Chapter 8 Part I: The Mathematician's Success Equation

Dear Teacher Xu: I am studying for a master's degree in mathematics at the university, and I consider myself to be a rational and conservative type of person.When I read your "Tuqiong Dialogue" today, I was so excited that I couldn't help writing to you. I want to talk about myself and some of my views.Back then, I didn't study hard, and I studied a junior college in college and studied a very boring mechanical major.After graduation, in order to avoid dealing with machines, I changed my career and went to teach in a rural middle school in my hometown.In order to have a brighter future, I took two years off from work a year later and studied mathematics, which I used to like.At this time, I was preparing to take the postgraduate entrance examination, which is very popular in our hometown, especially young people teaching in rural areas, who have already regarded this path as the best shortcut to change their lives.For many years, children in rural areas have always been taught by adults that reading is the only way out of the farm, so there have been a large number of examination machines that study for the sake of reading.

Teacher Xu, I don't want to ask you about studying abroad.I don't think I have the conditions at present, nor have I designed a blueprint for my future to go abroad.Now I'm going to graduate with a master's degree, and I think my job is to be a teacher in colleges and universities. But I felt in my heart that it could not be just that. I hope that there is a job that can make me feel very meaningful, but I am confused because I don't know what kind of job I should challenge.I really hope Teacher Xu can give some pointers.Thank you for your reading, looking forward to reply!

Shu Xuejia Dear Shu Xuejia: What can I do after a master's degree in mathematics? The first thing to blame for raising this question is that you didn’t ask back when you were taking the master’s degree exam. Now that a few years have passed, it’s almost too late to ask this question again... However, since you found me, it will not be too late.My old man changed his career when he was 40 years old.So, using me as a negative teaching material, your rice bowl is without food?Your future will be brilliant! I want you to adjust two mindsets: First, don't take your age too seriously.In the history of life struggle, it is meaningless to be five years older or five years younger.For example, my old man, how many people saw through the world at the age of 40 and gave up the struggle, but at this time, Mr. Xu was full of youth, high-spirited, and returned to the light once again.

Second, don't take your master's degree too seriously.When a master's degree is looking for a job, there are many failures and despair or success in changing careers.I also used Mr. Xu as a negative teaching material: When I returned to Beijing, I wore a Canadian music master’s felt hat, but in the field of education and career consulting, I performed my hat-trick that may not be pleasing to the eye, but it is often full after all. . So, give up the above two mental dumbbells, and look at your own problems with a brand-new youthful attitude. The question you should ask yourself should be: a master of mathematics, what other way out is there besides being a mathematics teacher?There are so many other ways out!Such as the combination of ten numbers, endless.Mathematics is not only the mother of science, it is also the mother of business.Such as finance, finance, insurance, economics, sociology, statistics, and of course high technology... In countless fields, the market needs countless talents with a mathematical foundation. Different industries, no matter whether their requirements for a mathematical foundation are direct or Indirectly, more or less, people with mathematical ability can easily change jobs, change careers, and slide to a popular career platform.

In the enterprise, in those fields that are not hard majors, such as marketing, human resources, customer service, logistics support, general management... As long as you choose an industry and continue to do it, the precise thinking ability and calculation ability of a master's degree in mathematics Instinct may also make you stand out quickly, so that you can quickly discover, sublimate, and take off in a career that can be long-sleeved and skillful. When I was young, I often copied other people's mathematics because I didn't study hard (maybe IQ was low and I was waiting for the test).Mathematics is an eternal nightmare for me.I have no way of knowing what kind of future mathematics can have, but I do know that those who study mathematics go to the United States, and basically all change careers. They usually work in computers, statistics, accounting, or finance.

I want to give you a homework assignment: what jobs can a math person do?What qualifications do you need?Then choose an industry that has more job prospects, economic prospects, and room for development. After deciding what to do, what you have to do is to fine-tune it a little bit—that is, according to the qualification requirements of each field, give yourself a little extra lessons, get a qualification certificate, accumulate industry experience, and start your lifelong career. develop. This way of thinking is a revolutionary way of thinking: it turns your previous thinking of struggling with degrees into the current thinking of struggling with employment qualifications as the center.Turn your degree-centered educational pursuit into a career-centered learning endeavor.

Focusing on the degree is the collective unconsciousness of the degree, and getting a degree does not necessarily lead to a future; centering on employment qualifications is a new rule for market talents, and you can get a job if you get the qualifications! Now, let's go back to your field of mathematics: If you really like academics, research, and teaching, and you really want to be a university professor, then, according to our previous thinking, you need to get a doctorate in mathematics Bachelor of Science.Otherwise, it is impossible for you to become a prestigious mathematics professor in an institution of higher learning—because, according to the idea that a degree serves a career, a doctorate in mathematics is a necessary certificate to be a good mathematics professor.

Choose your own studies and employment with this brand-new value thinking, and your future will definitely be brilliant.Finally, I will continue to compliment you: Even if you can get a master's degree in mathematics, what qualification certificates you can't get! Xu Xiaoping