Spotlight on Cornelia-Madalina Suta

We recently interviewed Principal Economist Madalina Suta about what inspired her to become an economist, what projects she is most proud of and advice she would give to any aspiring economists.

Tell us about your role at Cambridge Econometrics

I am a Principal Economist within the Society team. My responsibilities include leading the employment and skills research area for the European and Global market.

What happens in a typical day – what does your job involve?

A typical day as a Principal Economist involves communicating, writing, checking, learning and decision-making. A day without meetings with colleagues is rare!

I lead or contribute to proposals and projects and I am in contact with colleagues across all the offices. In both cases, I perform tasks such as data collection, coding and report writing.

Learning is an important aspect of my job and it can be anything from a new method to a keyboard shortcut!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

That it is never boring!

I work with different people on various tasks and topics every day, from directing one project to being the expert in another.

I am not reinventing the wheel every day, I might re-use code, method of analysis or the structure of the report, but never in the same way. There is always an added value aspect even in repeating tasks.

Which piece of work are you most proud of?

I am proud of all the projects I have worked on. The more challenging the project is, the more I enjoy it.

A challenge does not mean a difficult method needs to be used, the challenge is using something simple to analyse a complex issue.

The project that I am most fond of is the deforestation study for the European Parliament. I used my background in agricultural economics to deliver an excellent analysis for the client.

What inspired you to become an economist?

I’ve always loved mathematics and science related subjects. The undergraduate major I therefore chose included a mixture of statistics, modelling and economics.

My PhD then helped me understand how economic theory can shape our society.

Being an economist means that I can apply economic theory to complex policy areas and make a real difference to communities and society at large.

What advice would you give to someone looking at economics as a career?

If you like math/quantitative analysis and you want to contribute to how our society works, then economics is the right career choice for you.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I enjoy spending time with friends. The pandemic has made it easier to reconnect with friends that are scattered around the globe. Outside work, I prefer to do something more practical such as knitting.

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