Job Skills Got my BS in Physics but I don't know what to apply for

[russ_watters]

What did you do?

I'm a mechanical engineer. I wanted to be an aerospace engineer, since I was about 8 and figured out what it was. For years when I was a kid my parents tried to talk me out of it because it is too narrow. For better or worse I washed out of it and landed in mechanical engineering because they are related.

The biggest problem for a generalist is accepting that you are a generalist and being decisive about it. I still had a bit of a dream of working in aerospace, but what I decided I wanted most was a life, which meant moving out of my parents house and buying a few key items -- a telescope in particular -- to live the lifestyle I wanted. For that I needed a job. Any quality job would do. So I didn't just apply for mechanical engineering jobs at aerospace companies, I applied for every mechanical engineering job and even non-specific tech-sounding job in a 50 mile radius of Philadelphia that I met the qualifications for. I also applied for jobs that didn't exist. Overall, hundreds in the course of the 2+ months it took to land a job. I got four interviews and three offers and I evaluated the job as a job and career to make my decision. Because I correctly predicted that as long as it was technical it would keep my interest and had a career path it would provide for me what I wanted for a lifestyle, I'm satisfied with the work. And more than satisfied with the pay.

It's worked out quite well.

The first sentence of your OP says this:

I'm not really sure what I am a qualified for, and when I look on job boards like zip recruiter, the only jobs i seem to find are truck driving and sales jobs.

This is nonsense. Beyond nonsense - it's absurd. Those jobs aren't even a good fit. Either you're doing something wrong in the way you search (probably) or the apps are terrible (maybe). Back when Monster was new and people still looked at newspapers, people didn't type "physicist bachelors" into a search engine, you could look at job listings that said something like "any science, engineering or technical bachelors degree". Such a search most certainly does not return "truck driver" as a good fit.

 

[grandpa2390]

I'm a mechanical engineer. I wanted to be an aerospace engineer, since I was about 8 and figured out what it was. For years when I was a kid my parents tried to talk me out of it because it is too narrow. For better or worse I washed out of it and landed in mechanical engineering because they are related.

The biggest problem for a generalist is accepting that you are a generalist and being decisive about it. I still had a bit of a dream of working in aerospace, but what I decided I wanted most was a life, which meant moving out of my parents house and buying a few key items -- a telescope in particular -- to live the lifestyle I wanted. For that I needed a job. Any quality job would do. So I didn't just apply for mechanical engineering jobs at aerospace companies, I applied for every mechanical engineering job and even non-specific tech-sounding job in a 50 mile radius of Philadelphia that I met the qualifications for. I also applied for jobs that didn't exist. Overall, hundreds in the course of the 2+ months it took to land a job. I got four interviews and three offers and I evaluated the job as a job and career to make my decision. Because I correctly predicted that as long as it was technical it would keep my interest and had a career path it would provide for me what I wanted for a lifestyle.

It's worked out quite well.

The first sentence of your OP says this:

This is nonsense. Beyond nonsense - it's absurd. Those jobs aren't even a good fit. Either you're doing something wrong in the way you search (probably) or the apps are terrible (maybe). Back when Monster was new and people still looked at newspapers, people didn't type "physicist bachelors" into a search engine, you could look at job listings that said something like "any science, engineering or technical bachelors degree". Such a search most certainly does not return "truck driver" as a good fit.

What I was doing was just looking at anything and everything within a certain mile radius. I didn't want to narrow my search down too hard because I might miss something and indeed those were the results when I posted. and looking on the government run job board, that is still the majority of jobs posted. I just search "bachelor" now. and that gives me only jobs that require a bachelor's degree. which excludes jobs like truck driving. mostly stuff like teaching, teaching in china. medical careers, insurance etc. different things, but not much that I think I qualify for. Maybe I ought to just apply and let them decide whether I'm qualified?

Maybe I'm underestimating myself, and my skills, or overestimating these positions?

that's what my post was about. What should I be searching for? what keywords should I be punching in. because if I just look at everything, then there's nothing. and when I type in keywords like physics or bachelor, i might be missing out on jobs that I could do.

one thing I don't like about the apps, is that they don't seem to allow to exclude results. like if I type into google jobs -sales. you know what. that does. that doesn't seem to work in job search boards.

 

[russ_watters]

What I was doing was just looking at anything and everything within a certain mile radius.

So, how many miles and in what area?* It would require an extremely narrow search in an extremely poor area to yield "truck driver" as the top option you qualify for.

...notwithstanding the fact that you are not qualified to be a CDL truck driver of course. You could potentially get a CDL job that includes training if they are desperate (I think many are), but the only actual job you'd currently be qualified for in truck driving would be delivery truck driver. You could pick a random block of mostly abandoned buildings in Detroit as your search area and find a delivery driver job that literally anyone can do. I certainly hope you are casting a better net than that!

I didn't want to narrow my search down too hard because I might miss something and indeed those were the results when I posted. and looking on the government run job board, that is still the majority of jobs posted. I just search "bachelor" now. and that gives me only jobs that require a bachelor's degree. which excludes jobs like truck driving. mostly stuff like teaching, teaching in china. medical careers, insurance etc. different things, but not much that I think I qualify for. Maybe I ought to just apply and let them decide whether I'm qualified?

Maybe I'm underestimating myself, and my skills, or overestimating these positions?

Huh? I entered "bachelor" into Zip Recruiter's main search and got 12,000 jobs in a 25 mile radius of me (default distance)*. I looked at the first two pages; some were teachers, but none were in China. I see two or three on the first two pages (of 10) that are quality jobs. I'm having a really hard time processing how you could be having so much trouble with this.

Maybe I'm underestimating myself, and my skills, or overestimating these positions?

that's what my post was about. What should I be searching for? what keywords should I be punching in. because if I just look at everything, then there's nothing. and when I type in keywords like physics or bachelor, i might be missing out on jobs that I could do.

one thing I don't like about the apps, is that they don't seem to allow to exclude results. like if I type into google jobs -sales. you know what. that does. that doesn't seem to work in job search boards.

I'm really having a hard time here figuring out why you are having such a hard time. Even if you cast a ridiculously wide net by just typing "bachelor" and nothing else, you can still go through probably 10 listings a minute to screen them yourself. In an hour you can screen several hundred and in a week you can screen all 12,000. I don't mean to be condescending here, but do we need to walk you through how to use a search engine? I guess I'm willing to take a quick swing at it if it is really necessary...

...though it doesn't really speak well of a science graduate's resourcefulness. Maybe you need to learn about the job of finding a job. A book that helped me was "what color is your parachute".

*Oh, New Orleans. Only moderately better than Detroit and only 2,500 jobs that just say "bachelor". Are you willing to move in order to increase your chances of finding a quality job by a factor of 50?

Here's one useful tip if you aren't aware: the qualifications are a wishlist. With unemployment near its theoretical minimum, companies are desperate to fill vacancies. Many jobs that "requires" up to 5 years experience may hire a quality applicant with zero.

...and another: Get business cards. My first boss was impressed by mine and even though they are starting to go away they are still a great "hook".

 

[grandpa2390]

So, how many miles and in what area? It would require an extremely narrow search in an extremely poor area to yield "truck driver" as the top option you qualify for.

...notwithstanding the fact that you are not qualified to be a CDL truck driver of course. You could potentially get a CDL job that includes training if they are desperate (I think many are), but the only actual job you'd currently be qualified for in truck driving would be delivery truck driver. You could pick a random block of mostly abandoned buildings in Detroit as your search area and find a delivery driver job that literally anyone can do. I certainly hope you are casting a better net than that!

i don't want to be a truck driver, and I don't live in Detroit.

Huh? I entered "bachelor" into Zip Recruiter's main search and got 12,000 jobs in a 25 mile radius of me (default distance). I looked at the first two pages; some were teachers, but none were in China. I see two or three on the first two pages (of 10) that are quality jobs. I'm having a really hard time processing how you could be having so much trouble with this.

I'm really having a hard time here figuring out why you are having such a hard time. Even if you cast a ridiculously wide net by just typing "bachelor" and nothing else, you can still go through probably 10 listings a minute to screen them yourself. In an hour you can screen several hundred and in a week you can screen all 12,000.

Well I did post that a month ago, and search results change over time and location. ziprecruiter results also factor in your background and previous search histories/applications. At least that is my theory. the original post was a month ago when I was looking at teaching positions. And the majority of my background is in Sales (retail, automobiles) and Education (tutoring, substitute teaching, etc) Things have changed. Right now at this moment, I'm not seeing many teaching jobs at all.
Mostly Project Managers/Coordinators/Schedulers/Engineers, Engineers, Customer Service, Software Developers, etc. is what is mostly coming up tonight on Ziprecruiter. Probably because I haven't applied to teaching positions in a few weeks... Earlier today at the top of the list was career china jobs (sponsored). but I already scrolled through them this morning so they aren't showing up anymore. Truck driving jobs were extremely popular in my results at one time because I spent a long time searching for "operator" positions. I live in an area with lots of industry, and I am overqualified to be an operator(according to Shell). unfortunately, operator also appears in truck driving jobs as "owner operator". took a bit of time for ziprecruiter to decide I was no longer interested in being an operator, so now I see those jobs less frequently.

But this is besides the point. I go through all of them the way you describe. and then, on indeed, since I've caught up, I just log in once a day and see the new job posts for every search I've done. and so eventually I stop seeing the same ones over and over. There's no need to get heated or confused over something I said a month ago. It was true then, it is no longer true now. I was just wondering what you did, I didn't mean to start a fuss over job searching.

 

[russ_watters]

i don't want to be a truck driver, and I don't live in Detroit.

This doesn't have anything to do with what you were responding to, so I'm having trouble telling if this response is serious or not. To be perfectly clear; I'm sincerely trying to help. Can you please clarify if this response was intended as a joke or a serious response.

 

[grandpa2390]

This doesn't have anything to do with what you were responding to, so I'm having trouble telling if this response is serious or not. To be perfectly clear; I'm sincerely trying to help. Can you please clarify if this response was intended as a joke or a serious response.

that was a serious response. With the level of detail you gave, I thought you were seriously trying to inform me that I was not qualified to drive a rig. As for Detroit, I wasn't certain if you were being literal or figurative. if you were saying I could find that kind of job anywhere in Detroit (because you thought I lived there) and hoped I cast a better net than that, or if you were saying I could find that job even in the most random poor locations. In the context that I thought you were seriously trying to inform me that I was unqualified to drive a truck, I decided I would go with the former interpretation. I apologize for misunderstanding.

 

[russ_watters]

that was a serious response. With the level of detail you gave, I thought you were seriously trying to inform me that I was not qualified to drive a rig. As for Detroit, I wasn't certain if you were being literal or figurative. if you were saying I could find that kind of job anywhere in Detroit (because you thought I lived there) and hoped I cast a better net than that, or if you were saying I could find that job even in the most random poor locations. In the context that I thought you were seriously trying to inform me that I was unqualified to drive a truck, I decided I would go with the former interpretation. I apologize for misunderstanding.
[emphasis added]

Yes, it was an extreme hypothetical in response to an - intentional or not - absurd premise. You basically said "this is the best I can do with my situation" when in reality the example you gave was basically the worst you could do with any situation. Your own example had nothing to do with your situation and my example was an attempt to amplify that to show you that it had nothing to do with your situation.

To focus more: I'm still not certain if the truck driving example in original post was intended to be serious, but based on your previous post I believe you were. If I search for "operator" and I get "truck driver" I would consider that a failed search that is unworthy of mention, not a surprising match that is worthy of top billing. ...I've now actually done that search and I see that "operator" yields only blue collar results, and certainly is a failed search that should have been unworthy of mention.

 

[russ_watters]

Entering "Bachelor science" yields 600+ in the New Orleans area and this is the third hit:
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/jobs/dxc-technology-c88345ef/data-scientist-entry-level-early-career-51154411-3d1cf35f

Data Scientist Entry Level/ Early Career 51154411
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/c/DXC-Technology/Jobs New Orleans, LA, USA
Benefits Offered
401K, Dental, Medical, Vision
Employment Type
Full-Time

DXC Technology seeks a Data Scientist Entry Level/ Early Career.

SKILLS:

• Prefer Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Math or related field.
• 0-2 years’ practical experience with SAS, ETL, Data Processing, Database Programming and Data Analytics or related education

 

[grandpa2390]

Yes, it was an extreme hypothetical in response to an - intentional or not - absurd premise. You basically said "this is the best I can do with my situation" when in reality the example you gave was basically the worst you could do with any situation. Your own example had nothing to do with your situation and my example was an attempt to amplify that to show you that it had nothing to do with your situation.

To focus more: I'm still not certain if the truck driving example in original post was intended to be serious, but based on your previous post I believe you were. If I search for "operator" and I get "truck driver" I would consider that a failed search that is unworthy of mention, not a surprising match that is worthy of top billing. ...I've now actually done that search and I see that "operator" yields only blue collar results, and certainly is a failed search that should have been unworthy of mention.

Well I'll take a blue collar job if I have to. I haven't applied for Process Operator jobs in awhile, but I saw one listed on Indeed and went ahead and applied. At this point, I don't consider myself worthy of too much. I think I agree with everyone who said, I failed out of school, my degree is worthless.

Entering "Bachelor science" yields 600+ in the New Orleans area and this is the third hit:
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/jobs/dxc-technology-c88345ef/data-scientist-entry-level-early-career-51154411-3d1cf35f

That's my third result too. I don't qualify for that position yet, though. I have to learn Python and a few other things like Doc Courtney recommended.

 

[grandpa2390]

@russ_watters I wouldn't mind that meteorology job. I love meteorology. But they want a tv meteorologist.

edit: well thanks for your help. I need to turn in. Once I learn a bit of programming, it looks like more doors will open to me.

 

[Zap]

You need coding experience to go into data analytics. My one semester of Python and comp physics isn't enough. I'm trying to get myself started on projects and volunteering to help post docs and other students with their coding projects, but without much coding experience, I don't know if I'll be of any help or if I'll be able to learn enough. I still think focusing on coding is a good idea, but I don't know if I can learn as much as I need in order to actually land a job related to it. It's worth a try, though.

You can easily give yourself a data project. I chose scraping this site and doing analysis on it: https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_executed_offenders.html

We can analyze their age, race, location and whatever along with their actual statements. So far I haven't been able to develop a web crawler to scrape the data to begin the analysis.

Your adviser was good to steer you away from the PhD. I heard nothing but take the GRE and apply to a PhD program during my senior year. Graduate school is hard for a lot of reasons. I will not go into it, but an MS in a professional program might be worth it.

I'm also looking into teaching English overseas. The programs don't seem very hard to get into. They don't pay very much, but imoving far away and having an experience abroad also sounds nice. You may end up teaching in the rural or poor areas, though.

You could also apply to be an officer in the military. They make pretty good money. It might be something worth looking into. Officer programs tend to be selective, though. You could enlist as an E4, instead, but it's like a 10 grand difference in base pay.

It's tough for a lot of people when they graduate. I know a mechanical engineer who spent 7 months looking for work before he found his first professional job. That's pretty insane. My roommate, who also has an engineering degree, took about a year to find his first job. It happens, but we can't give up. You took calculus and differential equations. You stayed up to 5:00 am and somehow woke up at 6:00 to take a test that destroyed three quarters of biology student's dreams of going to medical school, and you got an A. That was me, but whatever. School wasn't easy. You didn't give up then. You can't give up now.

 

[Zap]

You don't have to go to China to teach English. You can go to South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands and other places. I'm not sure why China is so popular, but you can go to many other places. My sister taught English in Vietnam. According to her, life is better outside of the US. I don't think I'll ever see her again.

 

[StatGuy2000]

It's tough for a lot of people when they graduate. I know a mechanical engineer who spent 7 months looking for work before he found his first professional job. That's pretty insane. My roommate, who also has an engineering degree, took about a year to find his first job. It happens, but we can't give up. You took calculus and differential equations. You stayed up to 5:00 am and somehow woke up at 6:00 to take a test that destroyed three quarters of biology student's dreams of going to medical school, and you got an A. That was me, but whatever. School wasn't easy. You didn't give up then. You can't give up now.

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that your roommate took a year to find his first job. Did your roommate not have any work experience? All of the engineering graduates in my alma mater (University of Toronto) all had jobs available to them upon graduation (either in Canada or in the US, where many Canadian graduates head to). And this wasn't restricted to just my alma mater -- graduates of other engineering schools in my home province were able to find employment either immediately upon graduation or at most a month after graduation.

Did your roommate not have any work or internship experience? It's very common for engineering students to have completed at least 1 (and often multiple) internships while studying, and many engineering schools have co-op programs to offer students work experience. Some engineering schools require all their students to complete co-op.

 

[gleem]

According to US News and World Report the unemployment rate for mechanical engineers is 1.6%. By most measures this is outstanding. It seems that we react to anecdotal information more negatively than data would suggest. If 9 or even 8 grads out of 10 find a job in ME that would seem to me that the odds are pretty good if you finish with a good GPA and follow the recommend norms for preparing for a job like internships or coops.or just looking intelligently into what is happening in the field and customizing your curriculum to best meet the qualifications for you chosen interest.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are about 291,000 MEs and that employment is expected to increase 9% per year into 2026. Since about 26,000 MEs graduate each year it would seem that their should be no lack of opportunities for most well prepared new grads.

 

[Zap]

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that your roommate took a year to find his first job. Did your roommate not have any work experience? All of the engineering graduates in my alma mater (University of Toronto) all had jobs available to them upon graduation (either in Canada or in the US, where many Canadian graduates head to). And this wasn't restricted to just my alma mater -- graduates of other engineering schools in my home province were able to find employment either immediately upon graduation or at most a month after graduation.

Did your roommate not have any work or internship experience? It's very common for engineering students to have completed at least 1 (and often multiple) internships while studying, and many engineering schools have co-op programs to offer students work experience. Some engineering schools require all their students to complete co-op.

There are a lot of factors. My roommate was a full time server at a restaurant and only had a little engineering experience he got from volunteering one summer. His GPA was not that great, either. It was a 3.0. He also got an engineering technology degree instead of a mechanical engineering degree. The dude just wanted to do autoCAD design, anyway, which he did a lot of in his free time. He still was able to find a job in Dallas, though, which is way better than what I found during that same year. I don't base my experiences off of statistics I find on the web.

As far as the other dude, he did get a mechanical engineering degree, and he told me it took him 7 months to find a job. I don't know much about him. I brought this up to help OP out with his feelings of inadequacy. Even people with degrees that are high in demand can have trouble finding work after they graduate. Of course, I also know engineers who were hired months before they graduated for like 80 grand a year at Raytheon, which is probably more money than I'll ever see in my life, but I didn't bring that up, because that doesn't help our comrade over here.

 

[Vanadium 50]

My roommate, who also has an engineering degree, took about a year to find his first job.

He also got an engineering technology degree instead of a mechanical engineering degree.

That's why. "Engineering technology" degrees are different from "engineering" degrees.

 

[Zap]

Yes, but it's still a professional degree, and it has engineering in the title, and everyone loves engineering. But, the point is, he found a job in exactly what he wanted to do. It just took him awhile.

He was actually flown to Texas for an interview at Lockheed Martin at one point, though, which is insane. That was shortly after he graduated. So, people at Lockheed Martin were interested enough in his engineering technology degree to spend hundreds of dollars to fly him out for an interview, despite not hiring him. That's still pretty amazing. I think he made like a hundred dollars off of it, because they gave him money for all the expenses. How crazy is that? It's amazing to me that a company would spend hundreds of dollars just to interview someone. That degree, restaurant experience and 3.0 GPA must have impressed someone over there.

 

[Dr Transport]

He was actually flown to Texas for an interview at Lockheed Martin at one point, though, which is insane. That was shortly after he graduated. So, people at Lockheed Martin were interested enough in his engineering technology degree to spend hundreds of dollars to fly him out for an interview, despite not hiring him. That's still pretty amazing. I think he made like a hundred dollars off of it, because they gave him money for all the expenses. How crazy is that? It's amazing to me that a company would spend hundreds of dollars just to interview someone. That degree, restaurant experience and 3.0 GPA must have impressed someone over there.

Not out of the ordinary in industry, I flew back and forth to Fort Worth to interview with Lockheed-Martin 3 times before getting an offer, but I am a senior hire, not a fresh, ink still wet on my diploma individual.

 

[gleem]

He looked good on paper. Where many people fail is in the interview. When you look to fill a position you have to talk to the individual to see if you expectations and the candidates are aligned as well as assess the candidate's probability of fitting into the corporate culture and checkout if what he claims in his resume is what you had supposed. LM is a $80 B company spending a few hundred dollars to assure you have a winner is real small potatoes What makes the difference between those hire and those not ? It could be not answering a technical question to the satisfaction of the interviewer or even unpolished shoes.

 

[Dr Transport]

He looked good on paper. Where many people fail is in the interview. When you look to fill a position you have to talk to the individual to see if you expectations and the candidates are aligned as well as assess the candidate's probability of fitting into the corporate culture and checkout if what he claims in his resume is what you had supposed. LM is a $80 B company spending a few hundred dollars to assure you have a winner is real small potatoes What makes the difference between those hire and those not ? It could be not answering a technical question to the satisfaction of the interviewer or even unpolished shoes.

True, your manager hires you, but the group you are going to work for/with also talks to you and if they don't want you, management won't over rule them. Now it is all about fitting into the culture and working well with your co-workers.

 

[russ_watters]

Yes, but it's still a professional degree, and it has engineering in the title...

Actually, it probably isn't. "Engineering" is the modifier here: "technology" is the degree. As opposed to "electrical engineering", where "electrical" is the type of engineering. Most such degrees are not ABET accredited. They are not engineering degrees.

I sure hope your friend didn't think that because it has "engineering" in the title, it is an engineering degree. That's an expensive mistake and not one employers will make.

 

[grandpa2390]

There are a lot of factors. My roommate was a full time server at a restaurant and only had a little engineering experience he got from volunteering one summer. His GPA was not that great, either. It was a 3.0. He also got an engineering technology degree instead of a mechanical engineering degree. The dude just wanted to do autoCAD design, anyway, which he did a lot of in his free time. He still was able to find a job in Dallas, though, which is way better than what I found during that same year. I don't base my experiences off of statistics I find on the web.

As far as the other dude, he did get a mechanical engineering degree, and he told me it took him 7 months to find a job. I don't know much about him. I brought this up to help OP out with his feelings of inadequacy. Even people with degrees that are high in demand can have trouble finding work after they graduate. Of course, I also know engineers who were hired months before they graduated for like 80 grand a year at Raytheon, which is probably more money than I'll ever see in my life, but I didn't bring that up, because that doesn't help our comrade over here.

You're right. I've only been out of school for a month and haven't applied to much because of "feelings of inadequacy" and I was expecting to have started teaching high school math by now, but the school that I want (and wants me) couldn't find a spot for me as quickly as hoped.
I need to start applying for jobs, I'm probably more adequate than I think, especially once I figure out how to program.

I got a text from Revature offering an interview. I'm still trying to figure out what they do, but it appears to be a company that will apparently train me to program before putting me to work. That sounds great; I'm just a bit nervous about some of the things I've read. Some people say you have to sign a 2 year contract with a $19k penalty if you quit before the end of your contract. I understand completely why they would want you to sign a contract that penalizes you for quitting, but 2 years is a long time for $19k when I'm not sure what I'll be doing after training or if I'll be forced to move someplace and pay rent when I already have a place... I think they hire you out to other companies, and that sounds great as long as I'm working for at least a bit more than minimum wage and can stay in New Orleans (or make enough to justify leaving New Orleans, I can't take anymore debt).

I'm going to give them a call back tomorrow and see what I can learn from them.

I'm also curious about this listing I saw online. https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=14d1a3de3ce676df&tk=1d2tpksata452802&from=vjnewtab
This looks like something I'm qualified to do. I'm just afraid to apply because, again, I'm still trying to figure out what they do there (beyond "handle payments" for construction companies). For a lot of these jobs, sometimes it's not so much whether or not I am qualified. It's about I have no clue what the day-to-day work is, so I don't know if it is something I can do, and I'm afraid I'm going to put myself in a situation where I will be either miserable or get fired.

Maybe I could do engineering work. I don't know because it is difficult for me to find what typical engineers actually do day-to-day. Some, or many, engineers design things... but then I talk to engineers who make it sound like they do pretty much nothing (what does that mean?), and during my internship at Air Products, the young engineer didn't really do anything. I believe the one thing he did was, the water from the cooling tower was being ejected into the pond reservoir at too high of a pressure. Something like that, it's been awhile. So he had to design something to reduce the pressure coming out of the tower. and he did this by putting a cap on the end of the flow pipe that had holes drilled into it that he had calculated would create the desired pressure drop.
I mean, I could do that without problem. between my Physics education, and the practical education I received from my Industrial Technology (PTEC) degree. I even still have my fluids textbook "Flow of Fluids" by Crane. Which is like a reference book for engineers (contains experimental data rather than just theory) and spells out pretty much everything you need to know about the flow of fluids. (at least from a practical, "I've already learned the theory, now I just need a reference book to remind me how to do calculations and what the pressure drop a 90 creates" perspective)

I don't know. I haven't been applying enough or long enough to start complaining yet about how long it's taking me to find work. None of these listings (except the fortune 500 companies) seem to even care about GPA, I'm just disqualifying myself from a lot of posts because of uncertainty, fear of the unknown, and I guess, possibly, a fear of failure.

 

[grandpa2390]

in the job listing https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=14d1a3de3ce676df&tk=1d2tpksata452802&from=vjnewtab
they have

** Only applications with the domain “www.realquest.com" added in the “Website, blog, or portfolio:” field of the job application will be considered

Why is the company requiring that domain be added to the job application? What is the purpose?

Maybe it is just a test to see if you can follow simple instructions?

 

[Zap]

Sounds like you have more applicable skills than you give yourself credit for.

 

[grandpa2390]

Sounds like you have more applicable skills than you give yourself credit for.

I don't know. His project was easy. But then I think about the projects engineers must be doing in larger industries. The engineers designing electronics, transportation, etc. I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm sure there is something in those projects I am capable of doing. But I don't know. I feel like there is probably not enough I'd be capable of to justify my existence. lol.

 

[Dr Transport]

I don't know. His project was easy. But then I think about the projects engineers must be doing in larger industries. The engineers designing electronics, transportation, etc. I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm sure there is something in those projects I am capable of doing. But I don't know. I feel like there is probably not enough I'd be capable of to justify my existence. lol.

Realize, that in industry, you are not the only one working on a major project like that, but one of a team. There is no way a company is going to let a new hire with minimal experience do an entire design project.

 

[Zap]

Having a physics degree shows you are capable of doing a lot of things. You just need to get your foot through the door, so to speak. A recruiter once told me that it really doesn't matter what degree or experience you have. Everyone we hire has no idea what they are doing. We have to train them. Most recruiters don't have that attitude, but if you look around, most people coming out with a Bachelor's degree aren't really qualified to do anything in particular, even with a magical engineering degree, unless they were lucky enough to get into an internship that provided them with professional experience in exactly the position they are applying for.

Half of university is just relearning what you were suppose to learn in High School by forcing you to take English, History, Psychology, Remedial Math, General Studies and etcetera. Then you actually take one or two classes in areas you could potentially specialize in, and that's it. Fifty grand down the toilet. Here's your 30 dollar piece of paper. Congratulations. That is the case no matter what degree you get. It just happens to be, for some reason, that the economy prefers those with engineering degrees. Some engineers might try to blow a bunch of smoke up your arse about why their degree makes them more qualified for jobs, but it's crap. It's not your fault that this is the way the economy is. You're still a capable person who can bring value to the world.

 

[gleem]

Have you checked out Zlien's website? They a file mechanics liens on property for craftsmen who where not paid after the job was finished.

 

[Zap]

Actually what I just described might be unique to physics, but even if you majored in electrical engineering, you would take just a few classes in computer engineering, a few classes in circuits, a few classes in signal processing, a few classes in semiconductor stuff and then probably your choice of a few extra random classes in the department.

But, whatever. You shouldn't need a PhD and 8 years of experience just to enter the workforce.

 

[grandpa2390]

Have you checked out Zlien's website? They a file mechanics liens on property for craftsmen who where not paid after the job was finished.

Is that what they do? What exactly does that mean? I thought they handled payments for construction companies (craftsmen I guess).

I got on the other day to apply. I finally said, "let's do it. I tried other jobs before that didn't work out, what's one more?" and the post had closed... :( I'm going to keep my eyes on them. They look like a friendly bunch.@Zap I tell you, if there is one thing my resume proves, its that I am a jack of all trades type of person. I've done a variety of things now.

I'm going through python lessons on Codecademy. I think that's going pretty well. I mean already pretty much know how to do most of this so far because I took introduction to C++ in college, and java in high school. and, as everyone says, its pretty much same once you learn one. So I'm going through the lessons waiting for the scarier stuff to come that I've never learned before. the kind of stuff that takes you from making text based apps to apps with GUIs. I would love to be able to make apps. I get so frustrated when I'm on the app store looking for an app to do something that I want that doesn't exist.

and I find an app that does something similar, and I start conversing with its creator trying to convince him to add all the features that an app of its kind needs. Would be nice to be able to just make it myself.