Careers In Mathematics
What can you do with a Math Major?
Great Jobs for Math Majors
"Mathematics is a vast field, populated with thousands of job titles you have never heard before." p. 45.
"Applications, problem solving, and reasoning are some of the elements that bind most math jobs." p. xii.
Communication to relate the results of using these skills to people who want answers to their problems, but lack these skills to solve the problems.
What Can I Do with a Major In …? How to Choose and Use Your College Major
The Occupational Thesaurus. What Can I do with a Major in …?
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://stats.bls.gov:80/oco/home.htm
http://stats.bls.gov:80/oco/oco1002.htm
http://stats.bls.gov/k12/html/tch_mat1.htm
On-line book reviews to see how math relates to other fields
http://www.maa.org/reviews/reviews.html
Many resources on-line
math vignettes at
http://www.ams.org/careers/archived.html
http://www.maa.org/careers/index.html
professional societies have information on their particular occupation
http://www.maa.org/students/jobs_jobs.html
http://www.maa.org/cbms/career/hs_coll.html
I used most of these to put this talk together
Let’s Get Down to Specific Jobs
http://money.cnn.com/2000/11/10/career/q_degreemath/
Jobs Rated Almanac
Rates 250 careers according to the following criteria:
Income
Outlook
Physical Demands
Security
Stress
Work Environment
Was a good place to start listing some math related jobs
The Job You Know Best
Teacher-#164
College Professor-#116
On the Middle School and Secondary Level there is a critical shortage of math teachers
http://www.teachmathmissouri.org
There is such a shortage, that some federal student loans may be forgiven, for more details see
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
http://www.nctm.org
Actuary-#2
Work for insurance companies
Assemble and analyze statistics to calculate probabilities of death, sickness, injury, etc. (the things people buy insurance for).
"One of the positive aspects of an actuarial career is that personal development is determined more by performance than by external factors." p.25"101 Careers in Mathematics"
http://BeAnActuary.org/
Casualty Actuarial Society
http://www.casact.org/
Society of Actuaries
http://www.soa.org/
American Academy of Actuaries
http://www.actuary.org/
http://www.contingencies.org/career.html
Mathematician-#5
Theoretical-Advance mathematical science by developing new principles and new relationships between existing principles. No specific practical use
in mind
Applied-Use mathematical models to solve practical problems in other fields.
Professional societies are a good place to learn more
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics:
http://www.siam.org/
http://www.siam.org/careers/
American Mathematical Society
http://www.ams.org/
http://www.ams.org/employment/careers-brochure.html
Mathematical Association of America
http://www.maa.org/
Association for Women in Mathematics
http://www.awm-math.org
http://www.awm-math.org/career.html
Cryptologist
Design schemes to transmit secret information-cryptography
Analyze schemes to transmit secret information-cryptanalysis
National Security Agency is top employer
http://www.nsa.gov/
Data Encryption is also a hot field
International Association for Cryptologic Research
http://www.iacr.org/
Operations Research
Help organizations coordinate and operate in the most efficient manner by applying mathematical principles to organizational problems.
Model complex systems and optimize their design.
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
http://www.informs.org/Edu/Career/booklet.html
Computer Related
#1-Web site manager
3-Computer System analyst
4-Software Engineer
6-Computer Programmer
10-Web developer
81-Computer consultant
Look for ways to use the computer more efficiently (more than just sitting at a computer all day programming it).
"Software engineering is not just about writing computer programs. Most of the time some pretty fancy mathematics makes up the core of the
computer program, and so people with degrees in mathematics are often sought after by software companies." P. 27 "101 Careers in Mathematics"
"Each new application of computers and each technological advance in their design brings a new set of associated mathematical problems." p. 14
"Mathematical Scientists at Work"
"Working in software development, it was easy to see how my education in computer science would apply to my daily work…Within my first six
months, it became apparent that what I learned in the realm of mathematics might even be more important than what I learned in computer
science."
"But what I found most useful about my mathematics training was not simply the facts I learned. Rather, it was that it taught me how to learn."
"My mathematics background has provided an analytical framework in which to make informed, thoughtful decisions." p. 13 "101 Careers in
Mathematics"
Many companies looking for some experience in programming, not necessarily a complete computer science major
Association for Computing Machinery
http://www.acm.org/
http://www.acm.org/membership/career/careerline.html
Numerical Analyst
Model complicated physical experiments
The experiment is usually so complicated it can not be performed without great expense or risk
Once modeled, it is easier to change a part and see the effect that has
Develop the best mathematical methods and algorithms to solve the complicated models
Sciences and Math
#13 -Meteorologist
19-Astronomer
23-Biologist
42-Physicist
57-Geologist
62-Oceanographer
64-Chemist
91-Zoologist
180 -Astronaut
BioMathematics or BioStatistics
Psychology and Mathematics
The analytical thought processes of mathematics can be good preparations for other careers.
Mathematics teaches one to be precise, which is useful in other disciplines.
Many sciences deal with large amounts of data which mathematics can help handle.
"I found that doing well in mathematics opened the doors to the very best medical schools." p. 11- "Mathematical Scientists at Work"
"For centuries, mathematics has been applied to many different scientific fields." p. 28-"101 Careers in Mathematics"
"A mathematics major who is familiar with physical sciences is as good as, if not better than, an engineer, physicist, or astronomer who is familiar
with mathematics." p. 30-31-"101 Careers in Mathematics"
"The basis for nearly all science is mathematics, and as such it provides a platform for an extremely wide variety of career options." p. 37-"101
Careers in Mathematics"
Business Related
#7-Accountant
17-Financial Planner
24-Insurance Underwriter
50-Economist
69-Tax examiner/collector
71-Market research analyst
124 -Stockbroker
Communicating
#14 -Technical Writer
49-Publication Editor
Write about their topic (mathematics is one possible topic) to people who need to learn about the topic
http://www.technicalwriterjobs.com/
Society for Technical Communication
http://www.stc.org/index.html
Council of Science Editors
http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/
Job Search Sites
http://www.jobsearchengine.com/searchjob/engine/index.html
http://www.nationjob.com
http://careers.yahoo.com/
http://www.ajb.dni.us/index.html
http://jobsearch.monster.com
http://www.careerpath.com/
http://www.jobweb.com/
http://www.careermag.com/
http://www.dice.com/
Internships
A good way to get a feel for a field after a couple years of studying math in college.
http://www.ams.org/employment/internships.html
http://www.ams.org/employment/undergrad.html#jobs
Job Choices in Science, Engineering, & Technology 2002-lists many summer internships in technical fields as well as ideas about the types of
scientific jobs that exist
Two Major Themes
I would recommend that if you like math then study it-even when you are not sure what you would do with it for a career.
As the many author’s in the career essays, I think you will find a satisfying career, made possible by your math skills.