6
$\begingroup$

My daughter is a math major at a good liberal arts school. It doesn't seem like they have any OR courses or talk much about it as a career choice (either for a job or going to grad school in OR.) And, some of her friends at other schools who've majored in things like Mechanical or Chemical engineering are also asking me about OR (and data science).

(Full disclosure: I did try with my daughter. I'm guessing that now that she is away from home, it is now dawning on her all the things I talked about.)

So, I'm going to pull material together. I'll share it publicly-- I think people with engineering, physics, and math degrees should all know about opportunities in OR and Data Science.

Does anyone have some good material, good websites, good blog posts, or other such material that I could refer to? For example, Ed Rothberg recently posted a job on OR being a hot job you've never heard of-- this could be part of the package.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ Some links based on previous posts: 1) https://or.stackexchange.com/questions/6884/is-hillier-f-introductory-to-operations-research-a-good-book-for-a-data-analyst/6887#6887 2) https://or.stackexchange.com/questions/869/what-are-good-reference-books-for-introduction-to-operations-research $\endgroup$
    – anjikum
    Jan 12, 2022 at 7:06
  • $\begingroup$ Controversial take: I think that OR is being increasingly subsumed by other fields. Students in statistics or machine learning take many courses on the tools of our trade (optimization and stochastics) though their application areas are often different. I encourage students to focus on the technical tools they want to use in their job and the applications area they want to work in. They should take the courses that most align with those goals, in whatever department provides them. Same goes for jobs. OR jobs (in name at least) are rare, but the skills are everywhere. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Bassett
    Jan 12, 2022 at 15:31
  • $\begingroup$ Are you looking for references on job openings, or references on how OR and analytics are used in industry (applications as opposed to position descriptions), or both? $\endgroup$
    – prubin ♦
    Jan 12, 2022 at 16:48
  • $\begingroup$ @prubin. Thanks for the note. I'm more looking for more general information that we would share with smart undergrads to get them interested in researching more about OR. I'm thinking you meet a bright math or physics major and you want to send them a few links so they go research the field of OR. I like how Radhika keeps the INFORMS mission front and center "INFORMS ... the science and technology of decision making to save lives, save money, and solve problems." $\endgroup$
    – Michael Watson
    Jan 12, 2022 at 18:19
  • $\begingroup$ @RobertBassett. Thanks for the comment. I agree with you that the skills of OR are everywhere. This is a good point that I'll include as I pull this material together. I hope we can maintain some of our identity as the profession that can solve many types of problems. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Watson
    Jan 12, 2022 at 18:21

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

Here is what I put together as a start.

https://miketalksai.substack.com/p/two-careers-every-smart-college-student?utm_source=url

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

You might look at the following (largely INFORMS stuff).

The last two tend to be more analytics and general decision making than "hard" OR, but young people nowadays seem to have an appreciation for volunteering.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.