First I'll say you are not coming across as unreasonably entitled to me, however I would be interested in how you are marketing yourself. I also applaud you for trying this, I did the same thing and found it very enlightening and it's something I encourage everyone to do. Particularly it made me...
Hmm, this post seems like a bit of a Rorschach test, different people have seen different things. What I noticed was OPs disappointment, not necessarily with his position, but with the prospects of his position. He noted that even smart engineers, with years of experience were not progressing...
I think it is odd you are now getting jealous of other technical jobs, also national labs also hire engineers...
Back to your original point, in this society the people that are remunerated the best are those that decide on the allocation of capital, if you want a high salary you need to get...
I have a point to add that does not seem to have been covered here. OP seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding of professional engineering. Generally people are hired to solve a problem. They say, "if you have a hammer, every problem is a nail", similarly, if you are hired by computer...
To address the OP's question. You seem to be enquiring about two main issues; one - ability, two - logistics.
Based on your circumstances I would worry less about ability and more about logistics. It appears there is quite a long road as you need to improve your German and pass numerous other...
If your an undergraduate then the best route into finance is the 'traditional one' i.e. join the finance society, get good grades and extracurriculas, try and get an internship. This will also illuminate the various areas in finance. The topic of your degree does not have a large bearing on the...
Well I suggest plenty of research for possible jobs. If you still like physics maybe you can find something at the intersection of coding and physics - C++ is still a widely used language for computationally heavy jobs. As an example, a company called 'double negative' uses physics modelling for...
I can't argue with any of your premises, so yes starting a career outside academia seems like a good option. However from what you've written I have some bad news: it will probably take sustained effort and motivation to change career path. From your post it seems like your not passionate about...
Yes, all the top unis have good connections with industry and the management of the Uni's love to go on about it. However it isn't always that relevant to the academics themselves, so it's risky to use that for your motivation. However everyone loves to hear how they are so intelligent and world...
I'm not sure but this doesn't seem like a great approach. First, I'm not even sure Oxford is 'well known for it's entrepreneurial climate' or if many academics there are highly aware of it. Second, talking about leaving before joining could come across as a bit presumptuous.
I suggest just...
Congratulations on the interviews. I definitely agree that you should concentrate on presenting your work clearly. The most important skill for a physicist is to understand and apply the principles of the topic. If you can do that, transferring to a different field is unlikely to be an issue...
Thanks for the constructive comments. I had previously not looked much into data science as it seemed a bit 'bubbly'; I shall revisit it as an option.
I will also continue to pursue the other non-technical options I have identified.
I was unable to find that much data on Physics PhD destinations. As a baseline Oxford has some information - 100% of their Condensed Matter graduates stayed in academia (i.e. no jobs in that area). Data at: http://public.tableau.com/views/DLHE_stu/SectorsandRoles?:showVizHome=no#1
I couldn't...
Personally I think in science, persistance beats smarts. I'm not sure there is a 'easy' way to understand maths but I am sure if you dedicate a lot of time to it you get better.
I think the problem is this: everything is easy in hindsight. When you are learning a new topic you get presented the...