After reaching out to our Undergraduate Alumni about their careers after college, this is what some of them had to say....

Keene: (Math B.S.) “I recently finished student teaching at my old high school and waiting on word about being hired there; I know I'm guaranteed a job somewhere in the district (Aldine ISD), but I wanna work at Aldine Sr...kinda a trip working alongside your old high school teachers, but I've made some awesome friends there! Who knew I'd be close friends with old teachers one day?”

Malik: (Math; Minor: Cosc) “Actually Tai, there was an email you sent us about an employer who came to campus last semester, Fairfield Industries. I'm currently working for them! Thanks for giving us the info, it really helps!! :)”

Paz: (Math; Minor: Mexican American Studies) “I am currently teaching Algebra 1 at Chavez High School here in Houston. I am also in the Alternative Certification Program and taking the required courses at St. Thomas.”

Bruns: (Math B.S.) “I got a summer job off of the UH job boards at Reliant doing retail pricing. Then when I graduated I used that as my experience to get an analyst position at Direct [Direct Energy as a Pricing & Structuring Analyst. I am down on the trading floor and my job is to develop energy cost profiles for clients. It is like being an Actuary for the energy market. It took me five months to land, but the effort finally paid off. There are two people on the floor that have MS Applied math from UH from a couple years ago, and the person I replaced was UH Applied Math (I believe). Lots of economist degrees in my group as well]. I worked non-stop building great analytic models and finally got my shot at trading. I did well in real-time trading and was recently promoted to spec (commodities) trading this February. Haha, my math background was instrumental. I use statistics and probability models for 12 hours a day. It's hard to turn the brain off at the end of the day.” (Current position: NE/NY Short Term Trader at Direct Energy)”

Haygood: (Math B.A.; Minor: Education) “...Teaching at La Porte High School - 9th and 10th grade math and 12th grade science.”

Cucco: (Math; Minor: Cosc) “I was hired as a Consultant at CampbellWilson in Dallas TX. www.CampbellWilson.com. I'm primarily doing database management, application development, and other projects that involve data manipulation. I am enjoying it. My favorite things are having problems to solve, a license to solve them in a creative manner, and computer programming. This job is just what I was hoping for. I had been applying to some jobs in the DFW area through Monster and CareerBuilder, but I never would have looked for this job since it is in the healthcare industry. A headhunter contacted me after seeing my resume, told me about the company and set up the interview time. For the hiring process, I had three interviews with who would become my manager, and the two people on her team. They asked me a few questions about my past experiences, school, work etc., but they were primarily concerned with my ability to learn new things and adapt to changing environments. I feel that being exposed to so many different concepts through learning Math & Comp Sci has greatly shortened my learning curve, which was one of my big selling points. Another great thing about the company is this: the founding partner, Manie Campbell, is also a UH grad =)”

Gallegos: (Math B.S. FMO) “I am currently working at San Jacinto College as a research analyst (Senior Research Analyst) in the Institutional Research and Effectiveness office. I obtained this position shortly after graduating from UH in 2010. Majoring in math gave me the analytical, statistical, and programming skills I needed to land this position. I use SAS to program and build statistical reports using studentt data. These reports are used by administration to make informed decisions that impacts student success. Although I despised taking computer science during my undergrad career, I am so grateful that I did. Computer programming and the analytical skills I obtained at UH, helped me learn the SAS programming language I use at work everyday. As a math major I initially thought I was going to end up teaching high school math, but I learned that with a math background you can go into any field, math is everywhere! For me, it's in higher education"

Mosely: (Math B.S.; Minor: Education) “I’m teaching AP Statistics (High School) in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.”

N. Tran: (Math B.A.; Minor: Business HR Management) "...I originally got into the energy industry in '09 where the recession was at it's lowest and no one was hiring. So I decided to take a job as a receptionist for a small energy consulting company to work my way up. The owner of the company said because I have a math degree, she choose me over all the other candidates; knowing that math will help me think and solve problems in a more pragmatic and logical way, especially in this industry (even as a receptionist, they wanted something who could think for themselves). Same with my current position (Senior Account Manager at Atlas Commodities, LLC); my superiors, each, have discussed how they like the fact that I studied mathematics in college, they are confident in my analytically thinking abilities. I use math everyday at work. Some of my responsibilities require outside of the box thinking yet still being able to systemically organize new procedures. Another responsibility is to organize large amounts of data and make sense of it; using excel and reading graphs and charts. I'm picking up a lot of computer skills: logic thinking, writing/creating formulas, how programs work; and applying it to my responsibilities..."

Logan: (Math) “I am working in Sugar Land at Fairfield Industries as a geophysical analyst. I found the company through the Texas Career Fair because they hire primarily math & physics majors. The geophysical industry is usually unknown to undergrads but is a great option since it is math, physics and computer science related.”

A. Sameei: (Math B.S. & M.A.; Finance M.S.) “My degree in Math is the driving factor that lead to my ability to become a trader (Trader at EP ENERGY). More often than not companies need quantitative thinkers…especially in analytical role (i.e.risk quant analysts, traders, marketing, etc...). The biggest hurdle for math graduates is learning the fundamentals of the underlying business in order to properly apply meaningful analysis. Once you've reached a point where you are comfortable with."

Bui: (Math) “Hi, I got a job at an engineering firm as a Control Systems engineer in the oil and gas industry.”

L. Ha: (Math; MBA) “I graduated with a Math degree in December 2007 and got hired as a math teacher at Scarborough High School in January 2008. I taught math for 2.5 years, but decided to pursue a new career in 2010 because teaching did not work out for me. The economy in 2010 was really bad; therefore, it was really hard for me to find another job. As a result, I went back to school to do Master of Business Administration Specializing in Accountancy. I am graduating this April and am currently seeking an Accounting Position. I was able to do well in Accounting because of my math background. I still love numbers and math.”

Taylor: (Math B.S. FMO) “I am currently an accountant at a commercial lender.Having a math degree helped me to secure a position within sales. I was able to evaluate small business financials and help the business owners secure financing for equipment. My degree helped me to quickly move positions into the accounting department where I learn how the finance industry works, and all of the different financial aspects of the company. I enjoy working in the finance industry and growing money through monetary investments. All of my math background has helped me grow quickly (6 months) within the company.”

Mela: (Math; Minor: Education) “Teaching math at Lamar High school.”

Medina: (Math B.A.; Minor: Asian American Studies) “I’m a Geophysical Seismic Pre-Processor at a Seismic Ventures Inc. in Stafford. I do data input and preliminary analysis on seismic data. Basically I...map the layers of earth to find places to drill and sell the processed data. For more information, go to: www.seismicventures.com. Having the math background, with a little computer science, helps you on this field because of the major's emphasis on the broad and fundamental. If you are not capable of looking at the big picture, it will always be harder to find the proper solution.”

R. Vo: (Math B.S.; Minor: Cosc) “I got my bachelor's in mathematics and computer science, with magna cum laude, in Spring 2016. I am now gainfully employed as a Software Engineer at Capital One in Plano, TX.”

If you're an Undergraduate Math Alumni and would like to be featured here, please contact me at: ttmcalis@central.uh.edu