By Kaustov Kashyap
Does your mind respond really fast to numbers, equations and logics? If so, then you have been bitten by mathematics bug. And if so, then you are not alone.
There are many, who cannot go to sleep without solving some mathematical puzzles as these present a perfect balance between logic and creative flair.
In today’s data driven age, when data processing information analysis and trend examination is a norm across careers, it is natural that people with high level of interest and aptitude for mathematics are an asset.
For long, the applicability of mathematics has been limited to research, academia, engineering, IT, economics and statistics. With advent of new age careers, the prospects of unconventional and exciting careers for mathematics lovers have increased manifold. Here are a few that you can check out if you are in love with numbers —
Financial law
Students today have the option of putting their love for mathematics to law and specialize in Financial Law. Financial lawyers find immense application of their skills in the corporate setup and governance, where they help finding financial frauds and illegal tax evasion activities. Financial lawyers also keep a general intelligence on the happenings in the market and seek to understand and imply the legal and financial aspects to mergers, acquisitions and corporate moves.
Market research &
business analysis
Market research and business analysis present another set of careers open to people who love mathematics. While market researchers inspect market conditions to analyze potential revenue, including competition mapping and need estimation, business analysts pack a knack for identifying business needs and determining solutions to a wide range of business problems. With the ever changing dynamics of careers, we believe that great numerical skills are going to come in handy, as complex problem solving gains precedence, as a new age skill to have.
Operation research
Operation research deals with the application of advance analytical methods to help make better and cost-effective decisions. It is a sub-field of applied mathematics and finds wide use in inventory management, logics, supply chain and operation management. An operation researcher can use his/her skills to solve complex and vital problems such as those pertaining to transportation and distribution, network flow, scheduling and assignment and corporate application of the game theory.
Mathematical physics
Mathematics lovers are in for an exciting career in this field, which deals with the application of mathematical logic, techniques and methods to address problems in physics. From innovative product development, to analysis, trend identification and inference deduction from monumental chunks of data, mathematical physicists work across industries, and in academia to address problems in physics. They also find application in military, where they focus on the design and development of equipment, computer aided modelling and lab research in bombs and missiles.
Biomathematics
& biostatistics
These allied fields of biomathematics and biostatistics form an exciting career option for a person who holds equal zeal towards mathematics and biology. While biomathematics deals with the application of principals of applied mathematics to biological processes and treatments, biostatistics focuses on the application of statistics to biological experimentation such as those in pharmacy, medicine and genetics.
Biomathematicians and Biostatisticians can work in ecology and ecological forecasting, drug experimentation, genetic mapping and population genetics, experimentation design and research, nitration, environment and healthcare policy formulation and management.
Epidemiology
People gifted with numerical and logical skills also find a great career in epidemiology, which is a discipline concerned with the study and analysis of patterns, causes and effects of health, diseases and epidemics. The discipline forms the base for effective public health policy formulation, prevention action and disease control. Epidemiologists control the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of results.
Psychometrics
This field is concerned with the study of theories and techniques of psychological measurement and thus provides an enthralling career option for a mathematics lover.
Psychometricians focus on the quantitative analysis, of aptitude levels, personality traits knowledge and skills in a psychological setting. Psychometricians work extensively on test development like GMAT, CAT, SAT, GRE and other standardized competitive examinations. A lot of psychometricians tend to work in human behavior analysis and career development.
Although, conventional careers like actuarial sciences, banking and accountancy, economics and stock broking present significant opportunities for mathematics lover, but most promising and rewarding careers today are the ones with a little sass.
(The author is a career counsellor)