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The University of Southampton
Mathematical Sciences

Students take their first steps towards successful careers in analytics

Published: 8 January 2020
Careers Day CORMSIS

Current students gained unique insights into the wide range of opportunities available to them at the University of Southampton’s Careers in Analytics Recruitment and Networking event on campus.

It was organised by CORMSIS – the Centre for Operational Research (OR), Management Science and Information Systems – hosted jointly by Southampton Business School and Mathematical Sciences.  Major employers gathered at the University to talk about projects, placements and graduate schemes. Many sent colleagues who had recently studied at Southampton to meet current students.

 

Caitlin Purbrick

Caitlan Purbrick from Dstl reflected on her experience: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the University of Southampton and it definitely set me up well for what I am doing now,” she says. “I think the analytical degrees here are some of the best in the country and we [Dstl] are always looking for excellent students with the skills being taught here.” Caitlan studied MSc OR and was awarded the prestigious OR Society May Hicks Award 2019 for her summer project/dissertation with Virgin Atlantic Airways.

 

 

Michal Knap

Michal Knap graduated from the University of Southampton in 2011 in Maths and Computer Science and stayed on for a Masters in OR and Finance. He is now a consultant for PA Consulting.

“Our department - Business Intelligence and Data Analytics – gets involved in a wide range of issues and I can work across many different areas. We run internship and graduate schemes and are always looking for students with analytical skills to join us. If you can structure ambiguous problems in a logical way, that’s incredibly powerful in consulting and you’ll always be in demand,” says Michal.

 

BA Madhusdham

Demonstrating the international reach of CORMSIS, we were delighted to welcome Whirldata executive B A Madhusudhan who had travelled from Chennai in India to be at the event. He says: “Although Whirldata is a US company, all our research and development into artificial intelligence happens in Chennai. We’ve been talking for a long time with the University of Southampton about how we can work together, especially to the benefit of students.

“I wanted to be at the CORMSIS careers event because I hope that we will be able to encourage some of Southampton’s talented analytical students to come and do internships with us.”

 

CORMSIS MSc external projects, practitioner talks and employability activities are coordinated by Julie Hickman and Peter Becque, who both have extensive experience in business. They are currently in contact with more than 125 employers who recruit graduates with advanced analytical skills in the UK and Internationally.

Peter joined CORMSIS after working at Cap Gemini in operational research and consultancy: “CORMSIS has focused on the employability of its alumni for more than 50 years,” he says. “The academic grounding and ‘real world’ applications of its analytical degrees give individuals the skills and self-confidence to take on challenging roles across a wide spectrum of sectors.”

Dr Christine Currie, Associate Professor in Mathematical Sciences and Director of CORMSIS, ensures programmes are continually evolving to improve student employability and enhance the University’s reputation with employers. “The close links CORMSIS has with employers gives us an amazing insight into the skills our graduates need to succeed in the job market, skills which we can then include in our programmes.”

Find out more about our seven CORMSIS MSc programmes, or our undergraduate Maths courses including BSc Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics (MORSE) or MMORSE (Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics) our four year masters course.   

Please get in touch with Julie and Peter if you are interested in sponsoring a CORMSIS MSc Summer Project by emailing cormsis@southampton.ac.uk.

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