How I'm using my maths skills to program software

Matt sat at a desk in an office with lots of plants in the background
Matthew Jenkins
Software Engineer, Chersoft
Mathematics BSc
After graduating, Matthew used the University Careers Service to help him find a job, and he now develops software in the marine navigation industry.

I studied Maths at university and I’m now a software engineer for a company called Chersoft. Chersoft are in the marine navigation industry – we develop software for mariners, passage planners, nautical chart agencies, and other marine software professionals. My job is to help program this software.

I use skills from Maths in my job every single day. The principles behind my degree and my job are very similar - much of a Maths degree is about abstract problems and solving them with a series of axiomatic principles, all derived from a few defined rules. This is essentially what I now do at work; the only difference is instead of dealing with differential equations and group manipulation, I’m dealing with how to calculate distances at sea and how to accurately model world maps with a computer.


I found the Careers Service really helpful when writing my CV, there was loads of advice on how to make it presentable and get myself across better.

Matthew Jenkins

Mathematics BSc


The problem-solving I learnt in my degree is crucial to this stuff, these problems don’t always work with the first thing you try, and you need analytical skills to work through them and make the necessary tweaks to get things right.

When I initially graduated from university, I used the University’s Careers Service to help me find a job. I found them really helpful when writing my CV, there was loads of advice on how to make it presentable and get myself across better. I also used their jobs site, which was really useful when I was first applying for jobs.

In the future, I want to keep improving my depth and breadth of my programming skills. It’s such a growth industry at the moment and there are so many exciting things that people are developing. I feel very privileged to have found my way into it.


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