I am not familiar with the job market in Germany, but here are a couple of comments based on what I have seen in Australia Some large companies/organisations h

I am not familiar with the job market in Germany, but here are a couple of comments based on what I have seen in Australia Some large companies/organisations have an annual intake of graduates in a grad program. Some grad programs offer successful applicants a rotation through different areas of the business over a few years -- you get a lot of exposure to different areas of the business and can then decide something to specialise in. There is a lot of opportunity in parts of IT, but you may be competing for entry-level roles against others who are recent software engineering graduates, or who are self-taught with strong examples from their own personal hobby projects or commercial software projects. One way to get a foot in the door is indeed consulting, with a very likely downside of long days producing billable hours as you suggest. Consultancies are often keen to hire a batch of junior employees who may have no industry experience but are well-credentialed, have a lot of raw potential in terms of being clever with strong training in fundamentals, and can be billed to clients at attractive profit margins. If you can grit your teeth for a couple of years and regard working for a consultancy as a paid apprenticeship in gaining practical skills that are in demand by the market, that puts you in a position to transition into a better job with a better work/life balance and better pay. If there's a range of consultancy jobs on offer I would suggest preferring a consultancy that specialises in a specific line of work that looks interesting and has a key mathematical aspect, rather than a consultancy that "specialises" in everything. If you are looking to potentially transition into IT/software + some kind of domain-specific mathematical modelling, see if you can find a niche consultancy (or ideally a niche software business) advertising junior roles for clever people with maths backgrounds. E.g. a small consultancy or business that does bespoke mathematical modelling + software solution projects for certain industries can be a great way to find interesting work and an environment where you can rapidly learn from more experienced colleagues. See also: https://commoncog.com/the-consulting-business-model/ https://commoncog.com/the-consulting-business-model/