Carla Martin is a consultant in the Management Analytics (MA) Division of Price Waterhouse in Bethesda, Maryland. "The MA practice in Bethesda consists of approximately 50 staff of all levels," says Carla. "Since this group is small, many of the projects consist of two to three person teams -- one or two consultants and one manager. Most staff work on several projects simultaneously and therefore can be on several project teams."
"Most of the staff in MA have degrees in some applied mathematics/quantitative field. For example, there are several people with degrees in mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics, operations research, management science, or economics. Degrees obtained range from bachelors up to Ph.D."
Carla has a B.S. in applied mathematics with a minor in statistics from Virginia Tech. She heard about the position at Price Waterhouse during recruiting they did on campus and joined them in 1995, immediately after graduation. Since then her position and responsibilities have grown. "When I first started," she recalls, "I had heavy supervision and worked with my supervisor almost constantly on relatively easy tasks. Gradually, my responsibilities have been more challenging and I have more of them. Just a year after I started, I became responsible for managing a small project. I am now managing four projects and supervise several staff. The opportunity for growth in this job is incredible. In just a short time I have learned so many new skills and had so many opportunities."
Mathematics plays a crucial part in the work she does. "In my department we are constantly dealing with large amounts of data and performing analysis. A mathematics background is very useful in this type of business and is in high demand right now. For example, on a project for a large fast food chain, we used mathematics to help them reduce the inventory of limited supply items. These are items used for promotions such as kid's meal toys, glasses, movies, or mugs. We used regression-based modeling approach to develop models to determine the past promotions that most influenced the current promotions on a store-to-store basis. Relative store-to-store demand was then forecasted based on the models. We determined the cost and benefits of the new approach, via mathematical analysis and simulation, and conducted a national test to measure and demonstrate the value provided to the system by the recommended limited supply approach."
When she started looking for a job, Carla wanted something that would use her mathematics skills, have variety, and put her in a work environment with people who liked their jobs. She feels her current position offers her this and more. "I like private industry because it is a more competitive environment and is fast changing. I constantly work with others to develop solutions to more and more complex business problems."
She finds her numerical analysis and statistics courses have been most useful to her, and recommends that students take computer programming, operations research and include some business and economics classes. "To work in private industry," she continues, "you should be prepared to work hard. Most jobs are getting away from the '9-5' environment. The emphasis is more on working until the job is done. The environment is a thriving learning environment and you are exposed to many new things. Most people find the work enjoyable and discover they actually like working hard."
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