Joe Ratterman: From Analyst to Full-Time

Joe Ratterman is a Cincinnati-native and two-time University of Cincinnati graduate, completing a Bachelor’s in Accounting & Operations and Master’s in Business Analytics (MS BANA). Through the MS BANA program, Joe developed skills in statistics, technical tools, and data manipulation, and most importantly, honed his critical thinking skills. As Joe entered his final year in the BANA program, he was framing his next steps.

While Joe was introduced to AMEND years ago, an opportunity didn’t strike until after the Stairtek Case Competition in early 2019, where his team placed second. Joe used the case competition as an opportunity to learn more about AMEND and to showcase the skills he acquired from the MS BANA program in a real-world setting.

Upon meeting more of the team and understanding Joe’s personality, we knew Joe was a culture and talent fit. Joe joined the  AMEND Analyst program in summer 2019, with a track to go full-time after graduation.

The Beginning: AMEND Analyst Program

 Joe hit the ground running in the AMEND Analyst Program. “Coming out of college, I knew my biggest opportunity would be working on soft skills.” 

Within the first week of the Analyst Program, Joe was leading client meetings on his own. Joe loved being thrust into the situation, exclaiming with a laugh, “You’re going to learn how to ‘do,’ or you’re going to fail fast.”

With the “fight or flight” mentality, Joe attributes most of his growth in soft skills to being thrown into situations where he had to take immediate responsibility.

As an Analyst, Joe also saw his technical skills ramp up, preparing him for the workload of a full-time team member. “My skills in R and SQL have definitely gotten better. With programming, you have to put in the work to really dive into the languages. It’s a snowball effect of learning the more you use them.”

As end of his internship neared, he received a full-time offer letter, which elevated his level of responsibility even further.

“I had a lot of fun working in the summer…I liked the environment and the people I worked with — that really sold me on wanting to go full-time.” 

Shifting to Full-Time

As Joe transitioned to full-time, he moved from operations projects to work rooted in analytics. “I took over the scheduling for one of our clients. AMEND saw that I was capable of handling it after going through the Analyst Program.”

For his first full-time project, Joe was put on a team with Paul Bessire, our in-house, self-proclaimed Analytics Nerd. Bessire’s background in sports analytics excited Joe and served as a resource in jumpstarting his analytics career. “Working with Paul, I’ve learned methods to use for predictive forecasting and optimization. He’s also shown me his methodology behind tackling analytics projects without getting overwhelmed.”

The biggest differentiator for Joe is the freedom he gets at AMEND. “You get to craft your role and use your own unique ideas to solve clients’ problems.”

Uplifting Future Analysts

As Joe embarks on his career in analytics, he has some advice for Analysts just starting their journey. “You really have to find the balance of getting what you need, but also getting the work done quickly. It’s really just speed vs. quality, and balancing those out.”

“Branch out and meet other people, and see where you can help out on other projects. Look for opportunities on your current project to expand what you’re doing. I was constantly looking for ways to apply software programming to help myself and others with what they’re doing.”’

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We’ve got the smartest, most talent-dense nerds. Period. Come check out our team, and see how you can grow exponentially through our AMEND Analyst Program.

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