MTH 495

The simple answer to why math graduates are good to hire is that they are excellent problem solvers.  Every math graduate has been tasked to solve hundreds if not thousands of problems that take a high level of thinking.  These problem solving skills can then be applied to almost any line of work.  There are many aspects of problem solving that a math student would need to acquire in order to get their degree.  The aspects that I will further discuss are persistence towards a solution, knowing when to try something else, using all tools given, and giving structure and clarity within the solution. If someone with a math degree has ever faced a difficult math problem, then they most likely know the meaning of persistence.  Working at a single problem for hours on end can be something that isn't unusual when tasked with a difficult proof or problem.  I know that this has been the case in my experience.  Battling through frustration and growing certainty that there is no solution ca

I was thinking about how puzzles work and the nature of solving puzzles and I came to a couple of conclusions.   Generally, the way you go about solving any sort of puzzle is looking for a logical way to make some sort of progress, whether that be figuring out one number in a Sudoku puzzle or putting two physical puzzle pieces together.   If a puzzle allows all logical conclusions to yield significant progress then it is not a good puzzle because it fails to give the solver any sort of mental challenge.   There are many ways that a puzzle could be good.   One of them is having the first few logical conclusions be easily discovered, and then the final few would come with much more difficulty.   This would give the solver some hope before sprinkling in a little frustration.   Another could be a sort of middle of the road approach, giving relatively equal difficulty to any logical conclusions that could be necessary.   A third way would be to not give any logical conclusions that are easi