After studying philosophy and being a philosophy teacher, I took back studies 4 years ago and I did a bachelor in maths. I'm in maths grad school now (I'm 32), and I would like to work in cryptography. (I took as many algebra and arithmetic and logic courses as I could, and I'm studying Galois theory this semester.)
I have two questions:
First, how do people who have a background in pure mathematics convert into cryptographers ? For instance, I know very few programming languages (I only know some Python and Matlab, and know next to nothing in C and in object programming). Is it necessary to have knowledge and experience in a lot of languages, and in programming in general, to work in the field of cryptography?
My second question is : is my project realistic? Meaning, is there a chance some company will ever hire a guy who started studying maths with 28, and has no working experience in this field, or even computer science in general?
Thanks in advance for any answers, tips, suggestions, or even encouragements :)
Supplement question: is it necessary to have a PhD to work in cryptography, or is it possible with just a masters. If so, what are the differences between the jobs of someone who has a PhD and someone who hasn't?
