> The skills needed are how to translate the real world situation to a
> mathematical model, and then knowing which tools to use to
> optimise/solve it. Most of the time that is not trivial from a
> mathematical point of view.
>
> A very simple example is staff rotas, you have a certain number of staff
> that all have contracted hours, you have a requirement for a certain
> number of staff each hour each day, how to minimise overtime costs and
> maintain enough cover? It's not the sort of thing you can solve in 5
> minutes on Excel, or even write a trivial brute force search for (unless
> you have a supercomputer). If you are able to save a few % of overtime
> pay for a large company that equals lots of $$$.
>
> Another example is which products to make on a production line. You know
> the order numbers, the stock levels, how long it takes to change over
> each cell/machine etc, what is the optimum pattern of production to
> maximise profit?
>
> Those seem to me like the sort of things you would be good at and enjoy.

Those seem to me like the sort of things that get worked out, once and 
for all, and then maybe changed perhaps twice per decade. Not the sort 
of thing you hire a full time employee for.

And for that matter, if I can't get employment as a computer programmer 
- something which is in great demand and which I am provably good at - 
what are the chances of me getting hired for an obscure job that almost 
nobody needs which I'm probably not even very good at?

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