Careers in Mathematics

I feel like this would be better placed in the university mathematics section rather than the careers section. I found it particularly difficult to find this subsection and I would be surprised if any maths students would find this without searching rather diligently.

Agreed, but it's a good thread so far!

PhD ?

.

.

.

.

.

.

As I said, not something I've actually spent any time looking into.

Not sure it counts as a "career" really. "Academia" might be a better heading. For the Ph.D. part, hours vary and instead of getting "pay" we get a "stipend" (not much more than minimum wage). After getting a Ph.D. one usually spends a few years in short-term post-doctoral positions in various places until one can find a more permanent teaching or research position. Prospects seem bleak.

In this post I will aim to give some idea of what sort of jobs are available to Mathematicians when they graduate (or what other things they might like to do). So that you have some idea of what sort of background I'm coming from, I will be graduating from a COWI university with a high First, had serious involvement with extra-curricular groups (University Sports and Societies + Leadership positions), did several internships with a variety of different industries (details below). I obtained offers from companies in several of the industries listed below. (And put considerable effort into researching each of them).


The industries I will talk about:
What I won't talk about:
This is mostly because I had decided that teaching didn't appeal and research wasn't for me.

I also make no guarantees about any of this being comprehensive, although I will provide some links at the end for people to do further research. None of this comes as anything other than a personal opinion. Other views may differ.

Firstly - some notes about the job market at the moment.
Anyway, lets jump straight into it.


General Graduate Positions:

Assuming you've been outside your room in your time at university, you will probably have spotted the "general" graduate positions. Some of these offer very rewarding careers, and Mathematics degrees are certainly viewed favourably. Most industries are becoming increasingly quantitative and your analytical skills will be valued. The areas which I know a little about are:
I don't want to spend too much time looking at these here, since there is nothing particular to mathematicians to say about them. Places to research:


Consultancy: The IB&C Forum here, http://managementconsulted.com/, http://caseinterview.com, WSO
IB: The IB&C Forum, WSO, M&I
Accountancy: The Accountancy Forum here

Firms to consider:

Consultancy: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, (OW, APT, Newton Europe might have more of a maths bent if you don't want to go way out there)
IB: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, …, Boutique banks, … loads of research to do in this area
Accountancy: Big 4 (PwC, E&Y, KPMG, Deloitte), and plenty more

Finance (of particular appeal to Mathematicians):

Roughly for mathematicians, this can be split between two areas: Quantitative Finance and not-QF.

not-QF is accessible to pretty much anyone regardless of background. When I did an internship in this area there were people with all sorts of backgrounds. However, doing maths seemed to put me at an advantage both on the job and during the application process. Roles include Trading and Structuring, with roughly involve the buying and selling of assets to make money. There is a good deal more which could be said here, but I advise you to do your own research.

Hours: Long. Pay: High. Mathematical Content: Low

QF usually requires a PhD, however I know people who have broken in without. The competition for these positions is intense and requires you to be completely on top of certain areas of maths as well as being strong with brainteasers. Work is generally divided between working in a Investment Bank (see the list above) or Quantitative Hedge Funds. Working in an investment bank (generally) has slightly longer hours and your work is often dictated by other traders. Positions in hedge funds are harder to come by, and there is a bigger onus on your own performance. Although this is all very much in generality. Once again, do your own research.

Hours: Medium-Long. Pay: Very high. Mathematical Content: High, varies

Places to research: IB&C forum, WSO, Quantnet, Wilmott,

Actuarial Work

This seems to be a very popular destination for mathematicians. (Based entirely on anecdotal experience). There is a fair amount of maths involved, and a number of professional exams you have to take before qualifying. Some degree courses enable you to obtain exemptions from the exams.

Firms to consider: Big 4 (PwC, E&Y, KPMG, Deloitte), Consultancies (Towers Watson, Mercer, …), Insurance companies

Hours: Medium. Pay: Medium. Mathematical Content: Reasonable (mostly Statistics)

Places to research: Actuarial thread, http://www.actuaries.org.uk/becoming-actuary/pages/becoming-actuary,


Software Engineering

Another very popular destination for mathematics students. The amount of programming knowledge required for individual companies seems to vary a good deal, but the majority seem to have no requirements (other than passing their basic tests). That said, I wouldn't recommend going into the industry without having a good idea of what software development involves.

For the most part the companies seem fun to work with - providing free food seems common, dress codes are non-existent and even working hours are quite relaxed.

Hours: Varies. Pay: Medium. Mathematical Content: Low

Places to research: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/career-development, StackOverflow (check the Careers-esque tags), look at company websites

Statistical roles

I haven't looked into this area in any amount of detail - although I know that it is a destination for many different people. Places to research: Pharmaceutical companies, Government (ONS),

Technology roles

An area which I think is developing more now as a destination for mathematicians are technology companies. There are many small companies in this area (check out the Oxford and Cambridge Science parks) as well as a few big players.

Firms to consider: I'll avoid listing any, to avoid giving the big companies an advantage

Hours: Low. Pay: Low-Medium. Mathematical Content: Medium, varies

Places to research: I found this one particularly hard to find any solid information. Looking on company websites is probably your best bet. (Or posting questions in this thread)

"Other" Mathematical Roles

There are plenty of other jobs which don't seem to be easily classified, yet all seem quite interesting in their own right.
Hope this is of some use to some of you. Any questions ask away. Any mistakes, please point them out.

Happy job hunting!

What careers involve mainly pure maths?

What's your definition of pure maths?

Pure as in calculus, geometry, number theory etc. I haven't done undergrad maths and I know that most of the careers you mentioned involve things which I've learnt from the pure maths syllabus but I presume careers in finance and computing would be more stats and discrete maths.

Thanks, very useful info. And technology means engineering or what?

Statistics and discrete maths are just as much pure maths as the other things you mention.

Mathematical finance may involve some statistics, but for some areas analysis* is just as important. Calculus can definitely be used to price options. (If you're interested, have a look at the Black-Scholes PDE)

Computing again is a pretty wide area. If you're involved in any kind of scientific computing, physics engines (in games for example) you'll be doing some "pure" maths.

Number theory is crucial in modern cryptography, the careers at GCHQ mentioned above would offer an outlet if that interests you.

No they aren't at A-Level you get Pure Modules(C1,C2...,FP1,FP2... etc), you get Statistics Modules(S1,S2...) and Decision Modules(D1,D2...)-So those areas aren't Pure Maths.My top two job options are Research,I will probably go for a Masters/PhD to qualify for this and if that doesn't work I will go into Meterology, where you work with differential equations and not numbers like you would in Finance. I also did notice that the thread only seems to include low mathematical content jobs and if it includes Maths, then its Maths which isn't pure or isn't of the highest level.I would of liked these two jobs included.