Career guidance for a very lost Physics PhD student?

[CrysPhys]

Having worked for the Child Support Agency for 15 years, take my word for it: marriage is a lottery fraught with danger. I would only ever suggest it, and having a family, to those into FIRE (financially independent, retire early), and I'd advise waiting to have children until both are financially independent and retired. Children are expensive and time-consuming. Holding down a job while raising children is a tough challenge.

This comes from many years of experience working on data matching for the enforcement team and helping a team member complete his PhD on the Child Support Agency.

Thanks
Bill

I realize we are straying off topic into social issues, but I'm curious. I'm in the US and not familiar with the social structure in Australia. How viable are your FIRE recommendations in Australia?

Since you recommend that both the man and the woman each separately be financially independent, the limiting factor will be how early a woman can achieve financial independence and retire early. Unless she goes the route of freezing her eggs and IVF [in the US these procedures are expensive and insurance coverage (if any) varies a lot], she will have to attain these goals by her mid (or maybe late) 30's; let's use 35 as an example.

The age at which she starts her career will vary considerably, depending on whether she pursues undergraduate and graduate education; let's use 21 as an example. That means she has ~14 yrs to launch her career, achieve financial independence, retire early, and start a family.

Do you have any statistics on how viable that is? Or is FIRE limited to women from wealthy families who can provide them with early financial independence?

 

[wrobel]

I don't know about where you are, but in RF someone with a university degree can start teaching at a school after a short training course, and they'll actually be quite valued there. It's just a Plan B.

 

[CrysPhys]

I don't know about where you are, but in RF someone with a university degree can start teaching at a school after a short training course, and they'll actually be quite valued there. It's just a Plan B.

The OP is in the US. As I've mentioned before, here the quickest, most lucrative route for a teaching career is private tutoring in an area with a lot of rich dumb kids. No special credentials needed. A PhD in Physics, especially from a name-brand university, will get you a higher hourly billing rate once you establish yourself.

 

[bhobba]

I realize we are straying off topic into social issues,

FIRE is viable here. I did it, and I know others who have. In fact, getting a job over 50, or even 45, is next to impossible if you're laid off, so, as a practical matter, regardless of marriage (especially with children), it's a wise choice. Those into it; mostly these days dollar-cost average into a growth ETF with 50% or more of your take-home pay. No whoopee Saturday nights when young and sobering up Sunday. I personally used real estate, but in retirement I use the ETF method (I did some options trading but have now stopped).

The main point of my post was that when marriages break down, especially with children, one ex (often the mother) can become incredibly vindictive, making life hell for the other ex. Many divorces happen when children come along, finances are tight, and there is little time for socialising. Retirement reduces (of course, not eliminates) that risk, and what you pay your ex depends on your income, which, if things are set up properly, is minimal during retirement. In fact, many men simply stop working when divorced to avoid paying any child support (plus see a lawyer on how to hide their assets - and yes, legal strategies exist to do that and still be able to live, such as setting up a company that pays for everything- house, food, travel, etc.). I heard many stories along those lines while working for the CSA.

Note that there are various types of FIRE. One type is to be financially independent enough to retire early but still keep working at whatever you are currently doing. No worries about layoffs, etc and if you work in one of those jobs where pressure is applied to work unpaid (or even paid overtime you would rather not work) you can politely decline with no concern about any 'backlash'.

And yes, it would be wise for your partner to arrange their affairs and have children before 40, if they wish to have children.

Thanks
Bill

 

[wrobel]

The OP is in the US. As I've mentioned before, here the quickest, most lucrative route for a teaching career is private tutoring in an area with a lot of rich dumb kids. No special credentials needed. A PhD in Physics, especially from a name-brand university, will get you a higher hourly billing rate once you establish yourself.

Is it possible to teach at a US high school with just a university degree?

 

[CrysPhys]

Is it possible to teach at a US high school with just a university degree?

Depends. In the US, we have public high schools and private high schools. To teach at a public high school, you need to get certification/licensure. Requirements for certification/licensure are set by each state. E.g., I live in the State of New Jersey; their requirements are listed here: https://www.nj.gov/education/certification/teachers/#7.

To teach at a private high school, however, there is no state-mandated certification/licensure. Each private high school specifies the requirements for its teachers; so a private high school could require just a university degree and nothing else (other than passing a background check).

 

[noahthompson]

The point about how "consultant" can mean three very different things on a resume is worth keeping. For someone coming out of a physics PhD, the independent contractor version may fit best early on: you build a portfolio of small computational projects rather than chasing a single employer. I would not read too much into the Brazilian student example though; a name-brand school and language skills lined up for her, and that is rarely a repeatable formula. Making peace with your own pace, as the first poster suggested, matters more than benchmarking against peers.

 

[CrysPhys]

I would not read too much into the Brazilian student example though; a name-brand school and language skills lined up for her, and that is rarely a repeatable formula.

<<Emphasis added>> I will disagree. That was not a one-off instance. Once you move out of, e.g., staff-level positions in a laboratory, R&D, or manufacturing environment, factors other than technical expertise come into play. Fluency in multiple languages, and experience with multiple cultures, can be a big plus not only in consulting, but in other fields such as project management, product management, marketing, and sales.

I've known a number of scientists and engineers who were technically middle-of-the-pack at best, but rose to executive positions once they moved out of the technical arena and into the business arena, based primarily on their language fluency and cultural background. Some who combined technical excellence along with language and cultural advantages have done really, really well. And when you're dealing with clients, credentials such as advanced degrees and name-brand schools sell.

The whole point is that if you are considering alternative careers outside of tech per se, find out what factors are pertinent, and, if you possess any of those factors, parlay them to your advantage.

 

[berkeman]

The point about how "consultant" can mean three very different things on a resume is worth keeping. For someone coming out of a physics PhD, the independent contractor version may fit best early on: you build a portfolio of small computational projects rather than chasing a single employer. I would not read too much into the Brazilian student example though; a name-brand school and language skills lined up for her, and that is rarely a repeatable formula. Making peace with your own pace, as the first poster suggested, matters more than benchmarking against peers.

FYI for the posters in this thread -- this was AI bot, and they are no longer with us.