ReCAP: Brody Vogel

Name: Brody Vogel      

Employer: Principal Financial Group

Job Title: Data and Operations Research Scientist

Primary Job Functions

• My team focuses on helping Principal Global Investors make better decisions that are driven by data. Specifically, most of my work is on projects for Principal Global Fixed Income and Principal Global Equities. These projects typically entail using advanced quantitative methods like statistical learning and optimization to drive or improve investment products.

Date CAP Certification Was Earned

June 17, 2019
 

How did you first hear about CAP?

The CAP is a core requirement for my team; I wasn’t aware of it before joining. It was introduced to me as a certification that proves my team is truly qualified to do analytics work.
 

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

The exam was about as hard as I expected it to be. I felt like I had studied a lot, but there were still a fair number of questions that got me. The study guide was a very good resource, though; I think it had me well prepared.

How does being a CAP help in your workplace?

The CAP made me more aware of various approaches for solving problems. A big part of being a data scientist, I think, is knowing the right tool for the job, so the CAP has been useful insofar as it got me thinking about things that I should add to my tool belt.

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

I think there’s certainly an element of verification that comes with being a CAP. Anyone with the certification should be able to perform well on a wide variety of analytics tasks. So, yes, I think the CAP applies across careers as a sign of aptitude.

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

… knowing the available and appropriate methodologies for most analytics problems and staying current as those methodologies change.

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

I’ve noticed an urgency in adopting analytics practices, seemingly spurred by strong evidence that they add significant value. More and more professionals at Principal are looking to use analytics in their day-to-day processes, which I’m excited about.