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Re: Mathematicians Entering Finance or Accounting
Posted:
Mar 11, 2011 9:09 AM
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Jonathan,
Another thing that occurred to me is that a lot of large companies use Six
Sigma to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, etc... but most people with
business degrees can't handle the statistics that is involved. If you have
some education in statistics that may make you very marketable. Most of my
positions were as a Financial Analyst, so emphasize your analytical skills.
The math department at my school, MTSU, also has a lot of graduates from the
Actuary and Biostats programs. Of course, being an actuary would require
passing some exams, but you might find that line of work interesting. Our
Biostats graduates have 100% job placement. They go on to do research with
Vanderbilt, the National Health Institute, the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center,
etc. I gave some serious thought to pursing that path.
The Mathematics Education PhD program at MTSU has a strong emphasis on
research, and my goal is to find a position at a university that will allow
me to do educational research. If I have evidence to back up my theories
about the classroom, then I should be able to use the methods that I have
proven effective.
Good luck to you! Let me know what you find.
Jennifer
On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 10:43 PM, Jonathan Groves <JGroves@kaplan.edu>wrote:
> Jennifer,
>
> Thanks for your response, and I'm glad to see it because I had posted this
> same thing on Sci.Math on February 19 with no luck, and Sci.Math has far
> more
> users and activity than here. You can see posts in the first page of the
> archives here that go back several weeks, but on Sci.Math, you will
> probably
> have to go back to page 15 or further back to see posts from just a few
> weeks
> ago. I had thought there was a good chance that someone there had some
> insight into this because no one I know does, at least not those in
> mathematics. Maybe the business tutors at the Kaplan Math Center have
> some insight to offer me, but I will have to wait till next week when I get
> my next opportunity to talk to one. But the disadvantage is that they
> don't have a math degree and might not have a lot of experience in the
> hiring
> end of things, but it does not hurt to ask.
>
> I had wondered about this when I looked into a possible position with the
> Coca-Cola Company, and all I saw that was math related are positions
> related
> to accounting or finance. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place in that
> more complete information is located elsewhere or maybe in a link I might
> have
> missed. I had looked at their website.
>
> I will probably have to consider job opportunities outside education simply
> because many schools I have seen support views of math education that I
> just
> can no longer endorse, either directly or indirectly (I feel that I
> indirectly
> endorse those views when I teach at such schools, especially when they
> force
> the faculty to do so). I have quit directly endorsing them sometime ago,
> but I'm still indirectly endorsing them with bad course designs, bad
> teaching
> philosophies, bad assignments that focus just on memorization and following
> recipes, bad textbooks and resources for students, etc. that I am required
> to use. Such schools I would like are very scarce and very difficult to
> find information on, so it might be necessary to consider careers
> elsewhere.
>
> Such opportunities do not have to be in accounting or finance, of course,
> but what I did find about the Coca-Cola Company did make me at least wonder
> some about such a career path. And I did wonder a bit more when I had
> heard that some mathematicians have chosen such a career path. Another
> mathematician I know (Samuel Jator) still teaches at Austin Peay State
> University where I went to college, but he did get an MBA in accounting
> and finance about four or so years ago and now lists financial mathematics
> as one of his research interests. He still does research in differential
> equations and numerical analysis.
>
> Either your experiences are typical but for some reason not mentioned
> in many materials on jobs in mathematics that I have seen, or your
> past employers were the exception rather than the norm. I cannot say,
> of course. Otherwise, I would not have posted the question that I did
> post!
>
> I am considering some government positions as well, but they do require
> such long and detailed background checks that it might not be till next
> year at the earliest that they can hire me, even if I apply right away.
>
>
>
> Jonathan Groves
>
>
>
>
> On 3/10/2011 at 3:58 pm, Jennifer Yantz wrote:
>
> > Jonathan,
> >
> > After I received my BS in Math in 1995, I took a job
> > in finance/accounting.
> > I had started on an Actuary track, so I had some
> > finance classes and that
> > seemed a logical choice for me. I had the BS in
> > Math, but did not have
> > computer science or engineering skills to go along
> > with it. My first
> > position was entry level and I quickly realized that
> > to be promotable I
> > needed credentials, so I took the extra hours of
> > accounting and sat for the
> > CPA exam. After passing that the promotions did come
> > very quickly, but the
> > jobs had little to do with anything I learned in my
> > BS and were not
> > satisfying. So, after my last company was bought by
> > a larger company I took
> > my severance package and went back to school to get
> > my MS in Math. Done
> > that, now I'm working on a PhD in Math Ed. I'm a
> > much happier person.
> > It doesn't seem natural to me for mathematicians to
> > go into finance or
> > accounting, especially since I took that path and saw
> > that having a BS in
> > math didn't really mean anything to my employers.
> > However, one of my
> > friends recently graduated with her MS in Math and
> > was hired as a Treasury
> > Analyst for a pretty large company. I guess
> > employers are willing to train
> > people? I also noticed that she is sitting for a CTA
> > (certified treasury
> > analyst) exam this month.
> >
> > It's an interesting trend to follow.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jennifer Yantz
> > Graduate Research Assistant
> > Middle Tennessee State University
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 6:23 AM, Jonathan Groves
> > <JGroves@kaplan.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear All,
> > >
> > > I remember reading in multiple sources about
> > finance or accounting
> > > as possible jobs for mathematicians and others with
> > a degree (Bachelor's
> > > or higher) in mathematics. However, I do not recall
> > any of these
> > > resources making it clear how this works because
> > training in finance
> > > or accounting is normally not part of the training
> > and background
> > > of those with degrees in mathematics. I know that
> > my own background
> > > does not include finance or accounting.
> > >
> > > In fact, these sources seem to suggest that getting
> > a separate degree
> > > in finance or accounting is not necessary, that
> > perhaps many employees
> > > might be willing to train those with degrees in
> > mathematics who want to
> > > enter finance or accounting positions.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have any information on how this works
> > for mathematicians
> > > who might be interested in finance or accounting
> > positions?
> > >
> > > I myself do not know how interested I would be in
> > these career options,
> > > but I had decided that it would be good to at least
> > know what my options
> > > are.
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > >
> > > Jonathan Groves
> > >
> > >
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