent, enthusiasm and dedication are stamped on every inch of this new endeavor. Lauren Eck, Katie Ferguson and Sandy Marmitt have jumped in with energy and excitement, creating a vibrant and fun new office. I’m looking forward to writing a very positive year-in-review post next December.

Finally, thanks to all of you for your warm thoughts and good wishes, which have helped launch Burtch Works on such a positive note. I am thrilled, excited and busy … really, really busy … so I know that 2010 is going to be a good year.

And now for my wish. I could wish that I could figure out all the bells and whistles on our high tech phone system, but with Lauren’s help, I am sure I will get there. I could wish for better economic times, but every sign I see is that things are turning around. So instead, I will simply wish you a joyous holiday season and the very best for you and yours in the New Year. May it be a year of peace and prosperity, and, if you desire, a year of positive change.

Happy Holidays!

Linda Burtch

Kicking SAS?

Not if James Goodnight, statistician and CEO of the SAS Institute, has any say in the matter. Recently, the New York Times reported that the venerable software giant that created the statistical tool of choice for countless business statisticians for over three decades is under seige. New competition is threatening SAS's longstanding, comfortable position as the undisputed leader in business intelligence software.

This summer, IBM took a serious step into the business intelligence realm with their purchase of SPSS and Cognos. In a direct threat to the SAS reign, it has been widely reported that IBM intends to build a 4,000-person-strong business analytics and optimization group to provide global business support.

As the industry leader, SAS has not, upto this point, had to be concerned. In fact, SAS resisted integrating with the open programming environments and information transparency that has now turned their legacy world upside down. Free, open source coding, such as R, has been quickly adopted by academic institutions and labs, and SAS was slow to recognize the importance of this shift. Within a few short years, many graduating statisticians will be using R in the workplace, potentially usurping SAS's domination.

But SAS founder Goodnight is on the move. According to senior VP and chief technology officer Keith Collins, SAS has seen the error of it's closed-minded ways and is committed to engaging with the open source community. SAS has other strong assets that could help it maintain its dominant position in the market, including a loyal workforce with a turnover rate of just four percent. The company has worked hard to earn its reputation as a low-stress, family friendly workplace. Even despite recently reducing software development time from 24 to 36 months to 12 to 18 months, you would still be hard pressed to find an employee who has worked a 60-hour week more than two weeks in a row.

It will be interesting to see how the new strategies at SAS and the aggressive actions of its competitors will affect the rapidly expanding world of business analytics. Like Thanksgiving feasts on tables across the country last week, data and information have become the bounty of the business world. Businesses need flexible, agile tools to help them digest it in all ways that will keep them healthy and growing. To complicate matters further, static information of old - such as sales and operations data - needs to be combined with new, dynamic sources of information, such as social networking buzz, Web behavior and now easily accessible public records. Nervous yet, Mr. Goodnight?

What's Up?

The job market, I am excited to report. Any of you who are social networkers on sites like LinkedIn or who follow the job boards have probably noticed a definite uptick in activity in the last month or so. Quantitative jobs in particular have experienced a healthy surge (remember, statistics is the sexy job of the decade). So while other sectors of the job market may still be struggling, with the few exceptions noted below, your opportunities are on the increase and your marketability is strong.

I suspect we are seeing the last gasp of the recession’s grip, and I have noticed more than a handful of recent layoffs hitting some groups in marketing science and research. As we all know, the year had a gloomy start with many wide-scale layoffs hitting even the quant groups. Then, most of the summer was quiet – no job openings, but no significant layoffs either. Now, however, some companies seem to be making headcount cuts in a last ditch effort to hit margin goals. In my opinion, this is short sighted, but I expect it will be offset by a solid return to hiring in the first quarter of 2010.

So, what’s up with Burtch Works? That seems to be the question of the day. Why would I leave an established firm and start a new one now, during a recession? One reader even asked, “Are things that bad in the quant profession?” As I stated at the top of this post, quite the contrary — the job market in our industry is looking up, and my decision to start Burtch Works was based in part on having already weathered two recessions and recognizing the potential opportunities and challenges into the future.

While it may seem a bit counter intuitive, some of my best recruiting years have come directly after a recession, just before the market begins to take off. As you may have heard, “small is the new big”. Efficiency and flexibility are more important than ever, and both are easier to achieve in a dynamic, nimble environment than as part of a huge corporation. Lots of information — often too much information — is available to both job seekers and companies looking to meet their staffing needs. But it takes experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. My value to clients and candidates alike comes from a proven ability to sift through those mountains of information to get the right people into the right jobs — in a timely, efficient manner.

Burtch Works is my vision for meeting the unique executive recruiting needs of the quantitative and marketing professions, and we are open for business. I have been surprised and overwhelmed by your words of encouragement and good wishes as I begin this new venture. It’s a thrilling, hectic time, and your support means the world to me. Thank you! Together, I’m sure we will build something great.