Jobs in Mathematics

Ciaramb92

I am (strongly) considering becoming an actuary but I want to see what other career opportunities there are in the math field?

I'm not interested in Engineering or Computers or Accounting and am hoping to either study Actuarial Finance in DCU or do an Arts degree in Maths and Economics in Trinity.

What options are there?

higgz

Ciaramb92 wrote: »

I am (strongly) considering becoming an actuary but I want to see what other career opportunities there are in the math field?

I'm not interested in Engineering or Computers or Accounting and am hoping to either study Actuarial Finance in DCU or do an Arts degree in Maths and Economics in Trinity.

What options are there?

I'm considering actuarial too. If you can make the 540 needed for Maths and Economics you should also consider Actuarial Studies in UCD too (545).

Aside from Actuarial there seems to be tons of opportunities for people with maths related qualifications in finance and investments.

I've heard that statistician is another good maths based career but I don't know much about it.

Ciaramb92

higgz wrote: »

I'm considering actuarial too. If you can make the 540 needed for Maths and Economics you should also consider Actuarial Studies in UCD too (545).

Aside from Actuarial there seems to be tons of opportunities for people with maths related qualifications in finance and investments.

I've heard that statistician is another good maths based career but I don't know much about it.

Oh God, I don't know where I read it but I thought Maths and Economics was 480..! There goes that plan then!

Yeah, UCD is my first choice but I know I won't get the points. The 500 for DCU is pushing it, will probably end up with my 3rd choice. Common entry in DCU, 420 points. 2 kind of general math years and then the final 2 you choose Actuarial, Financial or something else.

Will find out more at the open days!

Ciaramb92

Ciaramb92 wrote: »

Oh God, I don't know where I read it but I thought Maths and Economics was 480..! There goes that plan then!

Just looked on the Trinity Website and it's 470 points (I think)

higgz

http://www.tcd.ie/Admissions/undergraduate/assets/pdfs/points/2010_Minimum_Entry_Points_Final.pdf

470 and 480 are previous years. 2010 numbers were hidden deep in the site. It's 540 this year!

eurokev

I did something similar, through matamatical sciences. Failed though:(. Its absolutely leathal. Very labour intensive and complicated and generally not satisfying at all. Its really really hard to get a job out of it two. In my class only two got jobs I think. One had contacts,the other was an absolute genius. Theres alot of other avenues to look at if maths is what you want to do.

Try googling for college stats notes and see what you think, dont want to turn you off it just from my own personal experience

srsly78

You will be using computers a lot no matter what you do. I did physics degree, and now work as a quant developer, this would be combination of maths+computer skills.

Actuaries for example, would be pretty handy with Excel.

Just like any field, your degree+grade doesn't really matter that much (maybe for getting your first job but that's about it).

I feel, since eurokev is warning you off maths, that I should provide a balance and say that I'm loving every minute of my maths degree.

A maths degree gives you a lot of options. I know you said you don't want to work in Engineering, Computers or Accounting, but if you do a maths degree:

• You get a taste of a wide range of applications of maths (and so a wide range of career options)
• You can transfer to related, but more specific courses such as actuarial science once you have a feel what you like, in most colleges. (UCD at least)
• You could actually get a job that's only tenuously linked with maths. A maths degree looks good because it shows problem solving ability.

As for careers maths graduates could do, there's:

• Maths teacher
• Researcher/Lecturer in many areas
• Consultant Statistician
• Computational Scientist (working on computer models for scientists and things like that)
• Economist
• Physicist
• Engineer of any kind
• Sotware Engineer/Computer Programmer
• Actuary
• Trader

And basically any jobs across the science, banking or finance sectors, or any job in which we need to quantify information.

For example, in history, we only have specific facts - dates, people, events. In economics, we can put figures on, or 'quantify' what we're studying - we can try to describe how wealthy people are by a number such as the GDP.

If you have the interest (otherwise this is all pointless), I'd strongly advise you to take up a maths course.

OP you don't have to do an actuarial degree, you could do a general maths degree and start the act. exams afterwards. Takes longer of course, but just saying if you don't have the points it's not the end of the world.
personally I'm glad I did maths&physics, fascinating even if nothing useful for the actuarial ones

Ciaramb92

bluewolf wrote: »

OP you don't have to do an actuarial degree, you could do a general maths degree and start the act. exams afterwards. Takes longer of course, but just saying if you don't have the points it's not the end of the world.
personally I'm glad I did maths&physics, fascinating even if nothing useful for the actuarial ones

Yeah, looked into it a bit further and am now thinking of doing a
Maths degree, followed by a higher diploma in Actuarial Finance (from UCD).

mertyle

I am thinking of doing maths and economics in Trinity in Sept. I was thinking of Actuarial finance in UCD up until recently. I have noticed a common thread running through a lot of comments is the option of doing actuarial work. Would that be the main area of work for people who study maths, bearing in mind the current recession. I did very well in my mocks and would expect to get the points required for either. Really confused as to which to put first on CAO as other will be eliminated.

Lisandro

Mathematics is a very versatile degree. The more purely mathematic courses are very difficult, but satisfying. I study Theoretical Physics, which means mathematics makes up a significant portion of my studies and we share many lectures with the maths students. Linear Algebra, for example, is a tricky and initially confusing area, but it's essential in computer programming.

Mathematics is very closely related to physics, so the more experience you gain with mathematics, the more tools you have available to you to decipher physics. Leavin Cert Physics may be very neutered as far as the mathematical side is concerned, but in college, the two begin to interact in the way they should (if you end up doing a degree involving physics, of course!).

mathmaniac55

Hello I just thought I would offer you another option in regards to furthering your education in math. One option that you do have is to look at online institutions and find a program that fits what you are looking for. Obviously once you complete your degree whether its a Masters or PHD then your career choices are endless. One site I recommend looking at is http://www.maa.org/careers/ which is a great tool to use in regards to finding out what career opportunities you have and also different areas that might need your expertise. another site I would recommend checking out is http://www.onlinemathdegrees.org which is a great resource in order to answer any questions you have about getting an online degree, salary questions, growth process etc.

Although you think there might not be more options of where to go with a math degree, there is plenty of resources out there that can help you find the best career opportunity possible.

Hope this helps and best of luck in the future!