Engineering PhD: frustrated and unemployed

brushman

Where can I find unemployment statistics for PhDs? This is all I've found: http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends...3/figure1a.htm

uby

The economy is certainly difficult at the moment, and industry/government positions are few and far between. However, I am surprised that you have found difficulty in landing a post-doc position. Academic post-doc positions seem to always be available -- especially for U.S. citizens working on energy or defense-related projects (many of which involve transfer process modeling).

If you were to do a search in Google Scholar for areas directly and indirectly related to your expertise, and pull up a list of ten authors who have published recently in these fields, and then contact them to see if they have any post-doc funding -- you might find some leads.

twofish-quant

In my corner (software and finance) what ends up happening is that what you did as a Ph.D. gets counted as "work experience" so Ph.D. = masters + 3-5 years experience.

This depends on the culture. In my family, people got Ph.D.'s for the sake of getting the Ph.D., and getting a career really wasn't part of the bargain. My general advice is if you are concerned only about career, then a Ph.D. isn't worth it. Now if you have non-career reasons for getting a Ph.D. it's different.

This is also very society/culture dependent.

I do know one person that was a geologist who was in technical software sales and ended up doing a part-time Ph.D. in petroleum engineering for career reasons. The reason is that we did a lot of business selling oil software to the Middle East and East Asia, and in that area, having the word "Doctor" in front of your name gets a *LOT* of respect and influence so it helps him sell software there. Because people with Ph.D.'s are very highly respected in the Middle East and East Asia, having one will help you get hired in the oil/gas world.

edgepflow

Just to add something to the discussion about PhDs in industry.

Companies that emphasize R&D often seek PhDs. I have seen this at several companies I have worked for. They prefer a PhD for certain research positions.

bjc219

All of these posts apply to Engineering PhDs, correct? I assume the ballgame is a bit different for Physics PhDs.

edgepflow

I have seen situations in which an advanced chemical process development involves both PhD chemists and PhD chemical engineers. If your PhD was in physics, and you wanted an R&D job in industry, I would think with some effort and planning you could receive serious consideration for these openings.

ParticleGrl

It depends on your specialty. My anecdotes would suggest engineers have a bit of an easier time finding work in industry, both because their phd programs tend to require internships where they make some connections, and because they fit into a 'slot' that the company is used to dealing with.

Lots of companies know what to do with an electrical engineer but have no idea what to do with a high energy physicists, for instance.

bjc219

Thanks for the feedback. I'm still an undergraduate student, and I'm working on two degrees -- one in Physics and one in Chemical Engineering. Still thinking about graduate school.

absurdist

Have you tried applying for a job in countries with economically oleaginous potential. You have I presume some background in ChemE since you specialize in H and M ttansfer?
The oil industry needs more engineers esp in the middle east...

StatGuy2000

I'm actually surprised that more Americans (I'm assuming most of the people responding here are Americans) have not applied to various industry positions in Canada, particularly in the province of Alberta (which, like Texas, is known for its oil & gas industry), where there is a quite healthy employment situation.

I'm certain that there would be positions open for geophysicists, chemical engineers, electrical engineers, etc. for people willing to work in the oil industry. However, I could be wrong about this (disclaimer: I have never worked in the oil industry).

smashbrohamme

I am glad I did it the good ol fashion way. When I got out of High School I learned a trade(industrial electrician, electrical assembler) and I ran with that to land me a nice paying job in the middle class 45K salary. I went to school to get my Computer Aided Drafting and Design AAS degree. I knew this would be the quickest way into the engineering department as a designer for my company. Now all I have to do is get my electrical engineering degree which I am currently doing and I am gaurantee a engineering job as a electrical engineer.

True I will be about 27 years old when I finish but when I graduate I will have a gauranteed job and about 6 years experience in my related field and have already put 4+ years with my current company. Not a bad trade off. Oh their paying for it as well.

JamesGoh

To the original poster, may I suggest trying to get yourself involved in volunteer/unpaid opportunties related to mechanical engineering ?

Even if its a step down from your PHD, experience (whether paid or unpaid) is more relevant.

While you do your volunteer work, find some part time work to help you pay your bills

I couldn't get into RF Design engineering because of my lack of experience, so what I do is that I volunteer at my local community radio station and work parttime to pay the bills

JakeBrodskyPE

This is not wasted time. You will have experience that a great many engineers will never get: how things actually look in the field.

I did something similar except that my employer's financial assistance barely managed to pay for my books. Still, I persevered.

I have known a great many engineers who are no smarter than I am, but who have absolutely no experience using test equipment and can't be trusted to use a soldering iron correctly. They also don't know much about how various parts age or fail. With the field experience you'll have, you'll be years ahead of the rest of the pack.

I've said this before and I'll repeat it to anyone who will listen: Engineering is the application of academic concepts to a practical world. You have to have your feet firmly planted on BOTH sides of the reality. I have no patience with engineers who don't know how the design actually works or performs. Some make designs that can't be built; others make designs that don't work as expected.

Spending time at a practical trade is actually better spent than most things that people do while studying engineering.

streeters

If you are not getting interviews, then your resume isn't suitable.

The point of a resume/CV is to get you an interview. If this is not happening, you need to re-write it.

I worked as a recruitment consultant for a few years and this is the mantra we repeated several times a day. It's usually pretty true.

engr405

OP, I find it hard to believe that someone with a PhD from a top 10 school is unemployed!

Did you ask some of your employed friends to take a look at your resume? Do you tailor your resume to the position you are applying to? Do you come across as someone who is easy to get along/work with?

The semiconductor industry is currently on a hiring spree... Intel, Samsung and Globalfoundries. Most industry jobs are unfulfilling and braindead compared to research, but you will make good money!


What is your visa status ? Are you a citizen/green card holder?

Tech companies lament on the fact that they don't have any citizens they can hire... there is no way they won't call you for at least an interview!

A little about me: Recent cond. matter physics PhD working in one of the companies mentioned above.

ParticleGrl

I know of at least four phds from the top 10 physic program I went to who are unemployed or underemployed (bartending, in nursing school, getting an actuarial degree) or unemployed for more than a few months. This is just people I know personally who graduated in the last 6 months and didn't want a postdoc.

The only people I know who have found industrial positions quickly are condensed matter people who worked on silicon.

Tech companies lament publicly and fail to even interview privately. If tech companies really lamented a lack of people they can hire, they'd snap up semi-relevant phds and train them, instead of waiting for someone pre-trained in the exact job. Thats what happens when there is a shortage- people who are trainable get snapped up and trained, look at the dot come boom. Right now, there is no tech shortage. The cynic in me often thinks they lament the "shortage" to keep a flood of people going into tech to reduce salaries.

They want people whose phds or undergrad education trained them for the exact job. Great if you are a condensed matter guy who worked on silicon and learned some relevant techniques, terrible if you are a theorist, or did astrophysics, etc.

hadsed

I'm a little more interested about you (since I work in condensed matter physics). Are you a theorist/computationalist or an experimentalist? What do you do, what skills were you hired for, etc.? I'm just rather interested in where people who work in condensed matter theory end up (if you're an experimentalist that might be entirely different, though perhaps someone will find it useful).