Short interview with Tom about his choice of career and the role maths played in determining his path.

To what extent did your love for mathematics/obsession with it influence your success in making it your career?

I’d say the fact that my current job involves me doing maths almost every day suggests it had a huge impact on my career choice! After my PhD I spent 1 year working at the BBC and I do remember missing the feeling of successfully solving a maths problem. I think this feeling is one of the main reasons I moved into university teaching/YouTube as I now spend my time trying to help others find it!

To what extent did networking influence your success in making mathematics your career?

I’m sure it had an impact, but I’m not sure it necessarily led to my current role. My job at the BBC came from working there as an intern – which I applied for after seeing the role advertised in an email. And then my first teaching position back at Oxford came from another job advertisement in an email. My subsequent positions (including the one I have now) were again things that I applied for, although I think it certainly helped that I already had teaching experience at the university. 

In your opinion, how important is post-secondary education for making a hobby a career? Does this depend on the hobby?

I think it does depend on the hobby, yes. If it is possible for you to obtain a qualification in your hobby, then I think doing so is not only a great help in terms of demonstrating your ability in the area, but also your commitment to it. Plus, you would also no doubt learn a great deal about other aspects of the hobby that you had perhaps not previously thought about, as well as meeting other like-minded people who share your passion. Provided you have the resources and time available to you, I think any additional qualification is always worthwhile. 

In your opinion, are there any activities that can’t be monetised/developed into careers?

In today’s world it seems there are almost endless possibilities to monetise a hobby/activity. Just off the top of my head, that could be through social media channels dedicated to your interest, selling merchandise connected to the hobby, teaching/training others who want to improve at the activity – I don’t think any of these are limited to any particular hobby. Of course, whether or not you can make enough money for it to be considered your main ‘career’ is a whole other question!