Trouble finding job - Get math major?

<p>So I'm wanting to get some opinions about my situation:</p>

<p>I'm having a pretty tough time getting a job (EE) and so are most of the people at my school. I graduate this May and I'm not too sure how things are going to go.</p>

<p>I've considered grad school, but I haven't taken my GRE and I don't want to take it until I'm sure that I will ace or do really well on the Math portion. The deadlines are closing in with most schools, as well. I don't really want to go to grad school at the University I attend (poor research output in our department).</p>

<p>I'm thinking that if I don't end up with a job offer by the end of school, I'll get my math major, since I only have to take about 20 credits to get that.</p>

<p>Good idea? I'm thinking maybe I'd try taking the Actuarial Exams after my Math Major or consider grad school in that field. What do you think? I like both EE and Math a lot.</p>

<p>I don’t think a MS in mathematics will help a great deal…EE is a darn good degree to have by itself and it’s hard to “improve” on.</p>

<p>However, a MS in math sure won’t hurt you, and give you a couple more years to enjoy the college life and experience. It also helps you be productive while your waiting around for the economy to improve.</p>

<p>Rest assured, it will improve and you’ll be in hot demand before you know it. There are far too few skilled engineers in the US and not nearly enough to fill long term demand. But, the jobless recovery we are in right now isn’t helping at all.</p>

<p>The math portion of the GRE is pretty basic. If you like math and can figure out questions like “x * y + 1 is even so x must be ____,” you’ll have no problem. If you can get above 650 Q and above 500 V, and have a decent GPA, some references perhaps, maybe some research or good projects, you’ll be able to get into some grad school.</p>

<p>I would stick with EE if I were you. I doubt employability will go up if you switch to math. I’m usually the first to sing the praises of a math major but employability is not really its strength when compared to engineering or CS.</p>

<p>Don’t give up hope on jobs yet. Think about applying outside your comfort zone. A lot of non-engineering roles will be thrilled to higher somebody with quantitative skills… although you should also consider the effect this could have on the rest of your career.</p>

<p>Of course I am biased, but I would augment that M.S. in Mathematics with either a computer science slant or an operations research slant. The CS slant gives you an opening for I.T. and the O.R. slant gives you an opening for areas like systems engineering.</p>

<p>For a CS slant, find a school where there a quite a few of cross-listed courses that are in BOTH the Math and CS departments.</p>

<p>If CS or O.R. is not your thing, I would go the Applied Mathematics route.</p>

<p>I always felt that you have to balance “what you like” and “what is marketable”.</p>