I’d agree with Lumifer and jamesf that it seems like it’d be best to do what you can to overcome the ugh field surrounding getting a job. Anecdotally, from my experience and others, having a job can do wonders for your self-esteem and general outlook on life. And it’s also a reason to get out of the house and meet new people!
On that note, do you have any interest in computer programming? Programming ability seems to be pretty correlated with mathematical ability, at least to the degree that anybody at the 1 in 1000 mathematical ability level should be able to do very well as a programmer, if they enjoy it.
And if you’re interested, but don’t have any experience, there are lots of ways to learn! You can sign up for free Udacity or Coursera courses. There are even multiple developer bootcamps you can sign up for that teach you to code, including one that is in New York, and free until you get a job! (Then they take a 15% cut of your first year’s pay.)
If you want to go the bootcamp route, and you’ve had no experience before, it might be a good idea to do some messing around with a couple free online courses first, 1) to convince yourself that you’ll enjoy it and 2) to show in your application that you are serious, as I think getting into the camps might be competitive. But the fact that these, and especially the don’t-pay-until-you-get-a-job version, exist demonstrates that there is very high demand for strong programming talent, and with your level of mathematical ability, it really seems like you could easily fall into that category, with just a little training and experience.
I’d agree with Lumifer and jamesf that it seems like it’d be best to do what you can to overcome the ugh field surrounding getting a job.
Last time I had a job, I sat in a cubicle surfing the Internet and feeling guilty about not working on the (programming) problem I was supposed to be tackling. It was horrible.
To be fair, this describes a significant fraction of every working programmer’s day. But if the programming problems themselves don’t grip you at all, then maybe it’s truly not for you.
Let’s try this from another angle. Suppose it’s three years in the future, and you’re working a job that you find, if not absolutely thrilling, then at least engaging enough that you’re content to do it every day. What kinds of things are you closest to being able to picture fitting in that blank? (You’re allowed to say professional Magic player, but that should only be one of several options. Also, you of course don’t have to answer—I’m just a random person from the internet, but perhaps this exercise will be helpful?)
I’d agree with Lumifer and jamesf that it seems like it’d be best to do what you can to overcome the ugh field surrounding getting a job. Anecdotally, from my experience and others, having a job can do wonders for your self-esteem and general outlook on life. And it’s also a reason to get out of the house and meet new people!
On that note, do you have any interest in computer programming? Programming ability seems to be pretty correlated with mathematical ability, at least to the degree that anybody at the 1 in 1000 mathematical ability level should be able to do very well as a programmer, if they enjoy it.
And if you’re interested, but don’t have any experience, there are lots of ways to learn! You can sign up for free Udacity or Coursera courses. There are even multiple developer bootcamps you can sign up for that teach you to code, including one that is in New York, and free until you get a job! (Then they take a 15% cut of your first year’s pay.)
If you want to go the bootcamp route, and you’ve had no experience before, it might be a good idea to do some messing around with a couple free online courses first, 1) to convince yourself that you’ll enjoy it and 2) to show in your application that you are serious, as I think getting into the camps might be competitive. But the fact that these, and especially the don’t-pay-until-you-get-a-job version, exist demonstrates that there is very high demand for strong programming talent, and with your level of mathematical ability, it really seems like you could easily fall into that category, with just a little training and experience.
Hope that helps!
Last time I had a job, I sat in a cubicle surfing the Internet and feeling guilty about not working on the (programming) problem I was supposed to be tackling. It was horrible.
To be fair, this describes a significant fraction of every working programmer’s day. But if the programming problems themselves don’t grip you at all, then maybe it’s truly not for you.
Let’s try this from another angle. Suppose it’s three years in the future, and you’re working a job that you find, if not absolutely thrilling, then at least engaging enough that you’re content to do it every day. What kinds of things are you closest to being able to picture fitting in that blank? (You’re allowed to say professional Magic player, but that should only be one of several options. Also, you of course don’t have to answer—I’m just a random person from the internet, but perhaps this exercise will be helpful?)
Honestly, I have no clue. Book editor, maybe?
/me shrugs
I did well in programming courses in college, but, in general, I don’t program for fun; it feels like hard work.