If you thought a Bachelor or a Master or even a PhD in Mathematics can only lead to a career in academia or teaching, think again.
The Mathematical Careers Day, which had its 4th edition this year, is organised annually by the Department of Mathematics to show that a mathematician’s career path can in fact be quite diverse.
This year’s edition, held on the 7 October 2022, brought together a panel of ex-math students, who are now holding various positions across multiple sectors, to participate in a discussion and later respond to questions from the audience, which mainly consists of current students.
The event counted more than 60 participants mostly students and professionals with a mathematical background. We spoke to two students who attended the event to get to know about their experience.
Aleksandra Frania, who’s currently doing her Master’s in Financial Mathematics at the Uni, says she attended the event as she was curious about what her career options. “I am planning to do an internship while writing my master’s thesis, next year. It is possible that I will start a professional life after obtaining my master’s degree, hence I wanted to know what my possibilities are in the job world,” she said.
When asked about her biggest takeaway from the event, Aleksandra said she didn’t think she would spend a lot of time talking with the companies present that day but that’s exactly what happened. “I ended up chatting with Amazon until 21:00 (we really were the last three people left) and I learned many useful things like what they look at on a CV when hiring someone, what kind of questions they ask at an interview, what the work looks like there, the work-life balance, etc. I know they were there to “sell” their company, but the talk with them really motivated me to continue going forward and above all, it made me sharpen my image of what my goal is for my professional life.”
Leonid Gnutov, a Bachelor’s in Mathematics student at the Uni, participated to find out more about career opportunities. “It was important for me to not only know what options are available but also to get some tips on the job application front,” he said. “Another big takeaway was that I got to hear from the panel members the every-day reality of these jobs.”
Aleksandra Frania
Leonid Gnutov
Guest speakers this year included Udo Schröder, Research Scientist at IEE (Intelligent Sensing Solutions), Ségolène Dessertine-Panhard, Senior Research Scientist at Amazon Web Services, Dieter Hein, Director at Banque de Luxembourg Investments, Christophe Ley, Associate professor in Mathematics at the University of Luxembourg and Sean Corkery, Senior Manager at Deloitte.
Udo Schröder (IEE): “Mathematicians are sometimes too shy, especially when they need to talk in front of others. The fact that the students could ask their questions anonymously via an app allowed them to come forward with their queries much more freely.”
Dieter Hein (Banque de Luxembourg Investments): “I think that these kinds of events are important for all participants. For professionals because they might find people to hire (I got two CVs from people I met at the reception after the event) and for students because they get in touch with people that are making a living after having studied math.”
Christophe Ley (University of Luxembourg): “I was happy to have been able to give a slightly different view from the others, who were more talking about the financial and actuarial jobs (except for Udo Schroeder). Besides talking about the many opportunities as Data Scientists in so many different working places including start-ups, I could mention that mathematicians are sought after for their problem-solving skills, both in public and private working areas.”
Sean Corkery (Deloitte): “The quiz at the end served as a great ice breaker. We would also be interested in participating to any future events in the series.”
Watch this space for updates on next year’s edition: Mathematical Careers Day 2022 (uni.lu)