Thursday, July 9, 2015

Blog #3: Question 1

When I go to college, I want to study a tough subject, but one which I like, hopefully combining math and business (two of my favorite subjects). I would like to study a tough subject so that there's a higher demand for the skills that I have, and in business, many people tend to lack technical-intensive skills (such as math). A potential major is Applied Math, with a concentration in either economics or numerical analysis. The average pay for people with Applied Math degrees is $98,600, but three jobs are computational biology, quantitative analysis, and data mining. The average pay before taxes for computational biologists is ~102,000, but the salary does differ by area, in the Bay Area that same number is $114,000, and salaries are the highest in California, New York and Seattle, and the lowest in Texas. Most schools only offer a masters degree for Computational Biology, but some schools also offer a bachelors degree in Computational Biology. Computational biologists are actually very rare because they can crunch numbers, and apply biology facts and data to these numbers, so they tend to have very strong problem solving skills and are very intelligent because they have to apply a lot of math to data. The next job, a quantitative analyst, earns $107,000 (national average) with out tax. But in states like New York and California, the average salary is closer to $120,000. Masters degrees and PhDs are preferable in a math intensive subject, as well as an MBA, these jobs are super competitive but way extremely well. Most quantitative analysts are very good communicators and are very good at crunching numbers and dealing with large amounts of data and simplifying it. The average salary for a Data Miner before tax is $101,000, but $110,000 in the Bay Area (New York, etc.) versus $87,000 in Chicago (Washington D.C., etc.). Data mining mostly depends on the ability of a person to construct algorithms, so education level does not matter as much as the person's intelligence or -ability to create algorithms. Most people with this job are very knit-picky and heavily detail oriented.

3 comments:

  1. I found it interesting how you found professions that integrated both math and business and how specific some of these jobs that you stated are. For the fields we want to go into it looks like we need at least a Bachelors Degree and in some cases a Master's Degree. If you want to go into numerical analysis, you may want to apply to be on a research team and study and prove different algorithms.Finally, good luck and thanks for the advice on my blog.

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  2. I admire how you already realize the changing phenomenons in todays society and how they are going to affect future occupations. Though the range of jobs you did your blog on are all interesting and fit the qualifications of combining math and business, you might want to research being an actuary. It essentially is business professional who analyzes the financial consequences of risks. He uses mathematics, statistics, and algorithms to theorize the certainty of future events. This job definitely pays well and fits the description that you outlined with your ambitions. Good luck!

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  3. I think its important, and great, that even though you are looking at the demand of a career, and the potential pay, you are still focusing on doing something you will enjoy, and will be a valid use of your skills. It is important to focus on how you can use your skills, and grow them, so that they can benefit you in any future career options.

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