Looking for Career Information Using the Internet and the AMS-MAA-SIAM Mathematical Sciences Career Information Web Site
Prepared by: Linda Thiel, Ursinus College

This site features career profiles of people with degrees in mathematics working outside of teaching. In addition, starting in early June, the Bulletin Board will be reactivated that allows students to post questions to a group of featured mathematicians about preparation for a career and choosing a career. The site also includes an applications index made up of short descriptions of some applications participants have worked on and the areas of mathematics they have used to solve problems. In addition there are links to companies, on-line job listing services, and information about and links to other resources.

This hand out goes through some of the features of the Web site and also suggests other resources on the web.

• Start by linking to Mathematical Sciences Career Information

• I suggest you explore the Archives. This will give you a list of links to profiles in the archives and applications based on a keyword search, a search by employer sector, or a search by highest degree in mathematics held by an individual who has been profiled. Link to the first offering on the Mathematical Sciences Career Information Search the Archives

You can look at a list of all profiles that have run on the Web site since November 1995 by linking directly to the Archives . These profiles no longer have an active Q&A Forum, but you can review the question and answers that were entered when the forums were open. The searches below will help you identify profiles or applications in your area of interest.

Keyword Search: Link to or scroll down to the keyword search. Below are a couple suggestions of how this search can be used. In each case you will receive a list of profiles and/or applications lists where that word appears. You can then link to any that interest you.

Search by an area of mathematics you may be studying or have an interest in. For example: linear algebra, geometry, differential equations, topology, numerical analysis.

Search by a job title. For example: mathematician, engineer, actuary, programmer

Search by company name. For example: Intel, 3M, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Price Waterhouse.

Employment Sector Search: Link to or scroll down to the employment sector search. Here you can select profiles and/or applications to review based on a particular sector or sub-sector. For instance, under Engineering and Scientific Research and Development, choose Communications and click the search button to the left on that line. You can also select All from any sector. As another example, choose Business, sub-sector Finance and search. Note: Not all sub-sectors have profiles of mathematicians at this time. But more are on the way!

Highest Mathematics Degree: You can also view a list of profiles based on their highest mathematics degree: bachelor's, master's or Ph.D.

If you follow any of these links out of the Careers Web site, please eventually link back to the Mathematical Sciences Career Information to continue exploring the offerings there.

• Next link to the second offering on the Mathematical Sciences Career Information homepage, the Mathematical Applications Index .

Take a look at a couple of the lists based on your interest in a company. These lists also contain links to the companies and links to more details about some of the applications. For instance: David Ross, Eastman Kodak lists the key areas of mathematics he uses on the job. There is also a link to a more detailed description of a problem involving color balance .

Kathryn Brenan, The Aerospace Corporation also lists some interesting applications and short descriptions.

If you follow any of these links out of the Careers Web site, please eventually link back to the Mathematical Sciences Career Information to continue exploring the offerings there.

• From the Mathematical Sciences Career Information homepage, link to the fifth offering, Career Planning Resources .

There are links to some helpful information. Start by linking to the On-line Job Information and Listing Services . This list includes job listing services that contain a lot of useful information for the someone looking for a job or researching a career.

Begin by looking at CareerMosaic If you have trouble getting on this one, try another, like JobWeb or The Monster Board . They are all similar and you will find the one you like best. On these sites you can look for jobs, learn more about companies, and get tips about putting together a resume or preparing for an interview. You will need to take time to explore the sites and learn how to use them. Few jobs using mathematics have the name mathematician in the title, but they may use analyst, programmer, consultant, etc. Just take some time to look around the site.

• Company Web pages are a good source of information. They are a good way to find out where a company is located, what kind of company it is and the products it produces, or information about the benefits of working for the company. Most companies now have an employment or career opportunities section on their homepages.

For instance, you can check out the following company sites and link to their employment or career opportunities pages.

The Boeing Company
The 3M Company
Price Waterhouse
Bechtel

• For Future Reference: Starting in early June the Bulletin Board with an active Q&A Forum will be reopened. You will be able to link to it from the Mathematical Sciences Career Information Web site by linking to the Mathematics Careers Bulletin Board From here you may link to the Current Profiles: Current Profiles and Forums . When the site is open, you can look over the people who are currently featured; there are usually four up at any time. Link to any profiles that look interesting and read them over. You may also link to their Q&A Forum and post a question. There are links in the profile to companies, colleges and universities, information on the Web about projects, and sometimes to personal homepages.

School to Work Program

School to Work is a national program that encourages partnerships with local companies to develop a comprehensive school to career plan for students from kindergarten through twelfth grades. The local organization is the Delaware County School to Career Partnership, Delaware County Intermediate Unit, Media, PA 19063 (e-mail: Anne Mosakowski, annemosa@itrc.dciu.k12.pa). The national organization Web site is School to Work:

On this site are a number of links. One interesting series of links is Products , Practical Tools then choose from the pull down search menu Career Counseling and choose Career Exploration on the Web . There is a site for middle school students from Tennessee . It includes a section on Careers for Girls . You may want to spend some time looking around this site.

I also found an interesting book with excerpts on the Web: The Teenager's Guide to the Real World, by Marshall Brain, published by BYG Publishing. There are chapters from the book on the Web that includes a chapter called "Money Really Matters", about the real cost of moving away from home.

Here is a cartoon to end with: Wiley's Non Sequitur

Please: If you come across any career sources you find particularly interesting and think they should be added to the Career Resources pages, let me know at lthiel@acad.ursinus.edu