What does your job consist of?
I produce, develop and analyze educational statistics, especially in the domain of higher education.
What do you like most about your job?
The fact that I can work on very different tasks and projects at the same time. There is a great deal of flexibility in SSB work, so I have the opportunity to elaborate on the projects that I find most exciting. I also have the opportunity to increase my knowledge in programming and theoretical statistics by attending courses and seminars offered by the agency.
How do you make use of your education in your job?
I benefit most from the statistics and econometric courses, especially when working with production and development of educational statistics. I also benefit from the social economics courses when writing analysis and news articles.
How is a typical day at work?
Fortunately, there is no such thing. One day I am working on statistics and articles to be published on ssb.no. Another day I'll be working on statistics deliveries to the EU, OECD and UNESCO. Sometimes I attend international conferences abroad to discuss the development of educational indicators.
How did you get the job?
I wrote a good application for the position with the help of the Career Services at the University of Oslo. I wrote my master's thesis on education and I worked for the administration at the University of Oslo while studying, so I had a convincing case for my interest in education.
What is your advice for students who want your type of job?
To learn and master different programming languages - especially statistical software such as R, Python, Stata, etc. Having programming skills beyond the basic level makes you a lot more attractive in the labor market.
What do you think is the best thing about studying at UiO?
I love sports, so I enjoyed being at SiO's fitness centers at Blindern and Forskningsparken. I also miss the social environment, especially playing football on Fridays with people from the Department of Economics. It's a tradition still going strong.
(This interview was originally conducted in Norwegian and has been translated to English.)