Slashdot Mirror
High Paying Jobs in Math and Science?
An anonymous reader asks: "Where are the high paying jobs for those who are good in math and science? I've heard about math and science shortages for almost two decades now, and I was wondering what high salary/high demand jobs have resulted from these shortages. Most science majors I know actually make less than teachers (in Texas teachers make $38-40K to start for nine months of work). In terms of money, what career would you pursue coming out of college right now with a math or science degree?"
I'm a scientist working for a government subcontractor in Albuquerque (mostly for Sanida Labs and AFRL). Fresh out of school with a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Physics I started making $50K a year plus fringe benefits. To contrast, starting teachers salaries with a Master's degree are ~$30K a year.
Anytime I see American corporations complaining about the need to outsource labor due to a "shortage of qualified American workers" it makes me laugh to myself. It is absolutely hilarious how the same corporations who ceaselessly discuss the virtues of an open market suddenly revert when it comes to the issue of paying high enough salaries to attract qualified candidates.
The talent is always going to go where the money is. If the serious money was in math and science (instead of finance and business) then the brightest young Americans would be pursuing careers in math and science.
Get an MBA, then do something in the financial industry, which has a stranglehold on everything else to the extent of destroying progress. American corporations and government no longer care for education or REAL progress, unless it can make a buck, and even then aren't willing to reward the people who actually create that progress.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
If *everyone* would learn to adjust their expectations about what constitutes a minimal acceptable standard of living so that they can live without debt within or - gasp - below their means - our culture would be wealthier, stronger, and better equipped to face challenges.
Exactly right. Instead, we had 20 generations of Americans where EACH GENERATION had a higher standard of living than the previous- up until the elimination of usury laws in the 1980s. Suddenly, the next generation had a lower standard of living than their parents.
Reinstate usury laws maximizing credit card and student debt at 10%, and I'd bet the easy credit would dry up- those currently paying 20% would get a break ont their debt, but they'd also never get a credit card again!
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Sure, the money's good - but you might end up working in some remote oilfield in the Middle East desert or - worse - offshore.
;)
One of my friends just enrolled for a year work in a gas reprocessing field somewhere in the middle of the desert in Qatar. He's probably making well over 75,000 USD/year (his first job!!) Not hearing much from him again, but the description of the place and living conditions were just... scary.
I now live in Dubai (in a business that has nothing to do with oil and doesn't make remotely as much money) and I see these poor souls coming from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi etc for R&R: nightclub, booze, and cheap Russian hookers (Dubai as an endless supply of all three). Some of them look really traumatized
Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
That would absolutely KILL the current housing market. It would put *millions* in the street because they could no longer get credit or find an affordable apartment. I think the country would go bankrupt in short order as 70% (or more?) of the economy is consumer spending.
:)
If we cannot figure out how to live within our means- maybe we need to have EXACTLY that happen.
Furthermore, very few people use cash anymore. All transactions are done on credit cards or similar. If you limit the credit limit to 10% of income, then suddenly credit cards become useless. Remember that in the early 80s almost no one used credit cards.
Usury is about interest rates, not about "percent of income". IF you have good credit, loans of up to 600% of income are common in the United States at high interest rates. Loans of 300% of income are easy to find for under 10% interest.
Removing these laws allowed more freedom for the consumer. It is sad that they have used this freedom to enslave themselves. Maybe it was a mistake to get away with these laws in the 80s. Maybe people in general are not as responsible as some thought
So you'd rather leave them in slavery than create laws that fit the responsibility level of the general population? Guess we know which side you're on.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
University is not vocational school. Your main goal may be to get a job, but the university does not see it that way. If you graduate school and you do not know what you want to do, then you're just like most everyone else. Even the people who "know" often change their minds a few years out.
There isn't a one size fits all solution, but I would tell you to get a PhD in Physics, Math, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering. Not because those subjects are relevant, but companies such as Goldman Sachs (finance) and McKinsey (consulting) hire PhD graduates because they are smart and can solve problems. McKinsey for instance holds "boot camps" at my university where PhD students near graduating go through rigorous interviews where their problem solving skills are evaluated. Many PhD students do not pass, but those who do are given very lucrative salaries. The major downside is that they are in high stress jobs.
Some anecdotes: 1) A colleague of mine went to McKinsey boot camp where the interviewer basically gave him a bunch of charts, tables, and graphs and asked, "These are financial data about company X. Tell me about A, B, and C." And then, "Okay, can you tell me about foo?" What are A, B, C and foo in this story? It doesn't matter, the idea is that they want people who can quickly analyze information, form conclusions, and then synthesize solutions to problems.
2) Another friend went to a Credit Suisse interview where they basically had a written exam; math, computer programming, finance. And then an oral exam where the interviewer asked brain teasers. Again, the idea is that financial companies are hiring smart people, not skilled people.
3) I went to a colloquium where a gentleman from wall street talked about options pricing and modeling said options in order to make money. He mentioned that today people with Physics, Math, and EE PhDs are in demand on wall street because they can do the complex math involved to model stock/options/commodities markets. (Interestingly, business oriented degrees such as finance and accounting are not considered for these type of jobs.) Theoretical physics winds up being preferred because Mathematicians are rarely interested in "getting their hands dirty" with real world applications.
So to answer your question, if you really want to get into this line of work, prove to companies that you are smart and a problem solver. Get a PhD in a mathematical rigorous field. But be aware that these types of profession are very high pressure. These people work long hours with short deadlines. Burn-out rates can be pretty high. Some people say you're trading a couple of years (the best years) of your life for a six-figure salary.