First off, I have no interest in being a mathematician. Math was always and continues to be quite difficult for me.
So, as an outsider to advanced math, it blows my mind that there are people who’s entire job title is mathematician. How does that work? What does a mathematician do?
The analytical skills needed for an advanced math degree are transferable to wide variety of jobs. The tech companies I worked for actively sought out people with those skills, mostly for jobs that didn’t require high level math.
A solid foundation in optimization makes your skills useful pretty much anywhere.