An economist and senior manager at Amazon in Seattle, Washington, Wen Ci pairs applied econometrics with large data sets to discover insights from data. She then translates these insights into advice and guidance for senior company leaders.
“Having a real-world impact is very motivating,” says Ci, whose professional journey in North America began with her graduate studies in Economics at Carleton University.
As an international student, navigating differences in language and academic curriculum was tough at times. Coming to Canada from China, she had to adapt to how English is used in day-to-day conversations and bridge knowledge gaps between undergrad in China and what is taught here.
But, with the help of the Carleton community, Ci excelled—completing both a Master’s and a PhD with the Department of Economics.
“The professors were really good because they knew there were differences and provided detailed guidance on how we could fill in those gaps,” Ci notes. “They made sure we could do well in the class.”
“Employers want to see that you have experience dealing with data and running analysis,” says Ci, emphasizing that a student’s personal understanding of economic techniques is more important than individual test scores or class grades.
Having gained this experience at Carleton, Ci now enjoys the fast-paced and dynamic work environment of providing economic business advice to one of the largest online retailers in the world. She also used these same skills to succeed in her earlier work as a Policy Analyst for Statistics Canada.
She offers praise for Carleton’s Economics program: “Everything I do I learned in graduate school.”
Monday, January 8, 2024 in Alumni Profile, Department of Economics, General, News
Share: Twitter, Facebook
