Siddarth Roche uses data to… take the ‘temperature’ of Australian businesses
Even when he was young, Siddarth had an interest in business. “I used to have my own store as a kid where I’d sell erasers to my family members!” Siddarth says. “So I knew I wanted to do something related to numbers and business, but I wasn’t too sure what.” Today, as a senior analyst in the RBA’s Financial Stability Department, he works as part of a team looking at how healthy (or not) Australian businesses are – be they small or large.
“On a day-to-day basis I might be looking at financial statements to assess whether businesses have enough income to service their debts, or I could be monitoring the number of business failures and the impact on the economy,” Siddarth says.
He’s also conducting analysis looking at potential challenges businesses may face in the future. “It’s important work. If these pressures lead to more businesses failing, this can have an adverse impact on the financial system (through losses to creditors such as banks) and the broader economy (for example, through workers being laid off).”
Siddarth’s top tip
Stay curious and seek out internships or projects that apply what you learn to real economic problems.
Pathway to becoming a Senior Analyst
- Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics (Honours), James Cook University
- Senior Analyst, Reserve Bank of Australia
Related:
- Economics: choose this career to solve the big issues
- Data + AI = The future of economics careers
- How to build the perfect CV for an economics career
This article originally appeared in the Careers with STEM: Economics issue 2024 and was produced in partnership with the Reserve Bank of Australia.
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