<p>So i want to major in math, but i feel like there are no interesting jobs you can get out of math. Accounting is boring, what interesting and well paying math-related careers/jobs are there?</p>
<p>You cannot necessarily be an accountant with a math degree. If you decide to major in mathematics, you will take classes like multivariable calculus, linear algebra, abstract algebra, real analysis, discrete mathematics, probability/statistics, etc. If you want to be an accountant, you would need to take courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting, audit, intermediate cost accounting, etc. </p>
<p>I am a math major, and I had internship offers this spring in corporate finance (mergers & acquisitions) and supply chain management. As long as you can demonstrate that you are intelligent and know a little about a field you’re interested in, you can usually land an internship/job in that field (assuming good school/grades/leadership experience).</p>
<p>In my experience, consulting firms, banks, and major corporations highly regard mathematics majors. You won’t use the math you learn in school, but it proves you possess the kind of intelligence needed to perform at a high level.</p>
<p>Sligh_Anarchist, would you mind elaborating on your internship offers/experience? Did you come across any trouble or was it fairly simple to get those kinds of offers as a math major?</p>
<p>You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m just curious!</p>
<p>I’m a math major as well, and I’ve done two co-ops so far. One was in retirement (financial services) in an actuarial department. If you really want to use legit math a lot in your job, consider that field. But keep in mind that its tough to get through all of the exams and more people drop out of them than finish them, which is why those who make it to the end make a decent amount of money.</p>
<p>The second was in accounting and finance at a management consulting firm. First off, just to restate what was said above- you CAN’T become an accountant with JUST a math degree. You’ll need to take at least some basic accounting classes. And even then, you’ll never ever be able to come a public accountant. You have to have something like 150 hours in business and/or accounting plus pass a tough exam to become a CPA, and no firm will hire you if they know you’ll never be able to become a CPA.</p>
<p>You can get into finance, but it’s tough. You have to be good at what you do (math), but also prove that you’re capable of doing a lot more. It’s obviously possible and very rewarding if you end up moving into something you like, but I’ve personally found that some places will just ignore you if you don’t have a Finance degree- but their loss. The places that DO hire math majors (again, in my experience) rely on them heavily. My co-op was always held by accounting and finance majors, but because of a very lucky interview and a good recommendation I managed to get the job. Now? They’ve hired math majors ever since. People who are good at math tend to learn things faster, like to figure out problems and because they came INTO the field (instead of just following whatever everyone else in their major was doing), it’s obvious they actually want to be there.</p>
<p>The main thing is to prove you’re just as good as the people who major in other things. You can do business, finance, financial services, insurance, almost ANY job with the word “analyst” in it (except for computer analyst)… But really try to figure out what you want to do. I didn’t like actuarial science so I tried out finance thinking it would be my thing. Turns out it’s not because it doesn’t use enough analytical problem solving- so I’m going to head for analyst positions.</p>
<p>Here is a tip for trying to get a job or internship: Finance and business majors rarely if ever take computer science classes. Take one programming class and you look brilliant. You probably won’t use it- but having “computer science” on your resume looks great, because it means you’re at least comfortable with day to day computer work. Want to look even better? Become amazing at Excel. Seriously, even take a seminar on it or something. I got my finance position because my previous employer ranted about how great I was at Excel. Later on people told me that when my (at that time future) boss came back from interviews, he spent ages talking about the “girl who knows Excel”. Obviously everyone else could use Excel too, but if you become really good (PivotTables, macros, arrays…) you stand out a lot- in any field.</p>
<p>You should check out actuarial science.</p>
<p>Really I would like to know what advantage a math major provides in the job market compared to majors like econ other then being “well regarded and respected more because it is more technical and makes you an excellent problem solver” ? This is assuming the person is not interested in going to grad school at all and not interested in CS jobs.</p>
<p>You pretty much just listed the reason: people understand the rigor of a math degree, and for most analytical jobs that allow a person to train on the job, selecting a math major is a good bet - especially if their major is applied math of some kind.</p>
<p>Content-wise, a math major won’t give you any employable skills that an economics major won’t get you. The big advantage of a math major is that it is rather exclusive at most universities. That makes math majors “certified smart” in a way that econ majors are not.</p>
<p>I’m going into my senior year as a math and physics double major. Right now I have an actuarial internship at an insurance company. The pay is good - I make $700-800 for a 9-5 (roughly), monday through friday work schedule. Like described above, make sure you know excel really well (pivot tables, basic functions, etc) and programming doesn’t hurt either.</p>
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<p>Completely agree. A math major is a solid signal in most professional environments.</p>
<p>And to answer your questions from weeks ago (sorry, I have been very busy at work), my interviewers knew I didn’t have the technical business skills that say, a finance major, would have. But they knew that I could pick those skills up on the job quickly – and that turned out to be true. And to echo the above poster, my pay is great as well. I’m earning $770/week as a rising junior (before taxes) for 40 hour/week job.</p>