Ask HN: What to do with a pure mathematics degree?

10 points by mareoclasico 285 days ago | 24 comments

I'm going to finish a degree in mathematics next year (in Europe).

The catch: I'll be 37 when I finish. I had a change of careers later in life.

I'm a bit lost on what to pursue professionally. I've looked into getting a Master's in quant/finance or AI research but I've read you need to be a young genius in order to get an interview in most of the prop shops, and for AI I don't know how feasible that path is right now for a regular guy like me.

I get the impression that I need some graduate program after my degree in order to pick up programming and other "useful" skills, and to be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

If you are in some sort of industry that uses math or math-adjacent skills I'd love to know what would you do in my situation, any advice will be golden.

Thank you!

mcrwfrd 283 days ago |

8 years ago I graduated with a bachelors degree in pure math and theoretical physics. 2 years later I settled down and decided to just become a software engineer building CRUD apps. Since graduating I've consistently looked for a job that explicitly had software and pure math requirements, but I've continuously come up short.

In theory, I think two good avenues for you to check out would be: 1) building physics and game engines at a company like Unity; 2) building the knowledge engine behind something like WolframAlpha/Mathematica. It's possible you'll need graduate school experience to be competitive for these jobs.

I'd guess that no matter what you're going to end up doing some kind of programming. I don't think formal education is required for this.

conditionnumber 283 days ago |

Talk to people in your department about where students who enter industry end up working after graduation. Your university may have a kind of "jobs fair" in Autumn where companies come to recruit. Look into those companies and find out what skills they seem to like.

For what it's worth: I ended up going the quant/finance route (as a "regular guy" with no meaningful accomplishments). If I could start over I would try to do something involving data analysis and biology. I think RNA sequencing is on an exp(-a*t) cost curve, and it feels like this is a domain where data analysis could produce something of greater value than slightly more efficient asset prices.

mareoclasico 283 days ago | |

Thanks for the reply. Are you still in that quant/finance industry? any pros/cons?

I'm a bit afraid, like a bunch of people I guess, of AI eating all those data analyis/science jobs. But that field sounds definitely interesting.

snyena 285 days ago |

I am in the gambling industry. Online casinos often look for game mathematicians and sometimes even sportsbooks need mathematicians for price modelling.

www.pentasia.com www.bettingjobs.com etc.

mareoclasico 285 days ago | |

Super interesting. Thanks a lot. Is it difficult to break into the industry? What kind of skills are they mostly looking for?

EmanuelB 285 days ago |

I know companies that hire people that ”only” do mechanical. They don’t do any programming. Maybe some very basic scripting some of them. Just apply for jobs and see what is out there. You will never know everything there is to know anyway.

mareoclasico 285 days ago | |

I'm not opposed to learning programming btw! it's just that I'm very lost on what's out there and wanted to know possible industries/jobs that I might not be aware of.

jjice 285 days ago | | |

FWIW, the pure math and physics folks I know usually pick up programming very quickly and I've found that generally they're very strong at it.

pjacotg 283 days ago |

In regards to a career as a quant, the top firms may focus on "young geniuses" but there will be plenty of places where your profile would be just fine. It's a broad industry!

mareoclasico 283 days ago | |

That's good to hear! if you could share more info about it I'm all ears

ferguess_k 284 days ago |

Network and see what you are interested. If you can grind through pure Math you can take any entry level CS job. It's just a matter of knowing the right person at the right time.

mareoclasico 284 days ago | |

In a way that's what I'm trying to do here, getting some info from people that were in my situation or know people in my situation.

ferguess_k 284 days ago | | |

I wish you good luck. The author of Rosetta 2 (The binary translation) is also a Math graduate so it is not a far reach.

bjourne 284 days ago |

According to the pure math graduate I know, job prospects are not good. Teaching is what is available, but then you also must have some experience in pedagogy and education.

mareoclasico 284 days ago | |

Yeah I'm trying to stay clear from education, that's why I'm trying to figure out what options I do have after finishing.

kingkongjaffa 285 days ago |

> get the impression that I need some graduate program after my degree in order to pick up programming

You don’t have to do that. Check out free resources like cs50x and freecodecamp

mareoclasico 285 days ago | |

Yeah of course! but I meant learning a bit of programming on top of AI research or Quant analysis or something like that. And I guess having the degree doesn't hurt.

aborsy 284 days ago |

If you do the job that the employer wants, does it matter you are 27 or 77?!

They get what they want.

mareoclasico 283 days ago | |

I'm afraid ageism is a thing, and I'm on the wrong side of it haha

sargstuff 285 days ago |

Description fits requirements to take certification exams for actuary work.

mareoclasico 285 days ago | |

Oh I thought those exams were a thing in the US, but not here in Europe. I'll do my research. Thank you!

sargstuff 282 days ago | | |

Bit dated, but [1] might be of use. American certification(s) bit more demanding.

Blurb on certification/backround differences [2]

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[1] : https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/library/proceedings/...

[2] : https://www.reddit.com/r/Actuary_news/comments/ox4t30/why_do...