Mathematicians?

[iPeppers]

What kind of jobs can you get with a B.Math? How hard is it to find jobs? etc. etc.

[Genecks]

I think the prospects as a math teacher are still good.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Indeed. Many states have a shortage, and they're commonly paid better than humanities/social science teachers.

[iPeppers]

hmmm, but that makes math sound like the english of science. In a way it is the language behind it, but I mean subject wise; there isn't much to do with english degree either besides teach or actually be successful as a writer.

 

Any mathematicians on these boards do something else besides teach? Not that teaching is in any way not a great job, in fact I feel it is one of the most noble and successful vocations that someone could choose, and also one that I probably wouldn't be able to handle (I don't have much patience ).

[Genecks]

Mathematicians are also often hired by science industries. Their job is to take the physical world and reduce observed phenomena into mathematical formulas. So, that's another opportunity. However, of the people I've known to work in such, they were either chemists, engineers, or physicists.... Actually, now that I remember, there was a statistician working at an engineering firm. I believe he made more than $60,000 a year.

 

So, if you were to get a B.S. in mathematics, perhaps you would start applying to industrial complexes.

[iPeppers]

Thanks! So, basically they could be doing a number of different jobs, sounds very interesting actually. I'm guessing that it would take a lot of looking around to find a company that would hire for such jobs though, and probably after having other work experience.

[Genecks]

Sure.

 

Looking around is always an important part, as is having previous work experience under a supervisor (you know, like in a fast food restaurant or something).

[Mr Skeptic]

In the real world, you want mathematics and also knowledge of something else that uses mathematics (be it education, physics, chem, programming, etc.). Not too much demand for pure mathematics, and then you want more than a bachelors for that.

[iPeppers]

That's what I was thinking. Anyone who concentrates on purely mathematics will make math their whole life, and have all of the highest qualifications to prove it, correct?

 

Well right now I'm well into a Biotechnologist program in college (college in Canada, which is considered more hands on and practical here, and gives me an advanced diploma in my case, but not a degree like from a university so I may not be making the same cash later in life), so I won't have too much trouble finding lab jobs around my area (be it in hospitals or biotech companies or for the government, because there seem to be lots to go around). But I've always been interested in math, and find my courses where I am to not be even challenging. I was thinking about slowly getting some sort of degree after I'm graduated, and am trying to throw some ideas around.

[Genecks]

Seems like you'd be working in a lab again, but possibly doing biomathematics.

I'm not too sure how that will turn out. Then again, we have yet to see the height of biohacking.

 

Maybe you could combine your knowledge of mathematics and biology to artificially generate a protein that is enabled to flip glyoclipids to the cytosolic face of a cell's membrane: a new flippase protein, which became easier to make because of mathematical modeling.

 

Or, what I'd like to see, is emphasis on mathematical employment in X-Ray crystallography in order to make figuring of the dimensional shapes of proteins easier.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Genecks

[iPeppers]

haha yes it seems that way. I guess since it was a more out of interest thing, I was wondering if it would change my possibilities at all.

[timo]

The typical jobs mentioned for theoretical physicist that also are suited for mathematicians (perhaps even better-suited) are working for insurance companies or consulting agencies. The former is probably an option with a B.Sc. Consulting agencies probably mostly buy the doctorate title and a polished CV (apart from the fact that you have to score good test results, of course) so that is not an option, then.

 

While I cannot actually disprove it, I find Genecks idea, that companies were hiring mathematicians to do the job of a natural scientist, a bit strange.

[CharonY]

There is the areas of computational biology (and chemistry) as well as applied mathematics/statistics. These are often academic disciplines with relatively little use in industrial settings, though. In addition, often these are natural scientists adding modeling or similar mathematical techniques to their portfolio. It is a rare case that a mathematician goes to the lab. What usually happens is that they find e.g. a use for a given mathematical framework to some research question. Again, this is generally only useful in the academic field (I never seen one, but know of bioinformaticians and usually it is a horrible mess). On the other hand, on the undergrad level there is not too strict of a distinction either (one generally assumes a lack of specialization at that point).

One job that a few mathematicians I know finally got are in the area of statistical analyses (including marketing).

[iPeppers]

Right, I was in a program at Carleton Uni in Ottawa for a year before I switched to biotech, so I didn't get too far into it, but it was towards getting an honours BSc in Bioinformatics, so I know there are even specific programs for that sort of thing, but it didn't seem too well supported by the school and I had no idea what I would have done with it.

 

Is there some other area that you would suggest supplementing a biotech diploma with? Perhaps just a biology degree? I just feel like either way I will be working in a lab somewhere, and that is what I would like, but that I won't ever be able to climb higher on the job ladder as I get more experienced if I just have an advanced diploma in something as opposed to anyone else with a degree.

[CharonY]

Biotech or biology can give you a job as technician, lab analyst or in technical support, for instance. Though sometimes the latter already have a PhD (for specialized equipment that is). I would scour the job market, looking at positions in companies etc. and see what their respective requirements are. People in industry that I know personally are all PhD level (and in different countries for that matter) so I have only limited personal knowledge about likely jobs. But again, researching what what the companies want (as opposed to relying on hearsay) will get you further.

[iPeppers]

Oh, I will definitely be looking around lots. That's why I even came on these forums to ask. It's often hard to look for job descriptions and requirements when you don't exactly know what kinds of jobs you should even be looking at. Hence my original question about what a B.Math would get. But I guess I'm kind of leaning away from that a bit now, though I will continue to look around. Thanks for everyone's help!

[CharonY]

I would first start with the big job websites (e.g. monster) and simply try out keywords like e.g. biotechnology or mathematician.

It can help a lot if you manage to network your way to a real person within a company you are interested in to talk to, though.