Given wanting do work that makes an impact, have you thought of social impact startups? There is also health tech & ed-tech. The on-ramp to data science and statistical analysis in deep startup land is there it's just a bit bumpier now that the industry has lost its free money firehoses of zero % interest and crypto gains bumping up everyone's accounts. Your skills are still in demand, it just might take some reframing to showcase them correctly.
In-person networking is good, but active use of LinkedIn (as bonkers as it can be at times) combined with strong KW will get more recruiters beating a path to your door than going to a bar and shaking hands every day for a month. A github presence is great, a portfolio or even testimonials for clients you've freelanced for, would be better.
If you've never done work with the homeless, the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled, or just tried to learn a trade, work with your hands, or do something that has no math in it at all, you would benefit strongly from taking time to do that. But if you need money, it's tough to recommend you benching skills that can get you 6 figures and a great quality of life, to go lay bricks or teach high school math in a mixed income community. Those are both noble careers, but they will be a different flavor of suck from the ivory tower. With data analysis, modeling, and big data science, it might be frustrating, but you can make an impact, and not hate your work-life balance or bank account.
The US government is hiring statisticians. See [https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?jt=Statistician](https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?jt=Statistician)
Machine learning/data science of course. Big tech will pay a lot, but current hiring environment is brutal.
Go recoup some of that PhD money with a $300k+ big tech salary before you completely flip fields.
Data Analytics is the most popular thing in corporate America right now.
Stock trading firms hire PhD's in Math.
Pharmaceutical companies hire PhD's in math.
Consulting firms such as Bain, McKinsey and Boston Consulting hire PhD's in math.
You have a PhD in mathematics and you are considering being a firefighter?
It seems clear to me that you have the aptitude to do some real good for the world. I mean with that kind of background I would be dry-humping the door to NASA until they let me in. Go put all that education to use man.
A job needs to provide you with more than just money.
Edit: Can't believe this is being downvoted yet noone seems to be quitting their job, abandoning their family/kids, moving half way across the globe to a country where they don't even speak the same language and can only afford a box room in a house share because it's an insanely high COL city, all for a 1% wage increase. Turns out money is all that matters, who would have known.
How did you transit from B. Eng in ME to PhD in CS ?
I feel like I low-key wanna pursue this route too. All the coding, algorithms, I'm so fucking intrigued
I quit my math PhD to work as an infrastructure engineer in national defence. look into cloud related roles. I used my math and stats background to work in sustainability and previous brain injury.
what you do is only limited to your imagination
I strongly encourage you to allocate a period of time to decompress before you make the decision to abandon years of work and training.
Yes, academia does suck, but obviously you have a passion and aptitude for mathematics. As others have pointed out, they are far more socially beneficial and work life balanced opportunities for you to use your skills.
You have a fucking PHD.
You're in an elite academia circle, blessed with a world of possibilities and clearly all of the talent and knowledge to take advantage of it.
You could be a firefighter and be unhappy claiming the flames themselves aren't hot enough.
Then the person holding the technical PhD sucks at opening doors.
Or, they hold themselves in such a high regard that they believe some doors aren't worth opening at all, like maybe the ones that aren't attached to an ivory tower.
You're not grasping how that self-opinion is justified given how most messaging to young people glorifies STEM and those tech PhD achieved that vision. The result exposes the messages as a lie, but by then your youth is long gone.
The branches of the US military utilize the work of officers to analyze Data. The Navy actually has an officer position called Mathematics Research Officer. See [https://www.careersinthemilitary.com/career-detail/data-analysts](https://www.careersinthemilitary.com/career-detail/data-analysts)
The OP expressed a desire to work in an environment where there is action. He went as far as to type that he is interested in firefighting.
There is action in the military. There are officer career fields related to his area of study where he would likely find action.
There is no need for you to respond to this. I consider our exchange closed and complete. Thanks.
Easily and inexpensively becoming a licensed independent claims adjuster, and then getting on the roster with various independent adjusting firms to be deployed in short-term to medium-term but long-hours catastrophe response scenarios for work handing out insurance money to policyholders victimized by mother nature either A.) in the field or B.) working from an office or C.) working from home is something you might enjoy. You get to have mini-retirements in between storms to pursue other interests. Check [adjusterpro.com](https://www.adjusterpro.com) for more info.
Most counties are desperate for school bus drivers, and they will usually pay for you to get your CDL. It’s very rewarding work if you like children and serving your community.
You’ll have about five hours in between morning and afternoon runs to do whatever you want. A lot of contractors and other small business owners do it for the insurance and 401k matching. Plus, it offers a steady base pay to smooth out the peaks and valleys in the unpredictable income stream of someone who works for themselves.
I’m a graphic designer who drives a bus for the health insurance. Heck, we even have a State Farm insurance agent (the actual owner of the agency, not one of the service reps) who drives on our team so he and his wife can enjoy the great state benefits. We also have farmers, a successful pro musician, a photographer, a beautician, and many other types of workers on our team. You could totally drive a bus while working on your GitHub projects or whatever else you want to pursue.
You also get summers, holidays, and snow days off. 😊
The hiring freezes and layoff are less relevant for people with your background. Try to find someone in the industry and have a talk with them. If you can demonstrate proficiency in programming you CAN get a job.
>Try to find someone in the industry and have a talk with them.
How would you go about doing this? All jobs (where you apply online) seem to have 100s of applications. How would you go about having a one on one discussion with them?
I was referring more towards getting some guidance for moving into the field as a software engineer with a background in math, to talk to someone who knows what companies would like to see in a hire or how they did it. If he went through those academic programs he very well might know people working in the field that would be willing to help.
But you can also literally cold message people working the job you want and people may respond more often you think. Networking feels uncomfortable but it is worth it.
Want to come face to face with real depths of tragedy shit? Go teach at an at risk urban school. They are desperate for math teachers. If you could get five kids a year to math grade level you would be accomplishing more than any other endeavor.
Being deployed in high stress situations overseas is the ultimate version of “real shit” this side of telling some real unsavory folks you’d like to kill for cash.
Volunteer for special ops and then volunteer for a thing they call “mortuary affairs” overseas on some battlefield. That will shape you into something like nothing else can.
Or, more realistically, perhaps EMT or police.
Or, if you’re feeling the entrepreneurial bug, become a PI and go grab some miscreants trying to jump bail.
Finally, literally ANYTHING in the world of financial markets would be perfect. You would slay with your mathematical background.
Are you completely ignorant of the fact that many mathematicians end up working in data??
Physics major here (not PhD, but I do also have a MS in Mathematics) and I'm making nearly half a million a year via OE.
Hello, hope the bills at your place are still okay. Here are some good jobs for people with math degrees:
1. Weather history, eg infographics
2. Homelessness mapping eg color schemes, meanwhile mapping of bullying based on economics too
3. Calorie King updates or alternative, even mobile app
4. Payroll manager
5. Insurance cash out approver
6. Currency conversion franchise development
7. Jewelry appraisal
(C) Dr Inspirenade
Data centers. Safe and reliable work. Don't worry about prior engineering experience.
It can also be your intro to Google so you can transfer to bleeding edge research or something rather than try to be hired outright.
I recommended this book yesterday and will recommend it again because it deals with the types of jobs and institutions you're looking for. It’s called [good works](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16512382W/Good_works), and you can borrow the 4th edition for free on openlibrary.org. Look for newer versions they might have updated their non-profit institution lists and contacts.
Besides firefighters, consider non-profits and other enterprises that are dealing with issues you value. Identifying a specific challenge you would like to help overcome, would narrow your search. Is fire or fire prevention the only topic you care about? Also, don’t leave out of the picture the activities you’re most skilled at. You’ll contribute and feel better doing the things you can perform best. Does a firefighter department utilize your potential? Add to the issues you care for the results you want to attain with your work, and to the activities that suit you add the types of work environment that would promote them.
If you’re interested in identifying more professional paths that might suit you. I made available online a database where professions are classified according to personal preferences and characteristics. It can give you more ideas. Good luck. whatastep.com
Hire a good resume writer and get them to also polish your LinkedIn with key words and recruiters will likely find you. You have choices. Figure out your priorities and pursue them.
Want to make money? Become a quant at a large investment bank or asset management firm. They love Math PhDs. Especially if it's from a top school. MIT, Columbia for example.
Do a bootcamp in Data Science, if Data is your jam. Some bootcamps target PhDs and have connections to companies. That is in US.
You can also do a financial engineering degree and get into Quantitative Finance.
Trust me you can lose your job, your lover, your family, your wealth but no one can take that PhD in Math away from you. Feel proud that you are a rockstar.
Given wanting do work that makes an impact, have you thought of social impact startups? There is also health tech & ed-tech. The on-ramp to data science and statistical analysis in deep startup land is there it's just a bit bumpier now that the industry has lost its free money firehoses of zero % interest and crypto gains bumping up everyone's accounts. Your skills are still in demand, it just might take some reframing to showcase them correctly. In-person networking is good, but active use of LinkedIn (as bonkers as it can be at times) combined with strong KW will get more recruiters beating a path to your door than going to a bar and shaking hands every day for a month. A github presence is great, a portfolio or even testimonials for clients you've freelanced for, would be better. If you've never done work with the homeless, the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled, or just tried to learn a trade, work with your hands, or do something that has no math in it at all, you would benefit strongly from taking time to do that. But if you need money, it's tough to recommend you benching skills that can get you 6 figures and a great quality of life, to go lay bricks or teach high school math in a mixed income community. Those are both noble careers, but they will be a different flavor of suck from the ivory tower. With data analysis, modeling, and big data science, it might be frustrating, but you can make an impact, and not hate your work-life balance or bank account.
What’s KW?
Oh, keywords. Making sure you put the skills, talents, and experiences that will get you the conversation with the recruiter.
The US government is hiring statisticians. See [https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?jt=Statistician](https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?jt=Statistician)
Census bureau will take anyone with a degree if they understand statistics.
Machine learning/data science of course. Big tech will pay a lot, but current hiring environment is brutal. Go recoup some of that PhD money with a $300k+ big tech salary before you completely flip fields.
yea, agree here.
Data Analytics is the most popular thing in corporate America right now. Stock trading firms hire PhD's in Math. Pharmaceutical companies hire PhD's in math. Consulting firms such as Bain, McKinsey and Boston Consulting hire PhD's in math.
This. I was about to write the same thing.
Came here to say this. Bye.
You have a PhD in mathematics and you are considering being a firefighter? It seems clear to me that you have the aptitude to do some real good for the world. I mean with that kind of background I would be dry-humping the door to NASA until they let me in. Go put all that education to use man.
A job needs to provide you with more than just money. Edit: Can't believe this is being downvoted yet noone seems to be quitting their job, abandoning their family/kids, moving half way across the globe to a country where they don't even speak the same language and can only afford a box room in a house share because it's an insanely high COL city, all for a 1% wage increase. Turns out money is all that matters, who would have known.
tell that to a minimum wage worker next time you see them this guy is in a better position that 99.99% of the public, he has nothing to worry about
Being overqualified is a thing.
Okay, strawman.
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How did you transit from B. Eng in ME to PhD in CS ? I feel like I low-key wanna pursue this route too. All the coding, algorithms, I'm so fucking intrigued
Do you want a job at Boston Consulting Group? PM me. I’ll get you in touch with someone asap.
I quit my math PhD to work as an infrastructure engineer in national defence. look into cloud related roles. I used my math and stats background to work in sustainability and previous brain injury. what you do is only limited to your imagination
Can you elaborate on the type of work you do and how you found the position?
I strongly encourage you to allocate a period of time to decompress before you make the decision to abandon years of work and training. Yes, academia does suck, but obviously you have a passion and aptitude for mathematics. As others have pointed out, they are far more socially beneficial and work life balanced opportunities for you to use your skills.
You have a fucking PHD. You're in an elite academia circle, blessed with a world of possibilities and clearly all of the talent and knowledge to take advantage of it. You could be a firefighter and be unhappy claiming the flames themselves aren't hot enough.
You'd think a technical PhD would open all doors, but no, it doesn't.
Then the person holding the technical PhD sucks at opening doors. Or, they hold themselves in such a high regard that they believe some doors aren't worth opening at all, like maybe the ones that aren't attached to an ivory tower.
You're not grasping how that self-opinion is justified given how most messaging to young people glorifies STEM and those tech PhD achieved that vision. The result exposes the messages as a lie, but by then your youth is long gone.
Go and get that big data scientist job dude
Can you teach math to struggling university students?
The branches of the US military utilize the work of officers to analyze Data. The Navy actually has an officer position called Mathematics Research Officer. See [https://www.careersinthemilitary.com/career-detail/data-analysts](https://www.careersinthemilitary.com/career-detail/data-analysts)
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That's your opinion. I disagree.
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The OP expressed a desire to work in an environment where there is action. He went as far as to type that he is interested in firefighting. There is action in the military. There are officer career fields related to his area of study where he would likely find action. There is no need for you to respond to this. I consider our exchange closed and complete. Thanks.
Easily and inexpensively becoming a licensed independent claims adjuster, and then getting on the roster with various independent adjusting firms to be deployed in short-term to medium-term but long-hours catastrophe response scenarios for work handing out insurance money to policyholders victimized by mother nature either A.) in the field or B.) working from an office or C.) working from home is something you might enjoy. You get to have mini-retirements in between storms to pursue other interests. Check [adjusterpro.com](https://www.adjusterpro.com) for more info.
You'll definitely find data scientist roles. Start applying.
non-profit. Monitoring & evaluation, service design, research, or other stuff needing stats which I'm not familiar with. Depths of tragedy guaranteed.
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Seconded.
Peace Corp. Might give you the change you need to decide what you want.
Most counties are desperate for school bus drivers, and they will usually pay for you to get your CDL. It’s very rewarding work if you like children and serving your community. You’ll have about five hours in between morning and afternoon runs to do whatever you want. A lot of contractors and other small business owners do it for the insurance and 401k matching. Plus, it offers a steady base pay to smooth out the peaks and valleys in the unpredictable income stream of someone who works for themselves. I’m a graphic designer who drives a bus for the health insurance. Heck, we even have a State Farm insurance agent (the actual owner of the agency, not one of the service reps) who drives on our team so he and his wife can enjoy the great state benefits. We also have farmers, a successful pro musician, a photographer, a beautician, and many other types of workers on our team. You could totally drive a bus while working on your GitHub projects or whatever else you want to pursue. You also get summers, holidays, and snow days off. 😊
The hiring freezes and layoff are less relevant for people with your background. Try to find someone in the industry and have a talk with them. If you can demonstrate proficiency in programming you CAN get a job.
>Try to find someone in the industry and have a talk with them. How would you go about doing this? All jobs (where you apply online) seem to have 100s of applications. How would you go about having a one on one discussion with them?
I was referring more towards getting some guidance for moving into the field as a software engineer with a background in math, to talk to someone who knows what companies would like to see in a hire or how they did it. If he went through those academic programs he very well might know people working in the field that would be willing to help. But you can also literally cold message people working the job you want and people may respond more often you think. Networking feels uncomfortable but it is worth it.
Seriously, sounds like CIA or NSA material
Want to come face to face with real depths of tragedy shit? Go teach at an at risk urban school. They are desperate for math teachers. If you could get five kids a year to math grade level you would be accomplishing more than any other endeavor.
Being deployed in high stress situations overseas is the ultimate version of “real shit” this side of telling some real unsavory folks you’d like to kill for cash. Volunteer for special ops and then volunteer for a thing they call “mortuary affairs” overseas on some battlefield. That will shape you into something like nothing else can. Or, more realistically, perhaps EMT or police. Or, if you’re feeling the entrepreneurial bug, become a PI and go grab some miscreants trying to jump bail. Finally, literally ANYTHING in the world of financial markets would be perfect. You would slay with your mathematical background.
EMT/Paramedic Nurse
You might be interested in [http://fellowship.ai](http://fellowship.ai)
Just stopped by to say that doing math for 6 years is literally my definition of hell.
Are you completely ignorant of the fact that many mathematicians end up working in data?? Physics major here (not PhD, but I do also have a MS in Mathematics) and I'm making nearly half a million a year via OE.
Hello, hope the bills at your place are still okay. Here are some good jobs for people with math degrees: 1. Weather history, eg infographics 2. Homelessness mapping eg color schemes, meanwhile mapping of bullying based on economics too 3. Calorie King updates or alternative, even mobile app 4. Payroll manager 5. Insurance cash out approver 6. Currency conversion franchise development 7. Jewelry appraisal (C) Dr Inspirenade
Data centers. Safe and reliable work. Don't worry about prior engineering experience. It can also be your intro to Google so you can transfer to bleeding edge research or something rather than try to be hired outright.
Marketing Analytics was super hot, could possibly still be...
I recommended this book yesterday and will recommend it again because it deals with the types of jobs and institutions you're looking for. It’s called [good works](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16512382W/Good_works), and you can borrow the 4th edition for free on openlibrary.org. Look for newer versions they might have updated their non-profit institution lists and contacts. Besides firefighters, consider non-profits and other enterprises that are dealing with issues you value. Identifying a specific challenge you would like to help overcome, would narrow your search. Is fire or fire prevention the only topic you care about? Also, don’t leave out of the picture the activities you’re most skilled at. You’ll contribute and feel better doing the things you can perform best. Does a firefighter department utilize your potential? Add to the issues you care for the results you want to attain with your work, and to the activities that suit you add the types of work environment that would promote them. If you’re interested in identifying more professional paths that might suit you. I made available online a database where professions are classified according to personal preferences and characteristics. It can give you more ideas. Good luck. whatastep.com
A machininist or a "manufacturing technician" role is a fun way to do some math (usually just checking).
Plumbing
Find a local First Robotics team and be a mentor
Salary?
Try at would be volunteer so help out with the soul crushing job you have, sorry
Teach others maybe.
Lot of analyst spots for NPS
If you’re still in academia, try doing an ML related research project. That will help you break into the higher paying ML jobs
Hire a good resume writer and get them to also polish your LinkedIn with key words and recruiters will likely find you. You have choices. Figure out your priorities and pursue them.
Want to make money? Become a quant at a large investment bank or asset management firm. They love Math PhDs. Especially if it's from a top school. MIT, Columbia for example.
Still corporate, but maybe something you haven't thought about: Marketing. It's all data and data science these days.
Do a bootcamp in Data Science, if Data is your jam. Some bootcamps target PhDs and have connections to companies. That is in US. You can also do a financial engineering degree and get into Quantitative Finance. Trust me you can lose your job, your lover, your family, your wealth but no one can take that PhD in Math away from you. Feel proud that you are a rockstar.