<p>Here's a story for all the math majors and future math majors reading this:</p>
<p>I graduated with a bachelor's degree in math 6 years ago. I graduated with honors and a good GPA from a good college. My current job prospects are horrible. I am stuck at a dead end programming job where I earn less than $40,000 per year even though I live close to a major US city and have over 5 years of work experience. I make less money than my "dumb" friends from high school currently make.</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm to blame for thinking that being good at math meant I was intelligent, but I feel morally obliged to warn people reading this who might be on the same boat. My honest suggestion to you is to major in something else. Unless you want to be a math teacher or an actuary, I implore you not to listen to anyone who tells you that you can do a million things with a math degree and that you should major in anything you want and the money will follow. Those are cliches and empty promises that don't mean anything in the real world.</p>
<p>You could argue that you could major in math and possibly end up with a programming job, since I did it, but don't expect to get hired to work as a software engineer unless you have additional qualifications, expect to work doing quality assurance or fixing code. It doesn't matter how smart you think your degree in math makes you, you can't compete with the millions of computer science majors in this country when it comes to programming jobs.</p>
<p>If you like finance, accounting, science, engineering, or some other subject, why not major in that subject? Why waste your time and money learning math formulas that will be of no use to you in the real world? If you major in math, and end up working as an accountant, don't you think you would be a more competitive candidate for accounting jobs if you had majored in accounting?</p>
<p>That's my advice to you guys. Do whatever you want with your lives but if you end up like me don't say that you were not warned.</p>
<p>I have to say, I’ve heard this same advice. If you major in math and then go on to get a masters or Ph.D, that’s one thing. But really, there aren’t many things that simply having a BA in mathematics will qualify you for.</p>
<p>OP, I’m so sorry that you are having such a hard time finding meaningful employment, but I’m not sure you can blame it entirely on your math degree. Quite frankly, the job market right now is brutal for the vast majority of folks – regardless of college major, work experience, or even location, for that matter. I personally know both engineering and business/finance graduates (getting their degrees in the past 2 or 3 years) who are currently working as telemarketers and as sales clerks. I also know some people who have math degrees that are doing quite well working for government agencies and defense contractors. </p>
<p>There is no guarantee that switching to another major like finance, accounting, or engineering will get you a good job either.</p>
<p>Are you serious? Math majors are heavily recruited for investment banking jobs, especially at the top universities. They’re also valuable for quantitative analysis, making them very appealing to hedge funds and the private equity industry.</p>
<p>I’m surprised to here your situation, I figured Math majors would have more opportunities.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could invest in some further education or training in a skill that balances out your resume better? Would you have any interest in getting your MBA? Or maybe even a Communications MA?</p>
<p>I work as an Investigative Analyst, it’s not rockstar work, and I don’t make major money (just a fact of life for this sorta thing), but the work is interesting. I think a Math major would be really marketable for what I do, especially if they balanced out their skill set with writing and communication.</p>
<p>Have you looked into being a Business Analyst? Perhaps a MBA should be in your future, help you get into management and get out of the trenches.</p>
<p>An applied mathematics majors has awesome prospects. If you go on to grad school using your math background and obtain an MBA or go get an economics grad degree. Obviously alone it might not be as marketable, but most math majors I know also majored in something else to apply their mathematics skills.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would try and apply your math skills in finance - where they are highly sought after. I think you are just unlucky in this economy as well as a pessimistic person - two things that do not combine well right now. You will be OK - just find another way because obviously you aren’t happy with what you are going through right now.</p>
<p>I agree with what others said, it seems like you need to find a way to apply your math skills. You don’t need to be smart to know that a pure math degree is a lot less practical than an applied math degree.</p>
<p>I believe finding a job after college is what you make it. I met one girl inside of my school who majored in mathematics and is now working for SunTrust corporate (she is NOT a bank teller). If you do internships, network and apply for many different types of jobs related to your major, you will find many different types of jobs. Especially if your a mathematician where the average salary is 90K.</p>
<p>Y2kplaya92, the math majors I was friends with either teach, work as actuaries, or pursued advanced math degrees.</p>
<p>Recharge, the emphasis of those jobs is business and finance, not math. If you like those subjects, why not get a degree in those subjects?</p>
<p>Xptboy, I wish.</p>
<p>BIGeastBEAST, I am not interested in those subjects.</p>
<p>TheMan777, I think you are right.</p>
<p>shravas, the WSJ article does not contradict my advice in any way. Just because mathematician, actuary and statistician rank at the top of the best jobs list doesn’t mean that those jobs are easy to come by or that math majors in general are qualified for those jobs. Mathematician is a job that requires PhD level math skills. If all you have is a BA then that job is not for you. Actuary is a possibility if you are interested in studying for the actuarial exams. Statistician is another possibility if you like that stuff, but remember that not all math majors like that branch of mathematics.</p>
<p>The issue is that while math majors are smart enough to do a lot of things many others aren’t, you don’t NEED to be that intellectually inclined to do a lot of jobs that pay fairly well - you need to get the job done, and do it well. As hinted, a math major may not be interested enough to do these things.</p>
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<p>While one COULD do this, one of the reasons math majors study what they study is they’re not into these things. I am sure math majors have opportunities if they plan accordingly, but not all do.</p>
<p>TheMan777 offers I think the most practical advice for a math major who wants to make it financially. </p>
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<p>I think what they mean is there are a lot of places you can apply math, which is true. But one has to train specifically, perhaps with a master’s degree, to have a specific place to actually apply the math.</p>
<p>Nobody really needs you to be able to write proofs about classical theory, which is what the major trains you in. However, the major certifies you are intelligent which gets you tremendous opportunity if you can show you have practical skills. E.g. if you DO know statistics really well and understand math, you are in a good position. Basic math courses can help you get specialized in something like economics - econ grad school loves math courses.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is as a math major, if you’re smart enough to do it, you should be prepared for higher education to train in employable skills - either a PhD to go to academia or something else.</p>
<p>A BA in Math, you’re right does very little but a PhD in Mathemcatics can lead to academia or finance (most hedge funds and such are run by applied mathematicians).</p>
<p>So math is mostly useful as an embellishment on the transcript. Abstract math isn’t very applicable in society. Smart people go to waste. I find this very sad. :(</p>
<p>I was suppose to find math very interesting. A lot of things in natures can be explained by math. But then, all the tedious proofs have repulsed me from math forever. I find this very sad as well. :(</p>
<p>^ The reason we know that the math describes nature is because of the proofs. Also it is one of the few things in life that can be conclusively proved ,there are a set of axioms, but still there is no “debate” in it.</p>