Math: Now What?

[Found on the Occupational Outlook Handbook]

What Do Mathematicians Do?

Many mathematicians work in academia, earning a Master’s degree and teaching at the grade school level or earning a PhD in their field and teaching at a college or university.  Additionally, mathematicians work in nearly all other fields, including astronomy, space exploration, climate research, medicine, national security, robotics, animated film, and in a wide range of businesses that involve the use of data.

Check out the American Mathematical Society’s undergraduate resources https://www.ams.org/learning-careers/students/undergraduate and http://www.ams.org/employment  for more information on careers in math.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO WITH A MATH DEGREE?

• Actuarial and Insurance
  • Actuary
  • Benefits Specialist
  • Financial Analyst
  • Investment Analyst
• Computer and Information Sciences
  • Applications Programmer
  • Computational Scientist
  • Computer Applications Software Engineer
  • Computer Programmer
  • Computer Systems Analyst
  • Cryptanalyst
  • Database Administrator
• Teaching/Academic Research
  • College or University Professor
  • Community College Instructor
  • Teacher
• Operations Research
  • Operations Research Analyst
  • Systems Engineer
• Statistics
  • Biometrician
  • Demographer
  • Econometrician
  • Psychometrician
  • Quality Control Analyst
  • Statistician
• Business/Industry
  • Applied Mathematician
  • Business Analyst
  • Communications Engineer
  • Market Researcher
  • Product Developer
• Health
  • Biomathematician
  • Data Analyst
  • Biomedical Engineer
  • Ecologist

Sample Job Titles for Math graduates

Selection of Employers for recent (Class of 2023 & 2024) UMass Amherst Math alumni:

• Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon)
• Barclays Bank
• Bates Electric
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Brown & Brown Insurance
• Clean Harbors
• Coakley Middle School
• Deutsche Bank
• DraftKings
• Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)
• Fyre
• High Lawn Farm
• Inovalon
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• John Hancock Financial
• Liberty Mutual Insurance
• Management Solutions
• Marsh (global professional services firm)
• Massachusetts General Hospital
• Medical Information Technology Inc (MEDITECH)
• National Institutes of Health
• Norfolk and Dedham Insurance Company
• Optum
• Raytheon Technologies
• Segal Consulting
• Shanghai Ruiyong Industry
• Springfield Public School District
• Tech Mahindra Americas Inc.
• The Boston Beer Company
• The TJX Companies
• TTI Power Equipment
• United Health Group
• Unum
• Wayfair

Other Top Employers for UMass Math Majors after Graduation (Class of 2021  - 2022):

• AbbVie
• Amazon
• Beaconfire Solutions
• Berkshire Bank
• Boston Consulting Group
• Cisco
• EBSCO Information Group
• Epic
• EZE Software
• Fidelity Investments
• General Dynamics Mission Systems
• IBM
• ISTO Biologics
• Mathnasium
• McLaughlin Research Corporation
• MITRE Corporation
• Northwestern Mutual
• Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
• Regional Economics Models Inc
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

Previous Internship Sites as self-reported by UMass Amherst Math students (2019 – 2024)

• Aetna (2019)
• Ansys (2020)
• Bank of China (Hunan Branch) (2019)
• Bank of New York Mellon (2022)
• Convention Data Services (2019)
• Cover Crop Innovation (2019)
• Digital Federal Credit Union (2019)
• Expedia Group (2022)
• Indigo (2019)
• Liberty Mutual (2019)
• Mclaughlin Research Corporation (2020)
• Microsoft (2019 & 2023)
• National Grid (2019)
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2022)
• Oscar Health (2020)
• Pfizer (2024)
• Philips (Professional Healthcare Solutions) (2019)
• PwC Consulting (2019)
• Red Hat (2021)
• Schneider Electric (2019)
• Station Casinos (2022)
• The Hartford (2022)
• The MITRE Corporation (2019)
• Titan Advanced Energy Solutions (2019)
• Tufts University (2021)
• University of California, Santa Barbara (2019)
• University of Massachusetts Amherst/Darthmouth (2019)
• University of Minnesota (2020)
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (2019)
• Von Roll USA Inc (2019)
• Wayfair (2021)
• William Lee Science Impact Program (LEE-SIP) (2019)

(More information on students’ past internships can be found here)

Sample Internships and REUs

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
• Department of Energy
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Sandia National Laboratory
• Wolfram Research
• Google
• MIT Lincoln Laboratory
• Broad Institute

Actuarial Careers
Here are some of the actuarial companies that have recently recruited UMass Amherst students on campus:

Career Planning Resources & Websites

UMass Amherst CNS Career Center: www.cns.umass.edu/careers

UMass Handshake Database of Internships & Jobs: https://app.joinhandshake.com/stu/postings

CNS Completed Research/Internships database: https://secure.cns.umass.edu/webforms/internships

Math-Related Job & Internship Links 

Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates: http://www.ams.org/programs/students/emp-reu

Natl Science Foundation NSF Summer REUs: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp

Industry, Research and Govt Companies Hiring Math: https://mathematics.usajobs.gov/search/results/ 

Academic Math Jobs *Includes International*: http://www.all-acad.com/Jobs/Mathematics

Actuarial Careers Inc, Jobs Board: http://www.actuarialcareers.com/about-our-jobs/

Actuarial Jobs for Pre-ACAS: http://www.actuarialcareers.com/jobs-for-pre-acas/

American Statistical Association JobWeb: http://www.amstat.org/ASA/Your-Career

Association of Teachers of Mathematics in New England: https://atmim.wildapricot.org/

Association for Women in Mathematics Jobs Board: https://awm-math.org/jobboard/

Casualty Actuarial Society Career Center: http://careers.casact.org/jobs/

Commonwealth of Mass Jobs by Category: https://massanf.taleo.net/careersection

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Jobs: https://www.cfd-online.com/Jobs/ 

Federal Pathways Program Internships at NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/careers  

GIS Jobs Clearinghouse: http://www.gjc.org/

GIS Jobs Boards: http://www.mygisjobs.com/

GIS Jobs via Recruiters: https://geosearch.com/jobs/

MathPrograms.org (Research opportunities, grants): http://www.mathprograms.org/db/programs 

Math Assoc of America Jobs Board: https://maa.org/career-center/ 

Math Programs for Women: https://awm-math.org/programs/

Mathematics Education Jobs: https://nctm-jobs.careerwebsite.com/

Math Science Research Opportunities (MSRI-UP): http://www.msri.org/web/msri/education

National Security Agency Careers: http://www.nsa.gov/careers

Soc for Industrial & Applied Math (SIAM) Research: http://jobs.siam.org/

SIAM Internships Board: https://www.siam.org/careers/internships

Teach for America Internships: https://www.teachforamerica.org/

Teaching Math to Elementary & High School: http://www.topusajobs.com/cgi/search.cgi?

Technology Jobs: https://www.dice.com/jobs/

Career Planning Links 

Careers for Numbers People: http://www.learnhowtobecome.org/careers

Edge Program for Women Heading to Grad School: https://www.edgeforwomen.org/

Federal Agencies Hiring Math Majors: https://gogovernment.org/career/mathematics/ 

Find a Graduate School Program in Math Sciences: http://www.ams.org/programs/students

Mathematical Association of America: https://maa.org/career-center/ 

What Do Mathematicians Do?: http://www.ams.org/profession/career-info

Careers in Math: http://weusemath.org/?page_id=143818

Professional Associations 

American Mathematical Society: http://www.ams.org

American Statistical Association: http://www.amstat.org

Association of Women in Mathematics: https://awm-math.org/

Casualty Actuarial Society Career Center: http://www.casact.org/

Computing Research Association: http://cra.org

IEEE Computer Society: http://www.computer.org/pubs/computer

Institute of Mathematical Statistics: https://imstat.org/

Mathematical Association of America: http://www.maa.org

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: http://www.nctm.org

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: http://www.siam.org

Society of Actuaries: http://www.soa.org/

US Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/

IMPORTANT QUALITIES TO INCLUDE ON YOUR RESUME  

• Critical-thinking skills. Mathematicians & Statisticians use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Problem-solving skills. Mathematicians & Statisticians must develop techniques to overcome problems in data collection and analysis, such as high nonresponse rates, so that they can draw meaningful conclusions.
• Speaking skills. Mathematicians & Statisticians often work in teams, they must be able to orally communicate statistical information, patterns and ideas so that others will understand.
• Writing skills. Mathematicians & Statisticians often need to explain technical matters to persons without their level of statistical expertise or present their data & conclusions in a concise & organized manner.

What Do Employers Look For? (NACE 2024 Job Outlook for Students)

Top 10 Skills Employers Seek on Candidate Resumes

1. Problem-solving skills
2. Ability to work in a team
3. Communication skills (written)
4. Strong work ethic
5. Flexibility/adaptability
6. Communication (verbal)
7. Technical Skills
8. Analytical/Quantitative Skills
9. Initiative
10. Detail-oriented

Top 7 Attributes that can positively influence employers the most

1. Internship with the organization
2. Internship within the industry
3. Major
4. General work experience
5. Leadership experience
6. Extracurricular activities
7. High GPA (3.0 or above)