Differences between Industry and Academia

[swashtecher]

Hi all,
I'm a rising sophomore studying applied physics at a top university in the USA, and I've been considering whether or not to pursue graduate school, and beyond that, deciding between a life in academia vs. industry. I'm surrounded by a lot of academics (naturally), but have much less contact with physicists working in industry. Can anyone here provide a (maybe not-so) brief overview of differences between the two? Specifically, any significant differences in education or professional experience needed to pursue a career in industry, and differences in the working life in industry vs. academia, etc. Responses would be greatly appreciated! :D

 

[ZapperZ]

Since no one answered, maybe this might be a good link for you to start:

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_05_22/caredit.a0900066

Zz.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Hi all,
I'm a rising sophomore studying applied physics at a top university in the USA, and I've been considering whether or not to pursue graduate school, and beyond that, deciding between a life in academia vs. industry. I'm surrounded by a lot of academics (naturally), but have much less contact with physicists working in industry. Can anyone here provide a (maybe not-so) brief overview of differences between the two? Specifically, any significant differences in education or professional experience needed to pursue a career in industry, and differences in the working life in industry vs. academia, etc. Responses would be greatly appreciated! :D

My perspective:

In industry, you are told what to do and you don't have to figure out how to get a paycheck. In academic research, you can do whatever you want as long as you can get someone to pay you (and fund your lab, if you do experimental work).