A mathematician working in industry must be an everyday problem solver and be willing to apply mathematical skills to any problem presented by the employer. In this article, I hope to give some direction to the teaching mathematician who desires to make a change to industry. I will try to give an assessment of the important factors to look for in a company and some insight into how companies conduct searches for technical staff.

I made the change from teaching and research after five years of teaching. I moved to a large aerospace company, but I began my work at a small facility away from the main company headquarters. Working in a smaller group allowed me more flexibility and greater visibility while still enabling me to interact with mathematicians and other scientists and engineers throughout the company.

How to Get Started

The first step in making a career change is to do some library research. Start by exploring employment information from the AMS, MAA, and SIAM, and specialized publications of IEEE. Many of these specialized publications contain articles on signal processing or satellite communications, for example, which can give an indication of areas which are currently of interest in industry and which may be of interest to you. Many of these articles are in fact written by mathematicians. Look at the biographies at the end of articles to determine the background of the authors contributing to the various specialized publications and their company and laboratory affiliations. Some of these articles are written by people working in industry-supported laboratories, and some are written by people supporting development projects directly for companies. If an area seems to match your interests, look in the business journals and supplements to see which companies are actively working in these areas. If the company is a government contractor, look up the recently awarded contract areas and contracts which are in the competition or pre-competition stage. If the company is doing commercial business, determine the customer base and extent of current and future sales possibilities. Once an area of interest is found, make a list of the candidate companies for further analysis.

Contact the company employment office and the career opportunity offices of both your current educational institution and the educational institution from which your last degree was obtained. Request all scientific and engineering openings and also request information about companies on your list to see if they have used the school's recruiting service in the past. At this point, geographical constraints can be applied as well as any other personal restrictions. Apply to those companies remaining on the list and emphasize the desire for a personal interview. Before the interview, expand your list of contracts and company activity for the last several years and of any pending contracts and future contract prospects using the business section of the library once again. For a good discussion of the application and interview process, the information in [1] is excellent. Most interviewers are used to interviewing people looking for their first job or people transferring within the industry. Having a good knowledge of company operations during the interview will help put you in the latter class and will put the interviewer, who is not used to interviewing people outside the industry with advanced degrees, at ease.

Company Structure

Understand the similarities and differences between the management structures in an educational institution, either teaching, research, or both, and the management structures in industry. The management structure in an educational institution is usually familiar to most mathematicians, who are exposed to it through their student years. Management structures in industry vary widely and can range from self-managing at the consultant level to a very structured chain of command as a member of a development team.

During a career as a mathematician in industry, generally two career tracks are available. One track is technical management; the other is the purely technical track. The two tracks are similar to the options a mathematician has in an educational institution. Most companies will advertise these options as separate but equal and indicate that an employee may move freely between tracks. While this is true at the lower ranks, the upper management and technical consultants in a company are usually very specialized and at some point in a career a decision must be made about which track to pursue. In both tracks, performance is the key to advancement, and as a new company member, the employee needs to be aggressive from the beginning to determine expectations of supervisors.

Many companies have a written review process, which may occur more often during the initial years of employment. Some have incentive programs directly tied to goals which are determined and agreed to by employee and management. Be certain to discuss these policies during the interview and again with management immediately after joining a company. Many large companies use a point system, assigning points to technical experience and education. Discuss the point system with the human resources department of the company to be certain all eligible points are received. These points usually determine starting salary and are often awarded for specific technical experience, military duty, or specific teaching duties. Sometimes experience listed on an application is not complete or is misinterpreted by the department tallying the points, so ask. With these companies, specific point levels must be met as a minimum requirement for promotion, so obtain as much knowledge about how the specific system works before accepting employment.

Companies with opportunities for technical employment will generally have medical benefits similar to those found in teaching. In aerospace, for example, retirement programs are primarily self funded using a 401K with some company contribution. The companies providing funded pension plans are rare because of recent government regulations. On the other hand, the new retirement plans usually provide employment mobility for the employee with immediate vesting and ownership. The main area of difference is the number of days of vacation provided. The normal starting vacation time to expect is from two to three weeks per year plus some holidays and possibly several personal days. Vacation days are usually earned on a monthly or quarterly basis. Some companies increase vacation time by a day each year, some by a week at five years, and some a week at the end of 10 years.

There is another caution for those wishing to continue publishing in the open journals. Some company projects may be deemed company proprietary, and publication of scientific results may be delayed or even prohibited. Some government contracts also entail publication constraints; however, publication is usually possible if all the rules are followed.

After the Move

The previous teaching experience of the mathematician employed by an education institution can be a great asset both to the employee and to the company. In aerospace, for example, briefings in front of large audiences are common, and teaching experience, as well as technical expertise, play an important role. You will have a definite advantage if you can present a difficult technical topic so it can be understood by an audience with a wide spectrum of technical expertise. If you do the pre-employment planning and investigation well and a good technical match is made between you and your company, it may be possible to continue to work as a mathematician and become a recognized expert in a specialized area within the company or even within an industrywide community.

Conclusion

As you plan your move from teaching to industry, be assured that with proper planning and careful analysis of candidate companies, a smooth transition is possible. This move can be rewarding for both you and your new company.

References

[1] DeMeyer, F., Finding employment in a Ph.D granting institution, Employment Information in the Mathematical Sciences, 135 (1994), pp xxi--xxii.

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Making the Transition From Teaching to Industry