What maths do you use in your job?

[DreamingofBrie]

A few years ago, a teacher started a brilliant thread on MN, asking posters whether they used maths in their job, and if so what job they did. The thread had hundreds of responses and it was great to see the diversity of the replies - I've used those responses in my classroom to show pupils how maths is used in jobs that they might not have thought of. Replies included a pilot, QC, nail technician, mediator, charity worker, SAHM, computer network programmer, chef, dancer, sports performance coach and many many more.

I'm a Maths teacher, so I use all sorts of maths in my job every day . I'm hoping for more interesting replies from this thread, so that I can update the display in my classroom!

Thanks in advance!

I recently had to replace a disability ramp in the doorway of my clinic. I could measure the width and length, I also knew the incline (Thank you inclinometer app)... Then I had to revise my trigonometry skills ( very very rusty fyi) to find the height. I bought and fitted the perfect ramp :) #MadMathSkills #FirstTrigUseEver

I use set theory and Boolean logic. I work in IT with relational and non relational databases. I love a Venn diagram.

Lots of general maths and stats too.

I work in a brown goods business, I use maths to calculate the impact that changing exchange rates have on the cost of goods and what impact upcosts (materials, freight, colour changes etc) have on margins. When looking at Retail pricing I need to work out the % of products that will be sold on promotion and the % at full price and in turn what uplift will be required to make the same Margin at a £ and % level.

I'm an NHS manager. I use maths re performance information, target setting, budgeting, working out pro rata hr stuff, so basic algebra, some stats etc

I work in QC in a microbiology lab. I use maths to workout the average amount of bacteria in a sample as this runs into millions, I have to understand powers too.

Social Worker for adults

Calculating the total numbers of hours care people need at home. This can be a mix of hours, half hours and can include one or two carers for all or part of each visit.

Adding up the costs of care packages to submit to funding approval panels.

Working out quite complex funding arrangements for people living in shared supporting living houses.

Calculating how much money someone should receive as a direct payment and helping them come up with a support plan. This can include determining hourly rates and using the budget in the most effective way.

Viewing and interpreting bank statements/ financial information to determine if vulnerable adults I support might be being financially abused or targeted by scams.

I work in process improvement and use maths daily to measure machine performance, improvement trends and identify areas that need work. I love a good pareto graph! That said, I hated maths at school, just about scraped a D at GCSE many years ago. When I was offered the chance of studying for my Six Sigma qualification, I had to get my then 15 year old daughter to help!

Incidentally, she's in year 13 and studying maths, further maths and physics at A level. She's hoping to study aeronautical engineering at University next year, so will be using maths aplenty!

I used to be a nurse, and used maths to do paediatric drug calculations, and simple arithmetic to work out drip rates, but I think that is probably done by a pump now.
I’m now a self employed trauma therapist, and I do my own tax which involves some maths.

I work in the arts. I calculate potential income based on different deals, look at return on investment for campaigns, work out percentage capacities, work out gross and net, arrange budgets for events and campaigns, calculate costs based on hourly rates of pay, put together budgets for funding applications that kind of thing.

I was beyond rubbish at maths at school. But I love a bit of practical maths now. I also love a spreadsheet!

I'm a Tax Inspector, so use maths everyday. I check tax calculations and verify whether people have declared all their income and tax liabilities correctly. I open tax enquiries, where I review people's books, records, invoices and calculations. I calculate tax reliefs, rates and allowances. I use ratios, percentages and formulas a lot.

I work in automotive as a part supplier so I have to work out how many engines we build a day how many screws for example that engine needs how many we have in stock and on the road to know how many we need to order factoring fallout rate from ones that get dropped on the floor! I also have to work out how many of the screws can fit on a pallet and if there is enough room in the lorry that's collecting them to fit them in. Also have to work out how much obsolescence we will have if we change the screw today or when we should change it to get minimal loss. For someone who is terrified about a Functional Skills maths exam tomorrow I apparently do a lot of maths lol

I work in higher education regulation and I interpret and interrogate data and statistics in my job every day.

I'm a communications officer and use maths all the time! A lot of my job is using social media and I use analytic tools to measure the reach and impact of my company and different types of content that we create. I also manage a budget and support with the creation of reports to prove that we're doing what we're supposed to, which means knowing my way around a dataset and using Excel!

I work in higher education regulation and I interpret and interrogate data and statistics in my job every day.

Ooh - OfS or at an institution?

Managing the monitoring healthcare performance and improving healthcare for a job.
Maths used daily for interrogation of data requiring ability to use percentages, statistics, ratio, extrapolation of trajectories. Understanding of data presentation in different formats such as scatter graphs, funnel graphs, srandardised indices etc.
Budgetary control so good grip on money, cumulative accounts and forecasts. Looking at use of resources by NHS so understanding of unit costs, performance funding and interest rates.

Hand Therapist
Measuring then making splints. When cutting out the material we also use maths to make sure we are as economical as possible with it.
Use of Goniometer to measure angles/range of movement at joints.
Use of Dynamometer to measure hand strength.
Use of tape measure to monitor swelling (measure around finger)
Use of volumeter to measure global swelling of whole hand by submerging in water and recording (Archimedes principle)
As a pain monitor! (the famous "On a scale of 1 to 10 how much does this hurt")
Measure temperature of the water bath, used to soften thermoplastics.
Stock control, how many are we likely to need in the next few weeks?
Pricing.
Use maths as part of our outcome measures and feedback statistics for audit.
More than I thought!!

Work in b2b comms, only basic maths but often analyse research results, identify trends, themes etc work out percentages or fractions and decide ways to display results which best test the thesis then add expert commentary.

I'm a diagnostic radiographer and I use trigonometry for the different projections for X-rays, basic numeracy, being able to manipulate exposure factors, measuring distance, radiation dose calculations

HR - I use stats to present information to senior managers and to back up decisions and/or recommendations.

I calculate pro-rata holiday entitlements, deductions from salaries, salary increases, redundancy payments, bonuses (using a ridiculously complicated performance based calculator),

I use maths in providing information that finance need for the year end accounts, to adhere to legislation for various things, and manage the recruitment and training budgets. I need an understanding of statistics to interpret salary benchmarking information and most importantly, work out who needs what change when it's my turn to go for the Friday bacon roll run!

I use weighted averages, logarithms (on a scientific calculator, my dad always tells me he used to use a book haha)
Mental maths all day long. I use set formulas, ie ‘e’ on calc . I’m a finance analyst.

Oh yes obviously I do other things such as % and ratios etc to check variances and compare items.

Volunteer at CAB
Benefits advice includes lots of basic arithmetic. There are now online calculators, but I learnt paper based. It’s really important to be able to know whether what the computer has chucked out is correct, or you accidentally added an extra 0 to the rent. Also need to calculate monthly from weekly payments/rent.

The most satisfying maths is the outcome section on our database. If I help a client apply for PIP and they get standard daily living and standard rate mobility that’s £79.95 a week or £4157.40 a year extra to help with disability. (The statistic is also vital for the office to attract funding for the future.)

I run a retail business so use maths constantly, from working out average weights for my postage to profit margins. Even when I worked in retail I used maths. I was stunned how many 16 year olds came to work for me that couldn't work out what change a customer needed without a calculator.

I write scientific software...
In no particular order, I use:

3d geometry (trig, vectors etc), statistics (simple stuff like means, multiple regressions, statistical significance...), a heck of a lot of arithmetic, powers and roots, natural logs.

In the past, complex numbers.

Lots!

Have NC for this as it's very outing!

Worked in credit risk - working out who to lend money to and who not to, via making scorecards that predict how likely people are to pay you back.

Worked in fraud, making models to work out which behaviour was likely to be fraudulent and which is genuine.

Worked in a call centre, looking at when calls come in, and therefore when to have people working and when not to.

Worked in A/B testing for websites, designing new webpages and sending half the customers down one and half down another. Looking for statistically significant evidence of one page being better than the other.