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What Jobs are Available for Math Majors?
Asmor asks: "I'm currently a CS major/math minor in college, who's strongly considering a role reversal. I like working with computers as a hobby, but I'm not so sure it's what I'd want to do for a living. On the other hand, I love math, especially in its pure and abstract forms. I would like to get a doctorate some day, but ideally I'd like to find a job as soon as I get my bachelor's. I've expressed this interest to important people in my life (like my parents and such) and the general consensus is that there aren't any jobs for math majors. I can't really disagree. Aside from teaching it, something I'm not sure I'd want to do, I can't think of any jobs for math majors. So, what options are out there for me if I did decide to switch? Would my future consist of high school math classes? Also, how much work is involved?"
Don't laugh. Larry Niven's degree is in math with a psych minor. The way he tells it (and he should know) is that he spent two years taking required clases and whatever looked interesting then worked out a major that would fit.
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No seriously. The gaming industry (in particular gaming machine manufacturers, i.e. slot machines) requires people good with statistics skills to determine if a new game idea is valid (read: will make them money over time). It may not be the most glamorous work, but it's necessary.
Another job one of my math professors in college had was essentially data analysis for a mining company. They would place sensors in the ground and take some sort of reading, returning a huge amount of data that needed to be analyzed. The analysis was done through various mathematical models that I have only the vaguest understanding of.
My best suggestion if you're worried about this stuff: talk to your professors. I would guess that at least a few of them have held jobs outside academia and could give you an idea of where you could work. Hopefully this at least gives you a place to start looking.
Or really good at shoveling snow. At one time not long ago, 75% of all available actuarial jobs were within a couple hours of Hartford.
...at least, that's what my favorite math major does with all those 1337 calculus skillz.
.open a used book store.
Well yes, you've been modded a troll, but that's about the size of it really. Friend of mine used his PhD to . .
You see, math is not a career, it's a study. An act of scholorship.
I know, I know, that word has disappeared from the lexicon, but there are a few weirdos, here and there, who can still only be legitimately labeled as "scholars."
Well, or "worthless bum," depending on your metaphysics. Or a teacher, but I repeat myself.
Thing is that if you're a math major, as others have pointed out, you don't look for a job in math, you look for a job in engineering, business, computing, insurance, etc. All of these enterprises hire people with math degrees for one reason or another.
And if they're not hiring, well, there always is Starbucks or Target. The pay is low, the conditions sort of suck, but it is honest work and nothing to be ashamed of doing.
Remember, this a classless society and nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go. . .
KFG
As far as other jobs, I find that for long term employment most people are looking for a masters degree. As far as I can tell, the resume filter tend to spit out anything without and engineering of CS degree on it, unless there is also a masters degree. A MS even helps if you are a teacher, and will allow you make some extra money teaching community college.
You could even go over to the dark side and get a masters of education in educational assessment. Due to NCLB, huge amounts of money are being funneled to the test makers, and they cannot get enough people to make the tests. It is a mathematical and computer based situation no matter what subject is being assessed. Who knows how long the gravy train will last, but at least until 2008, when all the bought and paid for elected officials get booted out of office. It is not that testing does not have it's good points, but a lot of parents are pissed off that their kid isn't graduating just because they can't pass a single assessment. One thing that I learned about assessment, and in my science classes, is that a single measurement is merely a guess.
A smart person will find a way to make a living no matter what degree they have. Some of it just has to do with luck. If you do teach, there are programs that will give some extra benefits if you go through them.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
It is also said to be the profession for people who find accountancy too exciting....
Very well paid though.
I'm in a Ph.D. program in the humanities. I worked for two years between college and graduate school, and I'm very glad that I did.
When I was in my senior year of college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Here are some of the things I considered: doctoral study in any of several fields, law school, management consulting, high school teaching, the clergy, working in the non-profit world, working in government. I was in no position to commit to a seven year Ph.D. program that would prepare me for only one job--or to a three year law program that would leave me with a pile of debt.
So I found a job working for the government in Washington, D.C. and stayed there for two years. A year and a half out of college, it became clear to me that I really wanted to be in academia. Taking time away from school was necessary for me to make a mature decision. It also gave me the chance to see what the "real world" is like and to spend some time in a fun city. (Washington is a great place to be if you're right out of college.)
I don't feel that two years away from school hampered my academic ability at all. Maybe things are different in math. I hear that mathematicians tend to produce their best work at a young age. If that's true, there's an advantage to being in graduate school early. (In my field, people tend to do their best work at least a bit later in life.) I also don't know how graduate admissions committees look at people who take time away from school. Clearly it's not seen as a problem in my department, but maybe the sciences are different. Some professional schools (law, business) prefer students who have work experience.
I know nobody who's regretted taking time to work before going to graduate school. I also know nobody who had concrete plans to go to graduate school, took time off to work, and never followed through on the educational plans. (To be fair, I also don't know anybody who was planning to go to math grad school, in particular.) I know lots of people--lawyers and law students, mostly--who regret going straight from college to a graduate or professional program.
I'm sure that for some people, going straight to graduate school is the right decision. For instance, it's probably a good idea if you know that you want the degree, but you hate school and want to get it over with. Or if you're planning to start a family as soon as possible, and you don't want to do that while you're still a student. But for a lot of people, taking time between college and graduate school is the way to go.
A BS in math won't get you a "math job" (except as a schoolteacher), but it can certainly help you get lots of jobs that have an element of math in them.
Actually, you can get into the NSA straight off undergrad. They have pretty extensive in-house training (or subsidized extra education) as far as I understand for any specialty you end up working, so they're mainly worried that you're bright and you have the fundamentals down. They even have a semester-on, semester-off undergrad intern program that sounds pretty neat if you're really interested in it.
I'm sure it's not trivial and the PhD probably helps a lot, but the option's there.
Actually, come to think of it, this guy I know at Yale said that stock firms on Wall Street were recruiting their majors straight out of undergrad for pretty sick pay. He might have just been blowing ivy league smoke up my ass, but I tend to believe him.
I just wanted to thank everyone for the advice (even the Starbucks/McDonalds crowd). You've all really opened my eyes to the opportunities available, and just after perusing your replies I've got an idea of where I'd be interested in going with my math degree, which is far more than I could ever say about computer sciences. Specifically, some of you mentioned that the NSA/DoD are both big on hiring mathematicians, and I've always thought that cryptography was very interesting.
I haven't made my decision, but I've got strong leanings towards taking the switch. I think that next semester I'm gonna go a lot heavier on the math classes and dip into some of the more advanced stuff to make sure it clicks. Thanks again!
I also took time off after school. I got an SB in physics and a master's in electrical engineering, then spent about 4 years working. After that experience, decided I really wanted to go on in physics and am now a couple years in to my PhD.
It's not an easy thing to do, though. It's not easy to switch from 6 figures to a grad student stipent. It's very different being good at working to being good at grad school and it can be frustrating to feel like you've got more experience but are still junior. Plus, it's tricky to live a life and still be looking at 3 or 4 years of school when you'll be 30 next year. If you want a family and kids... well, you better think about whether you're willing to have them while you're still in school.
Anyway, it's not for everybody. The allure of an income is pretty strong. However, if your desire to go get a PhD is not strong enough to overcome that, it's not a real tragedy not to get one. It's not something everyone needs to do, and if you're doing well without one, no big loss.
HELLO!? Actuary! 100+/yr. just pass a test. Don't forget to brush up on your probability/statistics, game theory, linear argebra. I'm studying to be one now at a major insurance company. They give me days off for study, study time during work hours, increased pay while I'm studying, they pay for my education, and they'll pay to take the tests.
Let me say "Amen!" to this. I have a PhD in electrical engineering and took the advice of my professors to grit my teeth and stick it out to get it done before marriage and kids and "real life" intrudes. Best thing I ever did.
Also, back on topic, I use people with abstract/theoretical math skills to help me solve problems that my computational/numerical skills cannot. Most of the time, the theoretical math approach yields a far better solution than what I could come up with on my own. And it's always true that the math approach gets me thinking "outside the box" and helps me recover from my personal "blind spots."
I think you can find a very rich and rewarding career in abstract/theoretical math, especially if you like working on problems no one else can solve!