<p>When my son called last night to report on his visit to a big job fair for college seniors, and was most interested in a job as a “truck router,” I kind of did a double take. He is a Math/Classics double major and has had summer jobs in the education field, so naturally I assumed… He says he wants to do something adventurous and entirely new, where does not know anyone and where he will be challenged. Just putting this out there! Anybody have any employment suggestions for this young man? I think he is showing that he is pretty much open to anything!</p>
<p>Truck router sounds like a logistics job. Maybe it’s not a bad first job. He will gain valuable work experience. I imagine the job may require some math skills, or the company may be looking for people with those skills for potential promotions.</p>
<p>I have to add this, as a mom of kids out in the world: Please let him make his own decisions. If he is interested in the job, let it be.</p>
<p>Truck routing* seems like an optimization problem that a math major (or statistics or industrial engineering major) would be well suited to handle and could use some of his math abilities in.</p>
<p>*Presuming it is the problem of routing the company’s trucks to do pickups and deliveries within the promised schedules, while minimizing driving empty or under-capacity that wastes labor, fuel, and wear/tear on the trucks. Similar problems exist for railroads, airlines, and ship companies (or multimodal transportation companies).</p>
<p>“Truck routing” is a perfect job for a math major. Imagine companies like UPS or FedEx, thanks to more efficient truck routing, save 1% fuel…</p>
<p>And it’s not just “truck.” The opportunities can expand from there - endless…</p>
<p>Congratulations.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the encouragement and information about truck routing. It helps to understnad more precisely what it is. No, I would not try to make his decisions for him, but parents are allowed to discuss, and we have a very open, communicative releationship. I would certainly support his choice, but it is the very first one he has looked at and just curious if anyone might have other ideas he might look into.</p>
<p>Back when I was the manager of technical publications at a top 20 software company this was EXACTLY the kind of person I liked to hire. :)</p>
<p>Alas, I am no longer in that position.</p>
<p>This kind of work is commonly found in programming – how to create more efficient routes/ways to do things. Math is good prep for this. </p>
<p>The D of some friends of ours is a recent psych/philosophy grad and is working at a major computer company testing data bases. They wanted someone who could test out databases and associated documentation without knowing how to program (i.e., does the programming do what the specs said it’s supposed to do?) </p>
<p>Good luck to your S!</p>
<p>Insurance companies hire lots of math majors to do actuarial type work.</p>
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<p>His chances would be very slim without any of the SOA exams under his belt.</p>
<p>Thanks for these suggestions. The latest thing senior son is thinking about is possibly the FBI. He would not qualify for Special Agent due to a health condition, but he thinks there may be other roles he could possibly be suited to. Interesting! I can’t wait to see where he ends up.</p>