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The question may look a little odd. I will lead a software development project and i need some people(Junior Consultants).

Some mathematicians have applied to the development positions.

what i realised is that the mathematician have less Knowledege in special areas but how they think and how they solve the problems are really interesting. Therefore i can see the potential at them.

What would you recommend? Mathematician or software engineer..

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  • This question seems like it might be a better fit over on Workplace. I can see how this sorta-kinda looks like a team composition issue, but it isn't; it's a "who should I hire" question, as currently written.
    – Todd A. Jacobs ♦
    May 8, 2013 at 12:15
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    This question is too broad, as written and will likely solicit opinions rather than facts. The correct answer will depend on a number of factors. Please add: The software platform, the languages involved, the databases being used, some summary of the project or major tasks.
    – Michael Durrant
    May 8, 2013 at 13:24
  • You may also want to consider hiring both so that one person or group can focus on implementation and the other person or people can focus on algorithms.
    – Michael Durrant
    May 8, 2013 at 13:25
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    This is a bad fit for SE: The answer to the question is of value only to the OP. This answer cannot be applied in a different context, nor can anyone other than OP evaluate the answer.
    – MCW
    May 8, 2013 at 16:39

2 Answers 2

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Do you have any evidence that either course of study is associated with a higher degree of success likelihood? I doubt you would find it. What you would uncover, if you ever tried to study it, would be a host of biases and anecdotes but nothing concrete that one course of study is better than the other.

Except for a few specific professions, like medicine and law (where you cannot even legally practice either without a specific course of study), many different types of education, INCLUDING on the job training, prepares one to do a job, where many other variables would influence more the probability of good job performance and the exact course of study becomes irrelevant, if it ever was relevant.

I'd strongly suggest you dismiss this as a predictor or as a requirement for your open position and research those things that are valid predictors for job performance.

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Figure out the learning curve of the technology involved. If the curve is low but the algorithms are complex then I'd say mathematician. Otherwise def the other one.

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