Careers in Mathematics

There is an old joke that runs, "Question: Where does an eight hundred pound gorilla sleep? Answer: Anywhere he wants."

When a student asks, "What can you do with a degree in mathematics?", it is not much of an exaggeration to give essentially the same answer: anything you want!

Some excellent resources that give examples of myriad career paths followed by people trained in mathematics are:

• MAA Career Profiles - From 1997 to the present day, the Mathematical Association of America has been collecting profiles of individuals with mathematical backgrounds. The careers listed in this archive include educators, engineers, sales and marketing consultants, scientists, executive officers of companies and other organizations, and many others.
• AMS Career Profiles - The American Mathematical Society maintains a similar archive of profiles of individuals working in nonacademic fields. These profiles were gathered from 1995 to 1999, and again indicate the wide range of career options open to someone interested in pursuing mathematics.
• AMS Early Career Profile Network - Recently, the American Mathematical Society has begun collecting profiles of recent graduates in mathematics at the bachelor's level. This collection is part of a joint effort with departments of mathematics from around the country.
• Careers that Count - The website for the Association for Women in Mathematics has this brochure, written in 1991, describing the careers of fifteen women in mathematics.
• SIAM Career Profiles - Although it contains only five profiles, far less than the MAA and AMS sites listed above, I would still recommend that you check out the link to the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The profiles are carefully chosen to again illustrate the wide number of career options open.

According to Jobs Rated Almanac (Editions 1 through 6), the job of Actuary has consistently been rated one of the best jobs available in the United States. You can find more information on this career that requires a strong background in mathematics and statistics at the "Be An Actuary" website.

A good overall general resource on career information is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published each year by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics). You can search the handbook for various careers and find information just as salary statistics, working conditions and job outlook.