Demographer Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a demographer. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a demographer.
Who is a Demographer?
Demographers are social science students who specialize in the area of studying the human population. Demography is the study of collective populations, which cut across all societies, nationalities, religions, ethnicities, and educational levels. Demography is a field that is a branch of geography and a branch of sociology that focus primarily on studying the world’s population. Demography in layman’s terms is a field of study of statistics that includes: births, deaths, migration, and the change in human population t a particular period. Demographers get to learn about the population size, compositions, and also distribution of the population across the environment.
Demographers are social scientist who observes an environment to know how people live, work and interact with each other to better comprehend population change. Demographers may focus on a particular area of interest such as the growth in population, decline in population, fertility rates, and mortality rates. Becoming a demographer is highly beneficial because demographers are in high demand both by gov government and private sectors for population-related-based research and also analysis. It is also beneficial because demographers are required by industries to inform companies about how to develop the market and enhance their brands so that people in a demographic environment can be part of it.
Demographer Job Description
Below are the demographer job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The following are the duties and responsibilities of a demographer:
- Computing growth rates for populations based on birth and death rates
- Compiling data on births, deaths, marriages, divorces, migration trends, and many more for specific geographic areas
- Administering surveys and interviews to gather information on topics related to human behavior, such as family structure, living arrangements, and health care needs
- Generating projections about population trends based on available data
- Researching economic, cultural, political, and environmental factors that affect population growth or decline over time
- Specifying challenges facing communities, including possible solutions
- Examining demographic data using statistical software
- Formulating reports based on research findings, which may be presented at academic conferences or to community groups
- Instructing courses in demography or other relevant fields at colleges or universities.
- Conserving a record of the population’s births, marriages, and deaths
- Communicating and making strategic plans to conduct research
- Researching and accessing the effects of population movements.
- Proposing improvement plans and strategies follow
- Utilizing modeling software to back up predictions
- Examining other sources of information to back up findings from statistical analysis of data
- Designing surveys and launching data collection
- Promoting future trends to government, social agencies, and private clients
- Collecting secondary data and collecting primary data
- Writing and publishing reports
Qualifications
Education: The basic qualification for a demographer is a bachelor’s degree in economics, statistics, urban and regional planning, demography, or any related field. Some employers may also prefer that a candidate possess a master’s degree in demography or a related field to increase his or her career prospects.
Training & Experience: Most demographers receive their job training in form of a mentorship program or from other demographers who have advanced in the field. For them to get well trained, they need to volunteer in an organization that deals with statistics for them to get the basic skills to become a successful demographer.
Certifications & Licenses: Demographers need to get a license to practice their profession legally. Each country has a Board of Statistics and Demography that gives licenses to demographers and also supervises the profession. The basic requirement to obtain a license varies from state to state but the basic requirement is a master’s degree in demography or a similar field. Most licenses also demand that the job candidate possess some number of years of experience in the field of demography.
Essential Skills
- Data Analysis: Demographers utilize their data analysis skills to interpret demographic data and also to give future projections about trends. Demographers may utilize data analysis skills to formulate demographic models that can project population growth, mortality rates, and other demographic trends. Demographers may also utilize their data analysis skills to assess the results of surveys and other research to comprehend the demographics of survey participants.
- Communication: Demographers often communicate with diverse kinds of people such as demographers, government officials, the general public, and business owners. Effective communication skills can also equip you to interpret complex demographic data for diverse audiences. It is also an added advantage if you can speak another foreign language because you will need to communicate with people in other countries.
- Mathematics: Demographers utilize their mathematics skills to make calculations about population growth and population decrease as well as the age, gender, and breakdown of a population. They employ their mathematical skills to ascertain the people who are living currently in a particular area and those who have died in the past year or each year. Demographers also utilize mathematics to estimate the average age of the population and the average life expectancy of a population.
- Research: Demographers need to be able to make research demographic trends and also strategies for them to analyze data. The research covers areas such as census data, historical data, and other sources of data to comprehend the change in population at a particular time. Demographers also need to be able to research demographic trends in diverse areas to comprehend how the population can change in the nearest future.
- Technology: Demographers also need to have the knowledge and be familiar with the latest technology in demography for them to successfully carry out their responsibilities. In the course of their career, they may get to utilize software to formulate graphs and charts to present their findings. Demographers may also utilize technology to convey messages to other professionals, such as statisticians who can help them to analyze and interpret data.
How to Become a Demographer
- Acquire a Bachelor’s Degree
The first step to becoming a demographer is to enroll for a bachelor’s degree in Economics, Sociology, Statistics, and Urban and regional planning. Statistics is one of the important courses because most demographers use statistics to present their findings. This degree will expose you to the fundamentals of the field of demography. Most demographers gain experience during their undergraduate days when they work on research projects.
- Get an Advanced Degree
You will need to possess a master’s degree or a doctoral degree in sociology or statistics to become a demographer. Those with an undergraduate degree cannot have a progressive career in the field of demography because they are usually employed as research assistants on different types of demographic projects or they head their research. A master’s degree will expose you to a lot of opportunities in the and also you will get the autonomy to work in your area of interest. Getting a master’s degree is highly relevant because demographers specialize in narrower scopes. Some might study the number of women or minorities in a particular industry, educational field, or any area of interest. Some demographers may contribute to the academic world by studying the effects of high school and college education on people and also how many children have access to it. These are the kind of data demographers shed more light on and acquiring an advanced degree can enable the demographer to carry out the research perfectly. The duration of a master’s degree is two years and demographers that enroll in doctoral studies are often employed as market research interviewers or college instructors.
Demographers can enroll in the following Postgraduate Courses:
- of Arts (M.A) in Demography/Population
- Master of Arts (M.A) in Population Studies
- Master of Population Studies
- in Population and Geography
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Biostatistics and Demography
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) Demography/ Population Studies
- Gain the Necessary Experience
Most demographers start getting experience in their undergraduate days when they carry out an educational research project. Carrying out research is very much vital to a demographer to give them the requisite experience they need. The research projects primarily focus on contributing factors such as changes in population, immigration, and birth rates. The research involves the gathering of statistical data, identification of the latest trends, and also projections of future trends based on collected data. Demographers are very much comfortable working with tedious data and making accurate projections based on the information gathered. They need to possess strong mathematical skills, statistics, and knowledge of probability theories are very much helpful for a demographer. They need to also have experience working with statistical modeling software which might be relevant and often desired by future employers.
- Get the job
Once you have all the educational requirements, you can proceed to draft your resume. Attach the resume with a cover letter to apply for jobs. In the course of your undergraduate degree, you may begin your career by working as a research assistant. Entry-level demographers can be employed to do interviews or to test questionnaires and studies such as census, you can also undertake different types of fieldwork. In the course of their doctoral studies, students can get employed as college instructors or interviewers for market research organizations. These jobs will enable you to find field experience and also get contract jobs. Population associations usually hold annual conferences where demographers can get to meet with prospective employers. These job organizations also publish job advertisements in their journals.
Where to Work as a Demographer
Demographers mainly work in offices but they can travel to various locations to gather data or attend a conference. They spend so much of their time assessing data, drafting reports, and also preparing presentations. They also hold lecture sessions about their work or teach classes. Demographers work 40 hours per week or more if the need arises. They usually work for extended hours to meet up with deadlines and to attend conferences or meetings. Demographers often work in the following places:
- Demographers are employed in many sectors of society. They are often employed by social service agencies and government programs which often rely on them for plans. Government agencies often recruit demographers to work in their research departments. Private business and market research often employ demography in preparing for advertising, product developments, and other aspects. Demographers are employed by news agencies, electric companies, mapmakers, and nonprofit organizations.
- Demographers that work for government agencies work under the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They hire demographers to research the number of government agencies, news organizations, and corporations. They also work under the Bureau of Census which needs the service of demographers to plan and interpret census data.
- Corporations and market research organizations also employ demographers. An electric company can also employ demographers to make projections about the local population and also electrify consumption habits. Demographers can provide these projections.
- Mapmakers also employ demographers to map out population data for specific geographical areas. Demographersutilize computers to carry out this task as expected. There are large organizations that often hire demographers with a background in demography. These reports can dig into issues such as the Effect of Future Immigration or brain drain in a particular country.
Demographer Salary Scale
The salary of a demographer varies across different countries and locations, below are examples of some countries:
- In the United States, Demographers in America generate an average salary of $73,254 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $137,000 per year. Demographers in America earn an average salary of $73,254 per year or $35 per hour. The average demographer’s salary in New York, New York is $102470, or a comparable hourly rate of $49.
- In the United Kingdom, The average demographer’s gross salary in the United Kingdom is £44,812 or a comparable hourly rate of £22. In addition, they receive an average bonus of £1,156.
- In Canada, The average demographer’s gross salary in Toronto, Ontario is $95,671, or a comparable hourly rate of $46.
- In Australia, The average demographer’s gross salary in Sydney, Australia is $107,757 or a comparable hourly rate of $52.
- In South Africa, The average demographer’s salary in South Africa is R571,987, or a comparable hourly rate of R275.
- In India, The average demographer’s gross salary in India is ₹11,37,878 or a comparable hourly rate of ₹547. The average demographer’s salary in Mumbai, India is ₹12,28513 or a comparable hourly rate of ₹591.