Math vs. Engineering - Jobs, Differences & Fun!

[php111]

Hi,

What are the different jobs as for Math vs. Engineering? I understand Math could also be a teacher and work in banks but that's it? blah doesn't sound interesting. Where Environmental Engineering for example could work for EPA under the Feds, if you live near NYC then Port Authority as an Engineer. Now that sounds fun besides teaching Math.

On my thread here. Intergral has said why go for Engineering and not Math? https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=223471

Well it seems like Math jobs are no fun. What is the difference between Math and Engineering?

 

[Indeed]

The first difference that most people notice is ...the salary. Engineers make lots of cold-hearts*. Engineering majors have to take physics, chemistry, and engineering electives. It's hard work! Math majors I think do more 'seat work' or 'bench work.' Math majoring is equally hard I believe. *By cold-hearts, i mean money. I can't believe you're looking this up!

 

[russ_watters]

Integral's point was that if you are truly more interested in math, why not study math? Don't do engineering just because there might be more jobs - if you don't like it, you won't do well.

Engineering is pretty broad, but in a lot of fields, there really isn't much heavy math on a day to day basis. I'm a mechanical engineer (HVAC) and I can't remember the last time I even used calculus in my job (I've had some needs, but always found a way around it via numerical analysis in Excel).

My sister took business and math at Penn State (not sure if it was a double major or what) and now works in finance in Boston. There are analysts and actuaries and other related fields that heavy math can be useful for.