Physics PhD at 50, seeks non-traditional career options

[nickyrtr]

I finished a Physics PhD in middle age, mostly just for the love of learning about Physics. The wisdom of that choice is questionable, but it's done now so no going back. I'd hoped to return to my previous career in software development, but at nearly age 50 I find that line of work is hard to get hired back into as an older person. What little I find is usually contract/temporary, so I don't feel it's a reliable option between now and retirement. My impression is also that the usual physics-to-industry routes like data scientist or finance quantitative analyst are also less likely to be filled by an age 50+ applicant, and my applications haven't gotten much traction there either.

Therefore, I want to explore non-traditional careers, and am looking for ideas. I'm willing to accept lower wages than in my previous life as a developer; 40k-50k/yr is enough to live on with a couple of lifestyle adjustments. Here are some I've already considered, though they have drawbacks:

- Public School Physics Teacher (need education degree first)
- Project Manager (would PhD/age be a barrier to hiring just as in IT?)
- Mechanical or Electrical Engineer (need engineering degree first)
- Truck Driver (long trips away from home)
- Taxi Driver (worried about safety from crime)

I didn't add adjunct college teaching to the list, because it also falls in the temporary/contract category. Any other non-traditional career ideas are welcome.

 

[gleem]

What is your field of research. Theoretical or Experimental. Did you develop any special skills or expertise in the use of equipment or software?

 

[nickyrtr]

My research was in statistical analysis of large scientific data sets, collected with an experimental apparatus, though I was not directly involved in operating the apparatus. I used the skills I already had developed previously in software development to write the codes for my research, primarily in the C++ language.

 

[gleem]

Have you checked out the AIP web site? they carry a listing of physics jobs. Don't discount contract positions you may gain some relevant experience and get your foot in a door. It will also allow you to beef up your resume and accumulate references, You know a contract position is a good way for a company to take a look at your work before committing to you. Programming and Stat Anal are still in demand in the private sector. How are your communication skills? Do you get along with people. A survey of CEO's found that the most desired traits of an employee were communication skills, ability to work well in a team and problem solving skills. But it should be noted the HR personnel concentrated on job skills in hiring people.

 

[Quantum Defect]

You might look at the world of "independent schools." They are not beholden to state requirements for credentialing. They also tend to pay quite well, comparatively speaking. Look at the job listings at NAIS.org
If you look at faculty lists at these schools, you will see quite a few PhDs.

You might also consider talking to people at Carney-Sandoe -- they are an agency that helps independent schools find candidates for positions. Right now is the busy hiring time. Carney-Sandoe has many job fairs throughout the year across the country, where you have a kind of speed-dating type of interview with administrators.

The good thing is that there are lots of positions open in STEM areas, and these people do like to hire people with PhDs; it tells prospective students and parents that the school takes academics seriously. You need to want to teach and you need to enjoy working with young people.

 

[gleem]

Your background suggest that data mining might be an area to look into.

 

[Locrian]

My research was in statistical analysis of large scientific data sets,

Consider "Business Consultant" jobs at financial and insurance companies. Ones that require SQL, SAS and excel skills may be easy to pick up.

I worry that you'll find "data science" and "data mining" jobs tend to be interested in cutting edge (which often isn't) techinques you don't know, and it may be hard to convince them you can or have learned them.

Getting some basic SQL/SAS down a programmer such as yourself would be trivial, and these analyst level jobs can pay reasonably well.

Just a thought.

 

[ModusPwnd]

- Public School Physics Teacher (need education degree first)

There are ways to do this besides getting an education degree first. Many of my fellow grads ended up teaching and they did it through "Teach for America". Teach for America has a way for graduates to get into the classroom before getting the required certifications. They then work on certifications and/or an education degree while working. I was quite surprised at how well paid these gigs are, but you usually have to relocate to a needy school.

 

[Dr Transport]

look at medical schools or large pharmacological places, they got to be looking at large data sets for drug trials.

 

[nickyrtr]

Thanks for the ideas. Here is another: an Electrician. A Physics degree provides some of the background needed, in understanding the theory behind electricity. Does anyone know how the job prospects are nowadays in this field?

 

[Locrian]

When I looked into becoming an electrician (years ago), it had its strong points. However, my understanding is that you'd spend a few years doing low-paid manual labor. That's not a great starting point for someone in your situation. Work also sounded very cyclical; maybe we're headed towards an upswing?

I'm personally glad I didn't go that route, and it's hard for me to imagine it working out that well for you. Just my impression though, I definitely am not an expert.

Edit: Btw, I think almost nothing in your background would be useful in the business of being an electrician; it's light on theory and heavy on regulations.

 

[The Gimp]

Try the military, they are always looking for instructors and don't require the education degree. I'm amused though at less than 50 you consider yourself too old to be hired, I'm 60 so where does that leave me? Perhaps I should just build my coffin now to save on the money.

 

[dougfgd]

If you can support yourself for a while find a minority need, look to hardware and software to be adapted to that need you could just be elpful to people.

 

[Anding]

nickyrtr,

Have you considered applying to smaller companies / SME's (not start ups) in your field of interest? If you can write a convincing cover letter, then recruitment at these places tends to be done by the boss rather than by a checklist driven HR team. Smaller firms especially need people who are self starters and reliable and might actually value your maturity if the skills you have already fit the job.

If you see a firm where you feel the fit is good, don't be knocked back by an initial non response. Get the boss's email address and follow up (maybe more than once) with a short and courteous email. Don't forget to spell out your $ salary expectations explicitly else it may be assumed that you'd be wanting more than you actually do. There is appeal in someone who really wants to do the job being offered and can show it.

As someone with years of experience, the self motivation to do a PhD as a mature student, and modest salary expectations you should be a great value hire.

A question for you for my interest if I may. Perhaps you were not interested in pursuing this direction but did you get any sense as to how feasible it would have been for you to get a postdoc position and try the academic route had you wanted to? Would your age have counted for / against you / made no difference?

 

[nickyrtr]

nickyrtr,

Have you considered applying to smaller companies / SME's (not start ups) in your field of interest? If you can write a convincing cover letter, then recruitment at these places tends to be done by the boss rather than by a checklist driven HR team. Smaller firms especially need people who are self starters and reliable and might actually value your maturity if the skills you have already fit the job.

If you see a firm where you feel the fit is good, don't be knocked back by an initial non response. Get the boss's email address and follow up (maybe more than once) with a short and courteous email. Don't forget to spell out your $ salary expectations explicitly else it may be assumed that you'd be wanting more than you actually do. There is appeal in someone who really wants to do the job being offered and can show it.

As someone with years of experience, the self motivation to do a PhD as a mature student, and modest salary expectations you should be a great value hire.

A question for you for my interest if I may. Perhaps you were not interested in pursuing this direction but did you get any sense as to how feasible it would have been for you to get a postdoc position and try the academic route had you wanted to? Would your age have counted for / against you / made no difference?

Small companies are a good idea, I might try approaching some that don't even have advertised job openings. What do you mean by SME? I've only seen that term used to describe an individual subject matter expert.

I might be able to get a postdoc position, but it would likely require relocation, which would be a serious problem for my spouse's career. Also, postdocs are usually a dead end; I'd end up in the same dilemma after a few years of doing that, but even older and further removed from non-academic work experience.

 

[Probabilist]

In finance we don't give a flying ! how old you are. If you can create alpha, your in, if not, well your out. Super simple.

 

[nickyrtr]

In finance we don't give a flying ! how old you are. If you can create alpha, your in, if not, well your out. Super simple.

How do you make this judgement for a candidate who has never worked in finance before?

 

[Independent]

- Taxi Driver (worried about safety from crime)

Perhaps driving for Uber/similar service? I believe it allows you some discretion in choosing clients.

 

[dougfgd]

Demographics point to increasing need for designs to support the elderly Design, systems to help

 

[caelis]

Look into the BASIS charter schools if you want to teach. They are a chain of high performing charter schools that seek individuals with PhDs or MSs in the sciences and do not require teacher certification. Google them to see if there is one in your area.
Also, depending on what state you live in, there are alternate routes yo teacher certification intended for career changers such as yourself. You teach during the day and work on certification at night.

 

[MathWorry]

Does anyone see the absurdity of this? Someone with a PhD in physics is seriously considering being a taxi driver or electrician?

 

[symbolipoint]

Does anyone see the absurdity of this? Someone with a PhD in physics is seriously considering being a taxi driver or electrician?

No! Not absurd at all. PhD looks over-qualified for some jobs, but if a person needs a job, he cannot expect to always rely on finding only some wonderful fancy job requiring having PhD. Does earning a PhD for someone who had been a taxi driver in the past mean that now he is not able to drive a taxi? Other examples maybe...

 

[MathWorry]

No! Not absurd at all. PhD looks over-qualified for some jobs, but if a person needs a job, he cannot expect to always rely on finding only some wonderful fancy job requiring having PhD. Does earning a PhD for someone who had been a taxi driver in the past mean that now he is not able to drive a taxi? Other examples maybe...

The point is, if the OP is serious about being a taxi driver after getting a PhD in Physics something is seriously wrong, either on his end or on the economic end of the country he is in.

 

[Almeisan]

Maybe he is in the US?

 

[Locrian]

Does anyone see the absurdity of this? Someone with a PhD in physics is seriously considering being a taxi driver or electrician?

Been reading this forum for well over 10 years.

Doesn't seem weird at all.

 

[symbolipoint]

The point is, if the OP is serious about being a taxi driver after getting a PhD in Physics something is seriously wrong, either on his end or on the economic end of the country he is in.

... or Both. Consider also, that a PhD might lock someone into thinking not to try going outside of his field, because the PhD makes one feel that he must stay in the field. You have a good point to make; since getting a PhD in some subject is much more extreme than just bachelor's degree.

 

[symbolipoint]

No! Not absurd at all. PhD looks over-qualified for some jobs, but if a person needs a job, he cannot expect to always rely on finding only some wonderful fancy job requiring having PhD. Does earning a PhD for someone who had been a taxi driver in the past mean that now he is not able to drive a taxi? Other examples maybe...

My point is that not all paths go along someone's training and education, so some people need to be more flexible in what they look for when job searching.

 

[ModusPwnd]

Does anyone see the absurdity of this? Someone with a PhD in physics is seriously considering being a taxi driver or electrician?

I can see how it sounds silly to someone new to the field. I know a PhD who did help desk IT after graduation. I delivered pizza after getting my masters in physics. Jobs are hard to get. There are more graduates and applicants than positions in nearly every field.

 

[symbolipoint]

I can see how it sounds silly to someone new to the field. I know a PhD who did help desk IT after graduation. I delivered pizza after getting my masters in physics. Jobs are hard to get. There are more graduates and applicants than positions in nearly every field.

EXACTLY!

Some people are well educated; some people have good training; some people are well educated and have experience; ... and some people are lucky. Then as well, some people are unlucky.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I can see how it sounds silly to someone new to the field. I know a PhD who did help desk IT after graduation. I delivered pizza after getting my masters in physics. Jobs are hard to get. There are more graduates and applicants than positions in nearly every field.

I think it is an absolute outrage that someone with a PhD in a STEM field would ever consider settling for a job as a taxi driver or a pizza delivery person. Yes, a PhD is not a vocational degree program, and one shouldn't necessarily expect to become an academic, but the education and skills acquired should at least lead to career paths that are better than some dead-end field leading to poverty (like you, ModusPwnd, until you pursued further studies in engineering).

Also, what evidence is there that the US, as of 2015, has indeed more graduates and applicants than positions in every field? As far as I understand, the employment situation in the US has improved considerably from the low point of the 2008 recession, and there are numerous positions open on job forums.

 

[atyy]

http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/30-how-bad-luck-networking-cost-prasher-nobel
The discoverer of a gene for a glowing protein 
was driving a van for a car dealership in Huntsville, Alabama, when he learned that former colleagues 
had won science's greatest honor.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?artic...title/What-Ever-Happened-to-Douglas-Prasher-/
In fact, at the time the announcement was made that the GFP researchers were awarded the prize, the erstwhile biochemist Prasher was working as a courtesy shuttle driver at a Huntsville, Alabama, Toyota dealership.

 

[Locrian]

Also, what evidence is there that the US, as of 2015, has indeed more graduates and applicants than positions in every field?

Yea, it's almost like there's some context around what they wrote. Could it be?

 

[Almeisan]

Obviously when the job market works naturally, it would be the lower educated people that can't get jobs of have to do uneducated jobs. If there's more PhDs than positions, the PhDs take the MSc jobs, the MSc degrees take the BSc jobs, etc etc.

Doesn't make sense to make the PhD guy a taxi driver and have the BSc guy work the MSc job.

 

[symbolipoint]

Obviously when the job market works naturally, it would be the lower educated people that can't get jobs of have to do uneducated jobs. If there's more PhDs than positions, the PhDs take the MSc jobs, the MSc degrees take the BSc jobs, etc etc.

Doesn't make sense to make the PhD guy a taxi driver and have the BSc guy work the MSc job.

The like could still happen. The BSs guy might be a better talker, and the people-skills could be what gets him through into the job; OR impressive specific experience. Sometimes the luck of timing.

 

[Almeisan]

Besides the point. The quality of the PhD should be high enough that it should on average outperform any job experience at BSc or MSc level. If it doesn't then either something is wrong with the quality of the PhD or with the judgment of the empoyee.

What you say suggests PhD people lack in talking and people skills or impressive experience or luck. And if you really think that it swings both ways, then what are we even talking about? There's this thing called statistics and averages...

If when with a PhD you can only work at PhD level or at no level at all, something is wrong.