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Asked by anon-362062 to Tom, Shanine, Nathan, Emily K, Dmitry, Catherine, Camilla, Áine on 17 Apr 2023.
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Tom Bullock answered on 17 Apr 2023:
Engineering in research needs a combination skills; to understand the science involved, great collaboration with other people and to manage different types of risks very well. I find this hard, but a rewarding challenge that I’m still learning to be better at.
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Camilla Cassidy answered on 17 Apr 2023:
As a data analyst my job is to solve problems, or help people understand what the situation is so that they can come up with their own ways to solve those problems. What I find challenging – but also very fun – is balancing what I know logically about a situation (what I can prove, what I can justify with statistics and numbers) with the real world, which is often unpredictable.
Imagine you were asked to compare how groups of people did in an exam, and you did the maths and came back to the customer and presented to them your findings that in Team 1 the average score is 4 and in Team 2 the average score is 5. You start telling them what you would recommend based on Team 2 being the better team, only to learn that the people who marked Team 1 are actually much harsher markers. Suddenly you can’t just compare the Teams based on facts and numbers, you’re having to communicate differently to the different markers, to understand and figure out how big that potential difference could be, and to recommend ways to the customer that we can make their marking more trustworthy and consistent in future.
Being an analyst isn’t just about numbers, but leaving the comfort zone of numbers to work with actual real work problems. This can be difficult, but is always interesting!
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Dmitry Dereshev answered on 18 Apr 2023:
Some data consultants find programming hard; others – presenting their work in a way that works for their listeners. Personally, I think it is understanding and solving the challenge that a client poses that is both the most challenging and the most rewarding part of my work.
Imagine every 2 weeks you get a random textbook either from your own school year, the one above or the one below. 2-3 random chapters are picked from that book, and you are asked to prepare for a test or write an essay based on those chapters.
Sometimes you get lucky, and the textbook’s subject is the one you like. Sometimes it’s on a subject that you didn’t even know existed, and the chapters read like alien writing. You can ask others for help while preparing, but the test/essay you have to pass on your own.
If you manage to apply your own understanding of the subject, that of your peers, and use that to successfully solve client’s problem – you aced it! 🎉 But don’t celebrate for too long – every 2 weeks a new challenge drops in, and it may be that alien writing again 👾
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Shanine Smith answered on 18 Apr 2023:
The most difficult part of my job is the uncertainty (‘not knowing how to do things’).
For example, I carry our experiments that have never been done before, which is a big part of getting your PhD as you have to provide new research.
But because no-one has done it before, there is no way to check If I am doing it right.
This can make me doubt my results and wonder if my data is real or a mistake.
But, I am getting better at trusting my experience to tell me if something seems real or wrong or too good to be true.
Even though it is difficult, it is also exciting being the first person to try something and when you keep repeating the same experiment and get the same results every time, you know you must be doing something right. -
Catherine Holt answered on 18 Apr 2023:
Sometimes I get asked for things with only a short deadline. A piece of information or my views can be needed in minutes or hours. I also do a lot of problem solving, having to make quick decisions and pulling together the right team and information to answer the question or address the problem. It can be difficult juggling all the things that are needed but it makes life interesting and it is never boring.
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Áine Uí Ghiollagáin answered on 28 May 2023:
When experiments don’t go as planned or things take longer than expected we may have to work longer hours and try different things to deliver.
Comments
anon-361958 commented on :
do you struggle
Paula commented on :
Hi – don’t tell anyone but I’m actually an Engineer!! When things go wrong and you have to make decisions quickly – but it is also the most excitng part !!