Career prospects with physics and astrophysics with particle physics degrees

[EIRE2003]

Hi I am just in my first yr doing a physical & life sciences degree, Its a 3 yr course for ordinary degree & 4 yrs for honours degree, but in the second year I have to choose in which direction I am heading in, ie for physics, Chemistry, or Biology.
Im choosing physics & then after this honours degree I want to go on and do an honours degree in Astrophysics with Particle Physics.
But I am wondering about what type of career I could get with this?
How hard is it to get a job in an observatory? Or a real good job in CERN?

 

[silverpig]

Most people don't work in the observatory. You get a degree and get a research grant. You then write a proposal to a committee asking for research time on a telescope and if they deem you worthy, you get some time. CERN is basically the same thing.

Of course there are techs and engineers at both places, but they usually aren't the guys doing the pure science.

 

[ZapperZ]

Hi I am just in my first yr doing a physical & life sciences degree, Its a 3 yr course for ordinary degree & 4 yrs for honours degree, but in the second year I have to choose in which direction I am heading in, ie for physics, Chemistry, or Biology.
Im choosing physics & then after this honours degree I want to go on and do an honours degree in Astrophysics with Particle Physics.
But I am wondering about what type of career I could get with this?
How hard is it to get a job in an observatory? Or a real good job in CERN?

I hate to sound like a broken record (does anyone in fact even know what that is anymore?), but the best way to know the kinds and the amount of job openings for a particular field of physics is to actually LOOK at the job advertisement directed at physicists. I have posted two links that contain the current job openings from the AIP and the IoP. These links are contained in one of my Journal entries titled "Employment in Physics - Part 1". This listing changes from week to week, and even have "peak" times of the year where the number of job listing is more than usual. So you have to look at these two sites often and at various times of the year.

I think this is one of the most accurate way of having a feel of the kinds of opportunities or "employability" one has with an expertise in a certain field of physics.

Zz.