Landing a data scientist position with the Internal Revenue Service
November 2024 – Lisa Stites C’21, G’23 came to Drew University seeking a liberal arts education to explore a career path. She was also looking for small class sizes to foster relationships with her professors.
“I wanted to be able to take a variety of classes to figure out what I liked best and Drew offered just that with its liberal arts education,” said Stites.
Stites declared her major in business, further targeting her career path towards data science after taking statistics and coding classes. She decided to build upon her degree in business with a Master of Science in Data Science.
“I really enjoyed the statistics and coding classes I had taken as an undergrad and those classes helped me realize that data science was the career path I wanted to pursue,” said Stites. “I knew that a master’s degree would make me more competitive in the job market and provide me with additional skills that are crucial to a career in data science.”
Drew’s MS in Data Science focuses on statistics, data science, and programming—engaging students in data analytics projects and internship opportunities across many different disciplines and industries.
Today, with two Drew degrees under her belt, Stites is a data scientist at the Internal Revenue Service. Read on to learn more about her decision to stay at Drew to earn her master’s in Data Science.
Have your Drew degrees helped you achieve your career goals?
My Drew degrees helped me in my career by building the foundational skills necessary to succeed in highly analytical and technical positions. I think my undergrad degree in business and my graduate degree in data science gave me the analytical and coding skills necessary to land two internships in data operations and data science, which then helped me get to where I am today as a data scientist in the federal government.
The Center for Career Development at Drew definitely helped me with career advice, such as feedback on my resume and just having someone to talk things through with.
What are your future goals?
My future goals are to continue learning and growing in my current position, as well as build new skills in data science along the way since this is a field where you can continuously learn new analytical techniques and methods.
