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August 1, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON. To read bio.
click here.
Math and Science careers are so closely related, Sana. I can't
really speak to
what pays more or what jobs have the highest demand. I can
only speak from my
experience. My degree in Computer Science was Math-based.
When I was in
college, I could take the business side or the Math side.
I chose the Math side
because I thought that taking the business degree would limit
me to just
programming in business applications, as opposed to technological
programming
(like robotics and other devices such as cell phones). As
it is, I luckily made
the right decision at the time! When I graduated, the job
market was not
great. But, I did find a job writing code for Insurance Claims
systems,
business-oriented. As the job market opened up, I moved into
a more
technological field of telecommunications applications, which
was booming in the
90s. But, times DO change. In 1999, business-oriented programmers
were in high
demand to ward off problems dealing with Y2K (I had coded
in COBOL, a business
language when first out of school and I received many calls
for jobs with a
promise of very good pay). Now, I'm in telecommunications
and, if you haven't
heard, the market is really bad!! We are all hoping it bounces
back soon!
Three years ago, telecommunications was the place to be! Even
the CEOs are in a
state of shock and cannot predict what the future holds. You
have to listen to
analysts and CEOs to TRY to predict what will be in high demand
in the near
future and in 10 or 20 years, but you can never be sure of
what will happen.
Also, the higher degree you have will help you find a job
in a bad job market.
Mini Varughese said that physicists are not in high demand,
so Physics wouldn't
be a good degree right now. BUT, I know that my company and
many others will
hire a physics major to do other jobs in engineering because
they know that
Physics Major candidates are VERY intelligent and have very
good analytical
thought processes. A boss I had once was a physics major.
He hired 2 people
because, among their many impressive credentials, they were
physics majors! I
guess my point is, research what you enjoy doing, find out
what is in high
demand and what they predict will be in high demand. BUT,
if, when you
graduate, "they" were wrong and you can't find a
job in what you went to school
for, you WILL find a job in something else, possibly more
interesting than
anything you could have imagined previously! Changing technology
keeps opening
more doors. The prospects in your future are exciting and
abundant! Good luck!
July 31, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR MINI VARUGHESE. To read bio. click
here.
Math based careers pay more. Actuaries are one example. They
are in high
demand but must pass a lot of tests to maintain their accreditation.
http://www.beanactuary.org/.
I know for a fact from talking to a friend of mine that has
a Ph.D. in math,
that his postdoctoral salary was 30K above mine. I have a
Ph.D. in
biochemistry. There are some science fields that do pay well
compared to
mathematics however, such as a Ph.D. in computational
biology/bioinformatics. http://www.iscb.org/.
Physics Ph.D is not a good
idea however as jobs for physicists have been scarce.
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