Can refreshing my advanced math background turn into a related job?

I went straight into industry with an undergraduate math degree. My success was mixed results. One on hand, it was easy enough to find math pedagogy jobs that did not pay very well. On the other hand, it was easier finding data science / machine learning jobs that technically require and advertise lots of math but in reality are extremely dry logistics.

I have found some success in finding nonconventional programming jobs that have job titles seemingly generated by a bot where free-thinking and drawing up imaginative approaches is appreciated.

Math is everywhere, and every programmer could stand to learn or appreciate more of it so I say to you best of luck in your endeavors but be flexible, since almost nobody knows where they really need math until you explain it to them. A lot of the time math has served me the most because I've already seen a problem or its variants and I know a solution exists.

If you like math, study math. But I don't think refreshing your math skills is the best return on investment if your goal is job hunting.

If you're looking for an ML job, the bar is mostly set by coding skillset and ML knowledge, which is a narrow area of math compared to what you might cover in a graduate math program. That said, it is important to be comfortable with the math that's relevant to ML.

Without direction you could spend a lot of time learning things that aren't going to help in your job search.

I've got the math PhD, and the job that requires a mix of math & programming. Living the dream, right? Except, my employer kinda stinks (and it's a startup, so our future is far from certain), so I've always got an eye on job listings. Only, I'm not in ML so the only real openings that I see that I'm "generically" qualified for are in quantitative finance. I don't like cocaine, so that one's out too (sorry for the broad brush, quants, but I've met a few too many coked-up brogrammers in your field). If all I had was a bachelors, maybe I'd go for actuarial work, but that would mean ditching my programming skills.

I'm older, and stuck living in an expensive metropolitan area due to family stuff. I feel stuck in a job that I'm not satisfied with. I expected that having a PhD would be a boon, but what I'm finding is that it's hard to find a good job that actually depends on the PhD -- it feels like an albatross, but I can't exactly hide it because that would be a decade-wide hole in my employment record.

You can likely land a pretty decent job as it is. People with advanced math degrees who can also program are in demand. Or at least that was the case pre-virus. If you want to take it easier and apply for a job when you feel ready, that's a fine choice too - you will do as well as anyone can in the current circumstances.

As someone who also possesses an unused advanced maths degree, I would suggest pursuing mathematics for the sheer fun of it first and then decide in a year if you really want to be involved in statistical modeling, ML, deep learning or whatever.

You may end up deciding that being an insurance actuary is the right challenge: there are multiple exams to pass involving a lot of maths and the pay is quite good.

For recreational maths I’d recommend rereading Polya and playing with “Crossing the River with Dogs” and “Math Recess”.

> I bogged down in the second chapter or so. I know if I really focused, I could get through it. But would anyone care?

Yes they would. But you have to be able to use it to solve real problems.

Alternatively, you could be a dev who supports a science team.

You may want to act fast. Data science and deep learning are still a bit young, and I can see shops hiring someone with strong math chops. I have some direct experience with this as well (on the hiring side). However, this may not persist for a long time. I saw the same in finance. In the early days, people would hire smart people with math backgrounds for finance roles. After a while, universities started to have specialized Masters degrees in quantitative finance. Speaking to friends, this seemed to have made it harder to break in for someone with just math talent.

Well, it could help you get a job at Subway Sandwich:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/that-figures-prof...

I don't think you can get a job on math skills alone unless they are on a PhD level or higher. A Master's degree in math isn't worth very much, tbh. Bishop's book is really good though. I've also been using it for self-study.

Would you read through that book and generate some material that can prove you did it? Like a project on Github with a nice readme or some blogposts? If you have that knowledge and sell it properly you're grand, you'll get the job.

One of my friends got his PhD in math a couple of years ago. He has since been working for various merchant banks and investment managers as a consultant. I have come across several other math majors in insurance industry as well.