Scottish Government

During my time as a Government Statistician I have worked in Education, Census, Transport Scotland and am currently working on the Detect Cancer Early programme in Health.  In each of my posts I have found the work varied, interesting and rewarding. The managed move structure allows breadth and depth of experience to be gained of topic areas and working with a range of internal and external colleagues, stakeholders and the public. There are also opportunities for formal training to develop statistical and broader skills.

Sara Conroy, Summer 2013

I am a Statistician within the Human Resources Department of the Scottish Government. My role is extremely varied and covers a wide range of topics from providing data and analysis to support decisions on workforce planning, to providing analytical support to inform negotiations on pay for employees. I joined the Scottish Government in 2003 and have had the opportunity to experience a wide variety of posts. Common to all my postings is a strong sense of relevance and purpose of being involved with issues that affect real people’s lives.

James Boyce, Summer 2013

I joined the Scottish Government in 2009. Since then, I’ve worked in Labour Market Statistics (examining survey data for patterns in employment and unemployment), Justice (using administrative data from courts, police, prisons etc to look for trends in crime, conviction rates and sentence lengths) and Agriculture (producing an annual balance sheet to estimate the total income from farming in Scotland) before moving to my current post where we work on estimates of economic growth. The regular rotation of posts is a big selling point for me, ensuring that you’re always kept on your toes!

Gregor Berry, Summer 2013

I joined the Scottish Government in October 2012 through an external recruitment drive for the Stats Group. With my background in biology and scientific research, I wasn’t too sure how easy it would be to adapt to my new role as an Assistant Statistician. However, the Stats Group have an Induction Programme for new starts which I have found to be extremely helpful. Once a month for the first eight months, seminars are held that cover various different topics giving an insight into statistics in the Scottish Government. Most importantly, the Induction Programme allowed me to network with other statisticians and make friends! The working environment here is very supportive and you are provided with many opportunities to learn and develop.

Rebecca Muir, Summer 2013