Maths and Economics degree: Open University - job prospects - job

KeithReilly

Hi,

I'm thinking of applying for the degree in Maths and Economics with the Open university. It takes roughly 6 years to complete degree but I reckon I'll complete it in less, the area of maths I will be focusing on become more statistics as the degree progresses.

My question to you is:
What would my job prospects be after completing this degree?
And closely related to first question -
How is the Open university maths and economics degree perceived by employers?

also -
What sort of employers would actually employ me? what sort of money would I be capable of earning as a graduate and would I have to do further study to realistically get a job from this degree and if so what?

Thanks
Keith

Kohl

KeithReilly wrote: »

Hi,

I'm thinking of applying for the degree in Maths and Economics with the Open university. It takes roughly 6 years to complete degree but I reckon I'll complete it in less, the area of maths I will be focusing on become more statistics as the degree progresses.

My question to you is:
What would my job prospects be after completing this degree?
And closely related to first question -
How is the Open university maths and economics degree perceived by employers?

also -
What sort of employers would actually employ me? what sort of money would I be capable of earning as a graduate and would I have to do further study to realistically get a job from this degree and if so what?

Thanks
Keith

I've just finished the OU Physics degree. Its a bit short on exposure to experimental work and in the PhD/MSc interviews I've gone for it's been a bit of a sour note.

I've done a lot of the OU maths courses. Overall they are very well explained, but the "advanced" level 3 modules are a bit short on advanced material and I noted frequent phrases of "this or that topic is beyond the scope of the course". I urge you to go into the OU centre in Dublin/ Belfast and compare the content of the economics courses to what's covered in economics modules in Bricks and Mortar universities.

I've applied for a few teaching jobs (abroad) and some postgraduate courses. I haven't been flat out rejected for anything yet, and I've had some phone interviews.

The fees for the OU are set to increase this year. So you should start as soon as you can if you want to take advantage of the transitional arrangements.

later12

Mathematics and Economics is my undergraduate degree, but I am at a bit of a loss as to what to suggest to you. The scope of such a course is pretty huge regardless of the conferring institution.

As an example I started out in the back office of an investment bank, and then elsewhere in finance, and am now studying part time towards a legal qualification. Some of my former classmates (graduates of 2007) are in areas from investment banking to wealth management,th e civil service, accountancy, unemployment, insurance or further mathematics at postgraduate level.

If you are going for a career in finance, insurance or risk, I would suggest that what is more important to employers is the grade you have attained at undergraduate level, and the extent to which your degree is quantitatively based, which since this is a mathematics degree, is obviously large.

How exactly OU degrees are perceived by employers is beyond the scope of my knowledge, but I can see no reason as to why it should be a disadvantage.

On the issue of salary, again this is too broad to specify unless you have an idea of what area you wish to work as a professional. There is also a difficulty in that you are anticipating a graduation in around 2018.
It's just too far off to for us to safely speculate on employment opportunities (in the financial services in particular) at this point.