- #1
X89codered89X
- 154
- 2
Does anyone on here fear the math that you study in academia (particularly graduate school) is just so useless to most of industry. Clearly, that's why people become professors, but I just get discouraged when most things I'm interested in are purely algorithmic or mathematical in nature but and when you look at the slew of related jobs available, it's just applied, super-dumbed down version of what you did in school.
I always sort of knew this. But what's got me down now is that in school, there's at least some pride in ensuring that we discuss whether our solutions and methods make sense. We emphasize learning. But in industry, all of the meaning is lost. We make things (in my case, software that does some stuff ) using our brains and work hard but no one cares how it works, just that it works and they can make their money. When all people care about is the money in front of them, I question - why work hard to make it better? Often times advancements in technology are *more* expensive initially (i.e. take longer to make). Maybe I just don't find it as rewarding as doing research or homework... and actually getting it vetted with a grade or otherwise!
To be fair, I've only had one industry job, and I'm almost surely suffering from low sample size here, but I don't see why any other job would be *very* different. All companies have to make money.
And now I feel unemployable. I've been intellectually spoiled and now I don't think most jobs interest me. I just want to sit in a corner and study dynamical systems.
At this point I think there are optimal two career paths for me - 1) become a professor. I don't necessarily want to do this because of my high levels of introversion - I don't think I have the interpersonal skills necessary (although I realize this required in both industry and academia)
2) Work for wallstreet - If it's about money, then why not cut to the chase when normal engineering industry is feels empty? Also then I could actually get that *vetting* that I crave by watching how much money my algorithms gain- I can quantify my success. It's also way more mathematical than any normal engineering job - more interesting. And no hardware to distract you from the math!
3) Alternative careers that basically involve abandoning my field in various ways, which I've thought about but am not ready to commit to.
If you read all that, kudos to you. Anyone feel the same? Thoughts/Opinions welcome.
I always sort of knew this. But what's got me down now is that in school, there's at least some pride in ensuring that we discuss whether our solutions and methods make sense. We emphasize learning. But in industry, all of the meaning is lost. We make things (in my case, software that does some stuff ) using our brains and work hard but no one cares how it works, just that it works and they can make their money. When all people care about is the money in front of them, I question - why work hard to make it better? Often times advancements in technology are *more* expensive initially (i.e. take longer to make). Maybe I just don't find it as rewarding as doing research or homework... and actually getting it vetted with a grade or otherwise!
To be fair, I've only had one industry job, and I'm almost surely suffering from low sample size here, but I don't see why any other job would be *very* different. All companies have to make money.
And now I feel unemployable. I've been intellectually spoiled and now I don't think most jobs interest me. I just want to sit in a corner and study dynamical systems.
At this point I think there are optimal two career paths for me - 1) become a professor. I don't necessarily want to do this because of my high levels of introversion - I don't think I have the interpersonal skills necessary (although I realize this required in both industry and academia)
2) Work for wallstreet - If it's about money, then why not cut to the chase when normal engineering industry is feels empty? Also then I could actually get that *vetting* that I crave by watching how much money my algorithms gain- I can quantify my success. It's also way more mathematical than any normal engineering job - more interesting. And no hardware to distract you from the math!
3) Alternative careers that basically involve abandoning my field in various ways, which I've thought about but am not ready to commit to.
If you read all that, kudos to you. Anyone feel the same? Thoughts/Opinions welcome.
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