Careers in Math

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Looking for an entry level job or internship in math? This is an overview of how to approach the search and a list of companies that might have relevant entry level and internship opportunities.

The jackpot for last Friday’s Mega Millions drawing exceeded half a billion dollars, making it the largest lottery jackpot in world history. As people poured out to purchase tickets, one statistician explained the odds of winning in easily understandable terms. Apparently people are 19 times as likely to be struck by lightning twice, 33 times as likely to be killed in the next year by bees, and 40 times as likely to be dealt five blackjacks in a row as they are to win Mega Millions. Those don’t seem like good odds, do they? Maybe that’s why I sadly wasn’t one of the three people with the winning numbers. While the job of a Statistician doesn’t always involving informing the public of their terrible purchasing decisions, it does revolve around collecting and interpreting numerical data to help inform decisions.

Math Careers

Photo Credit: Flickr user chicagogeek

Math Career Guide Overview

  1. What a Statistician Does
  2. A Typical Day for a Statistician
  3. Salary and Career Progression for a Statistician
  4. Best Locations for Statisticians
  5. Pros and Cons of Being a Statistician
  6. What You Need to Know for a Career in Math
  7. Math Resources
  8. Careers Related to Math
  9. Companies with Jobs and Internships in Math

What a Statistician Does

A Statistician applies mathematical theories to collect, organize, interpret, and summarize numerical data to provide usable information. They not only picture the data, but they have to explain and apply it. Statisticians are needed in both the private and public sectors, so there are many fields to specialize in like biostatistics, agricultural statistics, business statistics, or economic statistics. For example, survey statisticians collect information from a carefully specified sample and extend the results to an entire population, government statisticians conduct experiments to aid in the development of public policy and social programs, and statistical scientists analyze and validate the results of clinical trials, and business statisticians predict the need for goods and services in the future.

A Typical Day for a Statistician

While a typical day for a Statistician will vary, it generally includes spending over half the day in front of a computer and might include some of these tasks:

  • Consulting regarding protocol design and data analysis for research projects
  • Attending educational offerings for professional growth
  • Maintaining, scheduling, and teaching a course curriculum
  • Writing reports and publishing results
  • Collaborating on development of grant proposals
  • Learning to use new software
  • Finding patterns
  • Modifying reports to correct problems
  • Exchanging ideas with colleagues on the phone or in meetings
  • Setting up models
  • Manipulating and analyzing data

Salary and Career Progression for a Statistician

While entry-level Statisticians can expect to earn around $30,000 per year, the average salary for a Statistician is between $41,601 and $124,561 per year. From there you can go on to become a Biostatistician ($47,414-$130,705 on average per year), or SAS Programmer ($44,921-$110,118 on average per year).

Best Locations for Statistician

Here are some hot spots for Statisticians:

  • Houston, Texas
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Hartford, Connecticut
  • Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Seattle, Washington
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Pros and Cons of Being a Statistician

Pros
  • Employment for this occupation is expected to increase by about 16% between 2009 and 2018
  • Work within a number of different industries
  • Can be exciting to see your work being picked up by the media or being used to help shape government policy
Cons
  • Senior positions will tend to move away from statistical work, focusing more on management issues
  • Explaining the implications of your studies to non-statisticians can be challenging

What You Need to Know for a Career in Math

To be a Statistician you must have a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics or Statistics. A master’s degree or Ph.D. is very helpful and often recommended for higher-level positions. Furthermore you should consider another major (or a minor) that reflects your potential professional direction, such as economics, computer and material science, or biology, which will give you an advantage when seeking employment. You’ll also need to have strong analytical skills and interpersonal skills, as part of the job is communicating your findings to others.

Math Resources

If math still sounds like your cup of tea, here are a few things you should do to get started.

Required Reading

Key Folks to Follow on Twitter

Blogs and Websites

Networking Opportunities

Job Search Resources

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Companies with Entry Level Jobs and Internships in Math

MATHCOUNTS Logo

MATHCOUNTS - MATHCOUNTS is an Alexandria, VA based non-profit that “provides fun and challenging math programs to US middle school students."

See the complete MATHCOUNTS profile


Motion Math Logo

Motion Math - Motion Math is a San Francisco, CA based company that creates “awesomely fun, rigorously educational learning games."

See the complete Motion Math profile


Desmos Logo

Desmos - Desmos is a San Francisco, CA based startup that offers a free online graphing calculator for students, teachers, and anyone interested in math.

See the complete Desmos profile


Reasoning Mind Logo

Reasoning Mind - Reasoning Mind is a Houston, TX based non-profit that uses web technology to help kids learn math, and they're hiring lots of new grads.

See the complete Reasoning Mind profile


NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago - NORC at the University of Chicago is a non-profit organization that aims to “to conduct high-quality social science research in the public interest.”

See the complete NORC at the University of Chicago profile


Wowzers Logo

Wowzers - Wowzers is a Chicago, IL based company that offers a cloud-based adaptive learning platform that teaches kid math in the form of a video game.

See the complete Wowzers profile


The Museum of Mathematics Logo

The Museum of Mathematics - The Museum of Mathematics in New York, NY is opening in 4 months to be the only math museum in the United States.

See the complete The Museum of Mathematics profile


Gooru Logo

Gooru - Gooru is a Palo Alto, CA based non-profit that is “organizing free, online education resources into searchable collections" available online.

See the complete Gooru profile


Wireless Generation Logo

Wireless Generation - Wireless Generation is a Brooklyn, NY based company that is at the forefront of education technology, and they have a ton of job opportunities.

See the complete Wireless Generation profile


MathWorks Logo

MathWorks - MathWorks is a Natick, MA based "developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists," and they have a ton of entry level jobs.

See the complete MathWorks profile


MediaMath Logo

MediaMath - MediaMath is a NYC based company that is empowering a "new breed of marketing professional”--the Math Men and Math Women, and they're hiring.

See the complete MediaMath profile


Macmillan Logo

Macmillan - Macmillan is the public face of a ton of U.S. publishers owned by a German media company, and they have a ridiculous number of job opportunities.

See the complete Macmillan profile


Octopart Logo

Octopart - Octopart is a NYC based company that has developed a search technology to help engineers and scientists build the next generation of electronic devices.

See the complete Octopart profile


Innovations for Poverty Action Logo

Innovations for Poverty Action - If you’re analytically minded and want to put your skills towards erasing poverty, then Innovations for Poverty Action would be a great place for you to work.

See the complete Innovations for Poverty Action profile


Exa Logo

Exa - Obviously, Exa is looking for people with very specific types of knowledge, but they do offer some opportunities that could be appropriate for a new grad.

See the complete Exa profile


The Island School Logo

The Island School - If you’d like to spend some time in The Bahamas, you should check out The Island School’s Teaching positions along with their Teaching Fellowship Program.

See the complete The Island School profile


Dropbox Logo

Dropbox - If you love what Dropbox is doing on the cloud storage front, then you should check out their Jobs page for their latest opportunities.

See the complete Dropbox profile


GameDesk Logo

GameDesk - GameDesk doesn’t have jobs posted on their Idealist page at this moment, but you have to think that some will be coming as the launch of the school gets closer.

See the complete GameDesk profile


The Urban Institute Logo

The Urban Institute - What I really like about The Urban Institute is that they are tirelessly focused on finding the facts, not promoting political opinions. It's about the research

See the complete The Urban Institute profile


U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is "the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics."

See the complete U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics profile


DreamBox Learning Logo

DreamBox Learning - The founder of Netflix is putting a ton of money and attention into online education, and if you want to join him, check out Jobs at DreamBox Learning.

See the complete DreamBox Learning profile


Ceteris Logo

Ceteris - For most new grads, grasping exactly what Ceteris does is pretty hard. The best way to get a feel for them is to take a look at examples of their work.

See the complete Ceteris profile


New York City Teaching Fellows Logo

New York City Teaching Fellows - New York Teaching Fellows is an NYC-based alternative teacher certification program that places high quality teachers in New York City public schools.

See the complete New York City Teaching Fellows profile


Wolfram Research - Wolfram Research is "one of the world's most respected software companies" and they have a ton of jobs available for new college grads.

See the complete Wolfram Research profile


Reasoning Mind - Reasoning Mind wants kids to "love their math class so much, they do math problems at home instead of playing video games" and they need Program Coordinators.

See the complete Reasoning Mind profile


U.S. Census Bureau - Luckily, the U.S. Census Bureau does a lot more than its once every ten years nationwide census. That's why they have so many cool jobs.

See the complete U.S. Census Bureau profile


The Mathematical Association of America - We're celebrating Pi Day by taking a look at entry level jobs with The Mathematical Association of America.

See the complete The Mathematical Association of America profile


Math for America Logo

Math for America - If you really love math and want to share that love with the next generation, then Math for America is perfect for you.

See the complete Math for America profile


Carnegie Learning - Located in Pittsburg, PA, Carnegie Learning develops comprehensive mathematics curricula for middle school and high school students.

See the complete Carnegie Learning profile


Check out the latest job and internship postings in math.

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