fss said:
Sky's the limit with a physics degree. Depends mostly on how flexible you are and how well you can sell yourself to an employer.
As much as I value several degrees in physics, I must say this sounds like an undergrads POV who has not actually entered the workforce.
First, many here focus on cosmology, string/M theory, and all sorts of fascinating esoterica - but has anyone stopped to think of the practical applications for this aside from providing folks a reason to avoid you at parties as you discuss the later Big Bang theories? And just how many jobs give a flip about cosmology and string theory?
Physics is like philosophy, it provides a great structure for logical thinking, and you can walk about smugly knowing that you have a better understanding of the sources of concepts then those silly engineers who only know applied aspects of the concepts.
But physics is not an endgame. In all but a few exceptional areas, it is an underpinning for further development.
Put another way, with a master's in physics, you can't even teach 7th grade science! And you won't get a job in an engineering firm. And you are not going to be courted for any applied post. As regardless of how knowledgeable you are, you have NONE of the professional licenses required by the business world.
Do you have communication skills? Do you know business in a manner that you can provide strategic insight into how specific applied technologies can immediately advance the effectiveness and efficiencies of businesses Now? (and no, I don't mean amorphous talk of green technologies or other nonsense like that!) Probably not.
Physics is great, but unless you partner it with a degree (undergrad or MBA) in business with a concentration in project management such that you can converse in a meaningful manner with accountants who specifically went into accounting because they hate physics, you are going to face a very lonely future.
And with the continuing off shoring of technology, even engineering is increasingly becoming a commoditized field. Why should any large company hie an overpriced domestic physicist when they can hire someone from China or India fur a fraction of the price? And before you start telling me, you might want to address those actually doing it as the jobs quickly disappear and examine the job market for how many experienced folks with multiple graduate degrees are having trouble finding anything but contract work for 6 months at a time - if they can find that.
You might look at health-care related applications as well as an almost required business co-requisite and start researching jobs. And by this I mean, TALK to those in the field, not your academic adviser who has likely never been outside of academia and part of whose job is to fill seats in the physics classes!
You are going to be in for a rude awakening if you wait, only to discover that one needs much more than a simple technical degree. And one who fails to prepare for the professional prerequisites such as professional licenses - as a physicist is not going to be hired as an engineer without a PE; nor as even a junior high school science teacher without a teaching certificate!
