Olivia, on her career at RSA as an Insurance Pricing Analyst

As a pricing analyst, my main job is to analyse large quantities of data, to identify changes in market trends and patterns in sales and claims, to inform decisions on the company’s pricing strategies.

I have gained many skills just in the first 6 months including coding, large amounts of data manipulation in excel and dealing with vast amounts of data to pull concise conclusions to present to non-specialist audiences. My time at Sussex gave me a strong foundation to quickly learn the new specialised skills that I needed to be successful in my job.

Olivia Gardner-Stanbridge
Mathematics BSc graduate

Megan, on her career at Capgemini as an Analytics Consultant

What was your first position after graduation and what did it involve?

Working for Capgemini as an Associate Consultant in the Analytics Team. This is a two-year graduate scheme, where I will work with a variety of clients in varying roles. There is real flexibility in the choice of roles completed.

What are you doing now and what does it involve?

Currently, I am working jointly as a project manager and an analyst based at Heathrow.  As a consultant, I have a lot of responsibility working with stakeholders within the company as well as with external clients.

I have received a lot of support, training and development. The scheme offers a one-year Microsoft Data Science course where I will learn R or Python with time off to study. I have recently attended a training course in Germany too with European colleagues which was great. I am also involved in the ‘Lunch and Learn’ meet ups which is a working lunch group looking at coding, machine learning and other industry trends.

Why did you apply for the job you are in now?

I was attracted to the variety of roles completed throughout the two-year program. The availability of training and development and the travel that is included.

Did your degree help you with your current career?

Absolutely, being a highly numerate degree has certainly helped. The placement year I completed as part of my degree is one of the main reasons I was successful in securing the role. Out of the intake for the scheme, almost all other graduates had some kind of relevant experience whether a placement year or summer internship. Many other graduates had completed a Master’s so definitely my year in industry gave me a competitive edge.

I learnt to code in MatLab and SAS, which definitely helped and prepared me to learn other languages. The teaching module that I took has also helped me to be confident in giving presentations and preparing for assessments and interviews.

Did you acquire other skills useful for your current career whilst a student?

I was involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities which has certainly helped. I organised the Maths Society (SUMS) ball as well as starting up and organising the ‘Pop’ lectures.

Would you recommend Maths/Physics at Sussex to someone else?

Yes definitely. It is a lot of work to complete a STEM degree but it is absolutely worth it. I developed a determination to succeed and a strong work ethic that prepared me for full time working hours. The continuous deadlines has made me very disciplined in my work.

Would you recommend your line of work to someone else?

One hundred percent. It gives the opportunity to try different roles, work with different clients and gain a real understanding of what you want to do. The support has been amazing.

Jordan, on his career in teaching

Tell us about your first teaching job

My first teaching job was straight out of university where I learnt on the job. I was teaching mathematics in a low-income area, in a secondary school with approximately 800 students and many members of staff whom I had never met. I was learning on the job and had an amazing support base around me.

Over the past 5 years, the school has supported me through my qualification and my NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) year and has helped me move through the school to the stage I am currently at, in the same school. I am currently in charge of KS3 Mathematics at the same school that has grown to nearly 1,500 students. I teach all the way from year 7 to Further Maths in year 13. I also represent staff on the governing board as well as being the union representative in the school.

I have just finished a Masters degree in education and currently undertaking an NPQML (National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership) as a research project in the school in the hopes of further progressing through the school.

Did your degree help you with your current career?

My degree supported me well in terms of subject knowledge and understanding of maths which I am teaching in a variety of ways. My teaching was also supported by the confidence my degree gave me and the methods of teaching I observed from staff and PhD students at the university.

Would you recommend Maths at Sussex to someone else?

Definitely! The conversations I was able to have with scientists and mathematicians at Sussex expanded my knowledge and insights which I can always draw on during my career and in life generally.

Any advice to those thinking of going into teaching?

My top 3 tips for people thinking about going into teaching would be:

-  Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Nobody expects you to be a polished teacher at any point in your career, let alone at the start.

-  If your first school is not right for you, this does not mean teaching is not right for you.

Jordan Jon
Mathematics MMath graduate

Contact Jordan at:

Twitter: @informalteacherJordan, on his career in teaching

Hayley (middle) and colleagues Prof Chris Budd (supervisor), and Kate Powers (SAMBa PhD student)

Hayley, on doing a PhD in antenna propagation

What was your first position after graduation and what did it involve?

I am a PhD student at the University of Bath and am partly sponsored by BT. I work with electrical engineers on antenna propagation. The research focuses on taking the models used by engineers to model antennas and using mathematics to make these more informative and efficient. These models are mostly built on measurements, my work focuses on taking the behaviour from the models and trying to develop a method which can give information about the quality of wi-fi coverage without measurements being needed. In my research I do a lot of coding, and have ended up engineering my own software to run our model. My interests are in partial differential equations and developing models to approximate solutions. There are some posts on my blog about my research, my favourite is this one, https://wordpress.com/view/whoisbehindtheblackboard.wordpress.com. I also talk about being a woman in engineering, starting a PhD and other ramblings about early career academia.

Alongside my PhD I have taken part in numerous industrial study groups, these are week long events where companies present problems and mathematicians attempt to use maths to find new ways of approaching them. These have been fantastic for my learning and collaborating. I’ve got a blog post about these https://whoisbehindtheblackboard.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/budd-brigade-with-industry/.

Recently I’ve been taking part in a research group outside of my PhD to support the RAMP research for COVID-19.

What is RAMP and what does it involve?

RAMP is a research call that was put out at the start of the pandemic. It asked researchers to submit their research expertise and how they could research the virus. The group I’m working with models the lifetime of SARS-COV-2 (the technical name of the virus) on surfaces. We have looked at the effect of different cleaning agents, different materials, transmission rates from surfaces and overall we are modelling the risk of transmission given these things. The group I’m in is interdisciplinary, I’m mainly working with chemical and process engineers. The research is incredibly interesting and moving very quickly. I feel very lucky to be a part of the group and to work with such incredible academics.

Industrial maths research group at Bath

How does being a PhD student compare to being an undergraduate student or a working professional?

It is incredibly different. I was fortunate enough to do two research projects in the summers of my undergraduate through Sussex JRA scheme. These are a great way to get an insight into a PhD. At the start of my PhD I did some taught courses but the focus is very different to an undergraduate. I was doing the courses to learn the skills needed to do my research, my marks in tests and coursework were no longer the focus I needed to really understand the material. Since those courses it’s been a bit of a whirl wind. I try to set myself my own timetable but really there’s nothing scheduling you. I have two supervisors (one in maths and one in electrical engineering) who I meet with weekly. There are also seminars which are helpful to attend but are not compulsory. A PhD is all about getting the research you want to get done completed, it's more for yourself than anyone else. One of the most difficult things can be motivation so setting small goals is needed. PhD’s are different for everyone, some people get lots of research done and publish several papers and some people don’t, it’s hard not to compare yourself to others but it’s best to try not to.

Did your degree help you with your current career?

Yes, I still refer to my old notes a lot. I do wish that I’d been less exam focused during my undergraduate though as I find myself teaching myself to understand old material a lot. The research project in my Mmath and my two JRA’s were incredibly helpful and all of the coding I learnt through programming projects and the C++ course have been invaluable.

Would you recommend Maths at Sussex to someone else?

Yes definitely! I didn't realise how lucky I was to have the supportive community at Sussex until I left. I must have spent the first two years of my PhD saying “Oh at Sussex…”.I really felt like the focus was on quality research and teaching at Sussex, I felt like students and staff were really valued and not just scores in a league table. One thing that’s great about the maths department at Sussex is the support from the administration team. I find a lot of other universities seem to have the admin staff as very separate but I think the inclusion of these staff within the department really made life easier. I also loved living in Brighton and I’ve never felt as comfortable and accepted by my environment as I did there.

Would you recommend your line of work to someone else?

Yes if it’s what you want. If you are interested in the research topic do it, but do it for the research not the certificate. PhDs are really hard work, there’s a lot of imposter syndrome and thinking you’re not getting anywhere, you need to enjoy at least part of the research for it to be worth it. There are lots of travelling opportunities, but you don’t just get to choose a location and go, there needs to be a relevant conference and funding. These are really fun but don’t expect endless holidays. The pressure to get a PhD place can often push people to work on the wrong topic with the wrong person. It’s better to wait for the right thing than to start something just because you have an offer. It can feel like nothing else will come along but your PhD is ultimately for you so you need to be a little be selfish about making sure it’s the right one.

Other than maths what else do you do in your role?

Since starting my PhD I’ve become involved in the academic trade union UCU. They represent PhD students and academic and professional services staff in universities but struggle to get them involved. We have negotiated better teaching contracts and environments for graduates who teach and it’s been a really good way to promote equality within academia. It’s also given me the forum to negotiate more inclusive LGBTQ+ environments within the campus and it’s been really good to see the improvements made by simply being there to make suggestions.

I’m also involved in public engagement, I was one of the members who set up a group called the Bathematicians which focuses on inspiring school children to see maths beyond the class room. I’ve also been involved with the widening participation group at the university and the women in maths and women in engineering groups. I used to help at a code club getting primary children into coding and I’ve loved being able to use my successes to promote successes in others.

One of the things I talk about a lot on social media is equality within academia and it’s been good to have a chance to get involved in movements to improve that. This is definitely something I’ll continue with wherever I end up next.

I’ve also become a bit of a mental health advocate, I have some blog posts trying to tackle the taboo of talking about mental health and through out my PhD I’ve been continuing to push for better support and prevention strategies for mental health.

Hayley Leanne Wragg
Mathematics MMath graduate

Contact Hayley at:

University of Bath website profile
Twitter: @MissGullible
Blog: https://whoisbehindtheblackboard.wordpress.com/author/whoisbehindtheblackboard/