Profile
Paul Terrill
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About Me:
I live close to the hills in Church Stretton, Shropshire. I have a wife and two children; the older having just finished university and the younger still at university. In my free time I do archery, running, dancing and am learning to drum, as well as go camping when I can fit it in.
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My pronouns are:
He/Him
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How I Use Maths In My Job:
I use maths to help understand and analyze data from experiments to make sure new medicines work well and are safe before they are given to people.
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My Work:
I work as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry. I help design, run and analyse clinical trials (experiments that test new medicines in humans) before medicines can be made available for doctors to give to patients.
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My Typical Day:
I mostly work from home. I am not very good at getting out of bed in the morning so get up around 7:30 to 8.
I start work around 9 after breakfast and two mugs of tea and finish around 5 or 6 but can be very flexible. I have several breaks during the day including a lunch break. I’m sat in front of my computer when working, writing/reviewing documents or attending online meetings. A lot of the people I work with live in America so I tend to be busier and in more meetings in the afternoon when America wakes up.
In the evenings I go dancing (Monday), do archery (Tuesday and Thursday), go running (Wednesday) and have pizza and ‘film’ club with the family at home (Friday).
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Education:
I went to secondary school and sixth form in Rickmansworth. I then went to Aberystwyth University in Wales for my first degree, and Unversity of Kent for my PhD.
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Qualifications:
9 GCSEs
4 A levels
Degree in Applied Mathematiocs and Statistics
PhD in statistics
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Work History:
My first job was using maths/statistics to help develop pesticides for crops. I then became a trainer for a computer software company, teaching people how to use the software to analyse data. After that I joined the pharmaceutical industry as a statistician, and have been there ever since.
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Current Job:
Statistician and director of my company.
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Employer:
I work for myself and have multiple customers.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Fun, active statistician
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to be an accountant as that was pretty much all I thought of doing with maths.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes, but not very often.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Rather than go into maths I would have chosen to be a physicist. I liked both at school.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
No single favourite. I like a wide variety of music.
What's your favourite food?
Curry.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Better archer, better drummer, more free time.
Tell us a joke.
Why are there no aspatins in the jungle. Because the parrots ate them all (paracetamol).
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