At the Reading Careers Library last week I was given a tour. This was quite illuminating. There is a problem with mathematics in this context, as information on potential careers is grouped by job sector. If a student of, say, Law rolls up to the careers library their is a clear section with information on their career prospects in that named sector. Since mathematics students graduate to a wide range of sectors this produces a barrier to access of careers information. A student needs to know they are interested in a career in say, Finance, so they can look up specific information on careers in that sector.

One interesting piece of information is the factsheet given to students when they arrive at the careers library. Students are given a factsheet printed from the prospects.ac.uk website, a well respected authority on university careers advice. This factsheet can be downloaded from the Prospects website: “Options with mathematics.” I would invite comment on this, particularly on the list of jobs under “Jobs directly related to your degree.”