There are some common strategies that exist for all four of these occupational areas. First, find out where the jobs are (resources, geographic, industry). If there is little demand within your preferred geographic location, you may need to consider relocation. Second, find the position that matches your mathematical skills and experience. Third, design a resume that speaks to that position description in the posting. And fourth, write a cover letter that focuses on the benefits of hiring you and describes the credentials that match the needs in the position you are seeking. If hiring officials are able to match the qualifications stated in your resume and cover letter with their needs, then there is a good chance you will be asked to come in for an interview. During the interview, the match between the qualifications is further supported so the final goal is achieved-getting hired!
The best strategy is a proactive strategy because only 20 percent of all the jobs are advertised-that leaves 80 percent that are unadvertised. Using a proactive strategy you will use your research skills to find the unadvertised jobs. It is these unadvertised postings that are referred to as the hidden job market. The key is finding these hidden opportunities in organizations that currently employ individuals who have a degree in mathematics. Begin your search by thinking about networking from known contacts to new contacts.
Start a personal and professional network of contacts. The known contacts include those students who are in your mathematics classes at college, the professors who teach mathematics courses, and the clubs and organizations on campus. Be proactive by searching the directories of employers by occupation, field, and geographic areas. Use the Internet to search for websites that offer addresses for job opportunities. Search the yellow pages of your local telephone directory. Pick up the phone and call organizations to find out what they have for opportunities and where they advertise when they do have openings. Use the skill that most mathematicians have-"research" all possibilities!
There are several associations and organizations that not only have websites listed but publish newsletters, journals, and online listings of positions from bachelor's degree level to Ph.D. In addition, they offer hot tips on job search strategies. Review the on-line newspapers and journals for possible career positions. Find out if there are local, regional, or national job fairs being offered. Sometimes employers send their part-time and full-time listings directly to the math department and organizations on campuses. If you happen to find an internship listing that suggests the type of organization and skills you are seeking, then check with that employer to find out if they have full-time listings.
Here are some strategies and possible employers that would relate specifically to actuaries, mathematicians, statisticians, and operations research.
Strategies for Actuaries
Find out where actuaries work. About 50 percent of the actuaries are employed in the insurance industry, while others work for firms providing services such as management, or public relations, or in actuarial consulting firms. A small number of actuaries work for security and commodity brokers, government agencies, and computer software developers.
Actuaries most often specialize in life, health, or property and casualty insurance, while other actuaries specialize in pension plans. To learn various actuarial operations and phases, beginning actuaries often rotate between jobs, and they may move from one company to another in their early years to find growth and more responsibility. As reported in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of actuaries is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations; however, employment of consulting actuaries is expected to grow faster than actuaries employed by insurance carriers.
Possible Employers
To find possible employers who have actuarial positions, use your research skills, take a proactive approach to search for openings with insurance companies, educational institutions, government agencies, financial institutions, computer software companies, consulting firms, and public relations firms. Use your telephone directories, the Internet, the campus career services, and actuarial associations.
Check out your careers library resources, the campus library, career office postings, the mathematics department bulletin board, and professional associations. All of these physical locations might have information on websites as well. For instance, Petersons Job Opportunities for Business Majors and Petersons Job Opportunities for Engineering and Computer Science Majors have information on overviews of organizations, key statistics about the organization, expertise/education sought by the organization, international assignments, alternatives to assignments (internships), a contact name, and an organizations URL (website) for many of their listing for actuaries. Here is an example of a partial listing taken from this particular directory:
Strategies for Mathematicians
Because of the two broad classes in which mathematicians fall (theoretical and applied), a different job strategy must be used for each. The job search for mathematicians starts with a broad search that needs to be narrowed by developing a strategy, and that strategy will be for you to decide:
- Where, geographically, do you want to work?
- Choose the industry where you would like to work:
- Government (the federal government employs 75 percent of the mathematicians)-take a look on the Internet at the Office of Personnel Management for positions with the federal government: http-//www. USJOBS. opm.gov/
- Manufacturing (drug industries are the key employers)
- Private sector (management and publication services, educational services, research testing, security and commodity exchanges, and employers such as insurance companies and banks)
- Government (the federal government employs 75 percent of the mathematicians)-take a look on the Internet at the Office of Personnel Management for positions with the federal government: http-//www. USJOBS. opm.gov/
- Search the industries using various avenues with a reactive approach (advertisements that are printed in newspapers, magazines, or journals), or proactive approach (searching for employers that are in your geographic area but have not advertised that they have openings by searching on the Internet, placing telephone calls, contacting professional organizations that have their own job listings.
Use some of the same job search strategies for mathematicians as for actuaries: possible employers are found in industries such as government, manufacturing, education, and the private sector. Research your college's careers library resources, the campus library, career office postings, the mathematics department bulletin board on campus, and the professional associations for mathematician job postings. Mathematics is the skill used and not the descriptive occupational title used in job listings as it was for statistician and actuaries, who have their own specialty in a branch of mathematics!
Petersons Job Opportunities for Business Majors and Petersons Job Opportunities for Engineering and Computer Science Majors have information on overviews of organizations, key statistics about the organization, expertise/education sought by the organization, international assignments, alternatives to assignments (internships), a contact name, and the organizations URL (website) for many of their listing in the area of actuarial, mathematics, operations research, and statistics. Here is only one example taken from these two guides:
Taking a look on the Internet for job opportunities quickly confirms the keyword is more than "mathematician" in your search. The authors found that by entering the words "theoretical mathematician," job titles such as analyst, technician, engineer, research associate, system designer, and scientist were popping up on the lists. Entering the job title of "applied mathematician" again brings the same listings with a more applied nature such as programmer, developer, finance associate, maintenance technician, quality assurance engineer, applied systems sales, architect, consultant, and business solutions specialist.
