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So as the title suggests I am a Mathematics major who will be graduating in the spring. The problem for me is that I have no idea what I want to do, no idea what I'm qualified to do and no idea about how to go about finding a job. Obviously the first step is to figure out what jobs I can apply for. I have a decent GPA and have taken a few business courses, a few econs and a couple accounting classes. I really don't want to go to graduate school for math, I have no desire to become an academic. So far this is the list of jobs that seem like something I could apply for:
-Some type of consulting
There seems to be a few fields within consulting that deal with examining business processes and finding more efficient ways to achieve them. Seems like a pretty good field for a math major.
-Finance
I was a finance major for two years before math and I know a pretty good deal about financial instruments and such. It would be kind of funny if I ended up getting a finance job after switching out of finance to pursue math but whatever.
-Logistics
Somewhat like the consulting that I was describing in that it deals with processes and the task of making them more efficient.
- ??
I'm not really sure what else there is. I know that there are a lot of math majors on this site and I was wondering what you guys are planning on doing/have done or what you know others with the degree have done. I know that I can always coach hockey/goalies on the side and make a pretty decent amount of money. Hockey parents, especially goalie parents, are willing to pay a lot of money for their kids to get good coaching. I guess I could also tutor high school/college students in math but that is not really a full time solution, at least for me. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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go for actuary in finance. The best pay a math major can get. Or you could also go into investment banking which has even better pay though that is available to anyone with a degree. Just don't go into consulting, unless you KNOW FOR SURE that you want to do it for the rest of your life.
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Its pretty much what you said... consulting /finance is pretty much the "standard".
As is working for insurances, risk calculations / probability stuff is where most of the people who I know "ended" after graduation (Edit : thanks for the right word to the post above me : Actuary was the word missing in my brain)
If you also have experience in computer science/programming/ numerical computations etc. , there´s probably more possibilities (logistics may need something of that too) , but most people I know either managed to stay at the university, went on to work for an insurance company, or "downgraded" (from a financial point of view at least, and from what I have heard it is a much more severe "downgrade" if you are from the US compared to Germany) to be a teacher.
In the end people hire math majors because they are usually good at problem solving, can think for themselves, and are either a genius or work good in a team  (oh, and are extremely tolerant to frustration oO ). You could probably (especially with your finance background) apply to most jobs that require a business degree too, if thats what you want (Pretty sure thats it, considering that you switched out of finance, hehe)
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i dont think its bizarre to switch out of a finance major to pursue more math. you can just say you wanted to do something more rigorous - finance can always be picked up later.
that said, math majors can pretty much do anything in the finance/business space. if you want to be a lot more marketable, i'd suggest getting a little compooper programming under your belt
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If you really have no idea on what you want to do, work in the finance sector.
If you do something random, might aswell earn big bucks for doing it right?
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Become Day9.
Doesn't your school have a career counselling office? I would suggest you go there and talk to them. Get some resources and ideas. Then when you decide what type of job you may want, find some people who already do that job, call them, and ask to shadow them for a day or so. You will see first hand what the job is like on a daily basis. Then make an informed decision.
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Sounds like finance is the best thing for you to do. The finance companies are not going to complain that you took more math classes; that is an advantage.
Of course, any kind of programming job is also standard for a math major.
There are very few jobs doing logistics. Most jobs either come down on the side of operations manager, or the side of programmer for a company that does logistics software. For the first type of job, you spend all your time involved in the specifics of whatever it is you are running (factory, trucking company, etc.). For the second type of job, the logistics algorithms are clear-cut, and you just work on making the software product. Very few companies have a dedicated logistics group, and for the companies that do (think Amazon, Fed-Ex, etc.), logistics is so important that they hire phds.
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It sounds like to me you didn't go to college for a specific purpose and until you figure out what you really want to do for the rest of your life, your degree will be useless. Education isn't the attainment of knowledge. Education is indulging, developing, and drawing information out of a person so that person can live the way they want.
I think you should go back to the drawing board and figure out what you really want to do with your life, rather than aimlessly going into a career because it pays a couple thousand dollars more even if its not what you really want to do. In fact, if you do what you want then it will be like your playing, as opposed to working, all day and you will probably end up making more money in the end as well as psychologically enjoying your days more.
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Work at a hedge fund an make hundreds of thousands of $ a year.
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You can do whatever you want. A friend of mine finished with math/philosophy and she now works in marketing. So, once you get your foot in the door, you can transition to any function you like in business.
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Consider a career in actuary. With a math degree, you can probably pass an actuary exam with some self studying.
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Think seriously about what you want to do. 9-5 or noon-midnight, for years to come, for good or poor $. If you're smart (most mathematicians I know are clever people) then you can learn as you go. Most people will respect a math degree.
I doubt working at a hedge fund was what you went into math for.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
What kind of math courses did you take during school? I don't see how you can get a degree in math without some sort of specialization.
Act sci is pretty specific. Some people will like it, some won't. Have you taken courses in risk analysis/valuing random variables like a financial commodity?
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If you are going to get into finance, make sure you know what part of finance you actually enjoy
For example, if you love theoretical mathematics, laplace transforms and PDE's, then you might want to look towards something like quantitative analysis, especially if you are the kind of guy who loves doing maths research
If you love pure maths, group theory, number theory, work for the government in the cryptography section
If you're a more practical problem solver maths person, you might want to look towards more markets orientated roles like those in risk or trading (gl)
If you're a stats heavy person or someone that likes doing methodical things that are well practised, actuaries or accountancy.
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On November 11 2011 05:30 infinity21 wrote:
What kind of math courses did you take during school? I don't see how you can get a degree in math without some sort of specialization.
Act sci is pretty specific. Some people will like it, some won't. Have you taken courses in risk analysis/valuing random variables like a financial commodity?
Nope, no specialization. There are just a list of required classes that you need to take and then a list of math electives that you can choose from a certain number to fulfill another requirement. I have not taken any course in risk analysis although I think valuing of random variables would fall into the dynamics class that I am in currently..
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On November 11 2011 00:53 Cubu wrote:
go for actuary in finance. The best pay a math major can get. Or you could also go into investment banking which has even better pay though that is available to anyone with a degree. Just don't go into consulting, unless you KNOW FOR SURE that you want to do it for the rest of your life.
What? Consulting is a great place for people that don't know what they want to do precisely because you'll get to see how dozens of other companies do things and figure out what you like and don't like. I'd also personally recommend against I-banking; when you normalize the pay by hours worked, it's nothing special (you'd be better off as a consultant, actuary, trader, or at a hedge fund).
To the OP, as others have suggested, actuarial science and trading are several highly quantitative fields you may enjoy. Trading in particular is great if you like working independently and are a high performer. Think about how you like to work (independently vs on a team, clear requirements vs constantly changing, etc) and make a choice based on that. Also, you probably missed the fall on-campus recruiting season so you might want to start sending out LOTS of resumes.
EDIT: Also forgot to point out that consulting is the easiest to switch careers from. Most of what you learn in other finance jobs is pretty specific to that industry.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
On November 11 2011 05:48 Cruncharoo wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 05:30 infinity21 wrote:
What kind of math courses did you take during school? I don't see how you can get a degree in math without some sort of specialization.
Act sci is pretty specific. Some people will like it, some won't. Have you taken courses in risk analysis/valuing random variables like a financial commodity? Nope, no specialization. There are just a list of required classes that you need to take and then a list of math electives that you can choose from a certain number to fulfill another requirement. I have not taken any course in risk analysis although I think valuing of random variables would fall into the dynamics class that I am in currently..
What sort of specialization courses have you taken so far/will be taking? What do you learn in your dynamics class?
Do you know about present value and how to determine the PV of a future cash flow?
Have you done analyses on datasets like model fitting and forecasting?
Do you know how to optimize variables like revenue based on certain constraints?
Have you done more abstract/theoretical math like dealing with properties of sets?
Do you know how to program? C++/java? SAS/R? SQL?
These are just random questions I can think of to ask. You have to examine what skill sets you have currently, think about what you enjoy doing and go from there.
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EPT
