ReCAP: Kathryn Walter

Name: Kathryn Walter

Employer: ORTEC

Job Title: Analytics & Optimization Consultant

Primary Job Functions

• I perform operations research for a variety of clients.

Date CAP Certification Was Earned

March 30, 2017
 

How did you first hear about CAP?

From a former coworker at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. She knew about CAP and was trying to get funding for everyone in our office (Strategic Workforce Planning and Human Resources Analytics) to get certified. When the money didn’t materialize, I decided to pursue it on my own. 

Was the exam harder or easier than you thought it would be?

Mostly easier. I didn’t know much of what to expect, so I prepared for a grueling exam. The only people I knew at the time who were already CAPs had taken the exam when it first came out and had decades of experience. I was worried the exam would involve too many terms or concepts that I hadn’t encountered in my relatively limited experience and weren’t included in the study materials. I was pleased to find very few things on the test that I didn’t recognize.

How does being a CAP help in your workplace?

Being a CAP helped me show the importance of both analytics and valuing the people who do analytics while I was still in the U.S. Coast Guard. I separated from active military service in July 2018. In the USCG, most jobs involving operations research are seen as something analysts do once for a three-to-four year stint. The organization sent me and many others to graduate school and then underutilized our skills, often expecting us to perform tasks like updating someone else’s pie charts. One senior officer summed up what he thought my office did when he said that he could do analytics, too, if only he had time to learn [Microsoft Excel] Pivot Tables and VLOOKUPs. Being a CAP gave me great ammunition for showing how my fellow analysts and I could do more than the status quo. It helped me explain why operations research analysts should be given more challenging tasks, better resources to perform analytics, and long-term career paths. The organization is slowly coming to realize the importance and power of analytics and people with analytics skills.

Do you think CAP should serve as a hiring mechanism? Should it apply equally to government jobs as industry jobs?

Based on my recent experience searching for my first job outside the military, I think CAP gives candidates a boost. A big motivation for me to become a CAP was in marketing myself. While I knew having a master’s in O.R. would likely be the largest factor in being competitive for the jobs I wanted, I was concerned that potential employers would not see my military experience in analytics as applicable to their organizations. Having the certification put me on a more level playing field. I also found CAP to be a good conversation topic. People either wanted to know about my experience with it or simply what it was; either way, the question opened the door to discuss my overall knowledge and experience with analytics.

Finish this sentence: To me, being a Certified Analytics Professional means…

...that I have knowledge and experience in analytics and have a nationally recognized certification to prove it.

What are current issues/trends/challenges in analytics that you see?

One trend I see is the use of the word “analytics” everywhere. When I was applying to graduate schools in 2014, a former professor suggested I look into programs focused on analytics. He had to explain the word to me - it was my first time hearing it. Now I hear the word used by people to describe any number related to data or any form of analysis, which can get a bit frustrating. At the same time, it’s exciting to see more and more decision makers recognizing and utilizing analytics. People who have never heard of operations research or management science are happy to discuss their thoughts on analytics. By the way, after I became a CAP, I told the professor about my experience with it; he has since also become a CAP.