Graduating with a BA in physics, options?

[RasslinGod]

Lol physics department websites need to have a boldface warning stating that you can't get a job.

Anyone regret majoring in physics?? I am still earlyin my career and still taking lower division math and physics ,so i still might change.

 

[Asphodel]

Anyone regret majoring in physics?

Nope. I'm doing this for my own enjoyment. I could already be making 30k a year fairly easily, and I'm picking up enough stuff on the side (double major, electives) that I don't have to care what the physics job market is like when I graduate. Physics majors all think they're so smart, okay, so plan ahead instead of whining about your career prospects. Make your own damn road if you don't like the one you're on already.

/rant

 

[cristo]

Lol physics department websites need to have a boldface warning stating that you can't get a job.

But then so should every other department, as all departments graduate people who then don't find a job. I agree with what Integral said: it depends upon your personality and ability to sell yourself. Of course, if you graduate and then expect someone to come running up to you offering you a job, then you'll be in for a rude awakening, but if you apply for jobs, and tailor your applications to make the most of the skills you have acquired, then there should be no reason for having no job.

In fact, of all the people I know who graduated with physics/maths/engineering degrees, it's the chemical engineer that had the hardest time finding a job.

 

[Mororvia]

Anyone regret majoring in physics?? I am still earlyin my career and still taking lower division math and physics ,so i still might change.

I don't regret it. But I also knew about the job prospects before I was done. I actually started my undergraduate career as an engineering major. The engineering college had GPA standards that I didn't meet by my junior year so I had to change majors. I figured physics was the next best thing. Now I have a Masters degree in physics and will be starting a career not directly related to physics.

As for changing your major, I can't really add more than what has already been said. I don't think one should change just because of job prospects. Sure, you probably won't get a physics related job with just a BS (and maybe not MS either), but if its something you enjoy go for it. If you find an area of engineering to be of interest to you then by all means go ahead.

Try to take advantage of summer research programs. That could also be a good way to gain some skills and probably get paid to do so too! Good luck in whatever decision you make.

Good luck to fizziks too. Job hunting is never fun hehe.

 

[ice109]

so what kind of engineering class should a physics major be taking if they want to be more marketable?

 

[Asphodel]

so what kind of engineering class should a physics major be taking if they want to be more marketable?

There's no single answer to that, it depends on your goals and in the end comes down to you marketing yourself. A popular option seems to be taking some solid state physics courses and tossing some EE into the mix. There aren't really any wrong choices, either, but generally you want to become as skilled in the area you want to work in as possible.

 

[fizziks]

Applied to 9 jobs today. Personally wrote each cover letter and resume for each one. It's a pain, since I don't want to have a general resume. I'm nice enough to cater each resume and cover letter to each company/government sector I apply.

 

[Mororvia]

so what kind of engineering class should a physics major be taking if they want to be more marketable?

Basically any course where you would learn SKILLS. This means programming, electronics, CAD, experimental skills like making thin films, etc.

 

[RasslinGod]

But remember if ur not a engineering major, but are competing against some engineering majors, u should be pretty good and better than the engineering major. It's a tough battle, but winnable.

 

[arunma]

Anyone regret majoring in physics?? I am still earlyin my career and still taking lower division math and physics ,so i still might change.

Hmm...that's an interesting question. There are days when I wish that I had majored in theology, and others when I wish I had done pre-med (actually I still haven't closed the door on either option). But if I'd done that I wouldn't have come any closer to satisfying that pesky physics lust we talked about earlier. If I could go back to high school and somehow prevent myself from ever looking at physics and developing the curiosity in the first place, I'd probably do it. But I was already hooked on physics by freshman year. So in some perverse sense, I'm happy being a physics grad student.

Sounds pretty messed up, huh?

 

[Cyrus]

Note* You will not like my response, but I can't lie to your face.

I would seek another degree in engineering. Your GPA is woeful at best. Below a B average shows me you had no interest in what you studied, or you did not take it seriously. As a grad school or an employer, I would not hire you. If I were in your shoes, I would never expect to get any job in physics unless you know some people in very high positions at a company. Working in engineering deals with products or services that can cost people their lives and companies millions of dollars. They are not going to hire the very worst to do this kind of work for them.

So, go back, study hard, get a 4.0 in engineering, and get a job. All my friends have jobs before they graduated at engineering companies making anywhere from 55-80k starting salary as undergrads. You will probably be able to transfer your lower credits, which means you only have to take around 30 credits ~2 years to get an engineering degree. Not that long considering your other options, welfare. If you have no money, you can try the military also. -The alternatives are not so nice, are they? I honestly hope you don't have student loans.

 

[arunma]

Note* You will not like my response, but I can't lie to your face.

I would seek another degree in engineering. Your GPA is woeful at best. Below a B average shows me you had no interest in what you studied, or you did not take it seriously. As a grad school or an employer, I would not hire you. If I were in your shoes, I would never expect to get any job in physics unless you know some people in very high positions at a company. Working in engineering deals with products or services that can cost people their lives and companies millions of dollars. They are not going to hire the very worst to do this kind of work for them.

So, go back, study hard, get a 4.0 in engineering, and get a job. All my friends have jobs before they graduated at engineering companies making anywhere from 55-80k starting salary as undergrads. You will probably be able to transfer your lower credits, which means you only have to take around 30 credits ~2 years to get an engineering degree. Not that long considering your other options, welfare. If you have no money, you can try the military also. -The alternatives are not so nice, are they? I honestly hope you don't have student loans.

Honest...but sadly true. Most companies require a minimum GPA of 3.0 before they'll consider you. At least that was the case with the companies I applied to. GPA tends to matter only for your first job (from what I've heard), so I suppose that if you could get your foot in the door at an engineering firm, your GPA might not follow you for the rest of your life. But anyway, Cyrus is right.

 

[Cyrus]

I wish I were wrong. He seems like a nice enough guy.

 

[RasslinGod]

I know the feeling Arunma. it's not weird at all. PHYSICS IS JUST WAY TOO AWESOME (for the lack of a better phrase). B4 i decided to do physics, i actually finished ALL of the pre-med reqs. I took the 2nd semester of physics for med skool, and i loved it, and now i am starting a whole new major.

Oh well, we might not be so well employed or rich, but we know how the universe works. Lol maybe we can apply for welfare or unemployment benefits while we search for jobs.
I understand ur feelings fizzicks. I too come from poverty, an immigrant family. We did apply for welfare starting out here. Would be funny if i got a college education to end up just liek my parents lol.

 

[Defennder]

So, go back, study hard, get a 4.0 in engineering, and get a job.

Are you kidding? Are you implying you can't get hired as an engineer unless you have 4.0 GPA (assuming 5 pt GPA)? You know, Cyrus I hope you mean well, but your "advice" tantamounts to telling someone who has dropped out of high school to go back and top his class before he can get into college. I know of people personally who, in their 2nd year failed about 4 out of 5 classes and yet were still hired as research engineers. I don't know their GPA, but it can't be that every single one of them got 4.0 or above.

 

[Cyrus]

I mean 4.0 on 4.0 scale, and I was not kidding. Getting below a 2.0 means you got a C or less in almost all your classes. What I said was go back and get another degree and get all A's. Its possible.

 

[gravenewworld]

I'm graduating in a week with a BA in physics and a 2.51 GPA (WOOT!11) Yeah, well I didn't do so well in chemistry and some other general courses which caused me to switch majors several times. It looks like I'll be denied every job that asks for my GPA.

Well, anyways, I feel I don't have much options at the moment. I barely have any major/study-related work experience besides part time jobs I took to help pay my bills in college. I've had all these people and advisers telling me the flexibility of a physics degree... well, my degree isn't so "flexible", as I went on a 2 month job hunt on the internet and through connections and came up empty handed.

It feels I should of switched to an engineering degree as those seem to be so high in demand. Can anyone recommend me specific what companies hire people like me? Do those companies even exist?

Also, can anyone recommend some options/steps to take? I have a feeling I'll be unemployed for the next few months and will soon have to go on welfare or just live off my parents... which is the last thing I want to do.

That's one of your problems right there. Too many people expect to find jobs by only applying and looking over the internet. One of my friends just moved out to San Diego and search for several weeks on the internet for a job and couldn't find any. Finally he just resorted to calling up companies directly through the phone book and asked for jobs. He eventually landed a pretty sweet engineering gig by using that method.
Also consider some non-STEM jobs. Take some finance or economics courses to broaden your horizon. You could easily attend grad school in econ or finance with a physics degree and just a few econ or finance classes under your belt because in those fields they love to take people who have excellent analytical skills in grad school regardless if they have an undergrad degree in finance or econ. Finding a job in those fields is also much easier. Also, even with an undergrad degree in physics and a few business/econ classes you would could easily apply for financial positions. MANY MANY financial companies out there have job positions that they want filled by people majoring in math, engineering, or physics.

 

[Locrian]

To follow up on what gravenewworld just wrote,

Let's list the TOP THREE WORST WAYS TO FIND A JOB:

Number Three: Going to job fairs

Congrats, the only people who are there are HR reps (your worst enemy in the job hunt) from companies that weren't able to find employees other ways. Look closer and you'll see a third of the jobs are government and a third are sales. At least you get some face time. . . along with two hundred other people.

Number Two: Sending out resumes

Once again, you'll be stymied by that evil of evils, the HR department. Guess what, all that time you spent writing the perfect cover letter and formatting your resume goes straight into the trash - as will your cover letter and resume after essential information is scanned or typed into the computer system. No one who matters will ever see what you wrote, and you are now data in a system. Best of luck!

Number One: Sending out resumes. . . on the internet

Wow, everything that sucks about sending out paper resumes, except now you're buried even farther in the (mis)information highway, the companies are even less interested in what you wrote, and you've made yourself a target for scammers to boot. Enjoy!

If these were the methods you used to look for a job and you failed, don't feel bad. Lots of other people make the same tremendous mistake. Now you get to go check out no less than three different books from your library on how to actually get a job, read them, and try try again.

 

[fizziks]

Not ALL companies do the above when you apply online. I did get some personal response from several companies stating I didn't meet the requirements or the position was just filled.

The majority of my responses were the lack of experience I had. I also noted that I looked for jobs through networking or connections.

 

[animalcroc]

That's one of your problems right there. Too many people expect to find jobs by only applying and looking over the internet. One of my friends just moved out to San Diego and search for several weeks on the internet for a job and couldn't find any. Finally he just resorted to calling up companies directly through the phone book and asked for jobs. He eventually landed a pretty sweet engineering gig by using that method.



Also consider some non-STEM jobs. Take some finance or economics courses to broaden your horizon. You could easily attend grad school in econ or finance with a physics degree and just a few econ or finance classes under your belt because in those fields they love to take people who have excellent analytical skills in grad school regardless if they have an undergrad degree in finance or econ. Finding a job in those fields is also much easier. Also, even with an undergrad degree in physics and a few business/econ classes you would could easily apply for financial positions. MANY MANY financial companies out there have job positions that they want filled by people majoring in math, engineering, or physics.

Those people are better off getting economics or engineering degrees then.

 

[gravenewworld]

Those people are better off getting economics or engineering degrees then.

Not entirely true. If you wanted to go to grad school for econ you would easily be much much better off majoring in mathematics. A physics major could move into the business world without a finance or econ degree. In fact I had a roommate who got a job on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange as an options trader. He had a coworker who majored in physics and got a job doing the same exact thing right out of college all without any degrees in a business field.

 

[MrJB]

Locrian: I had thought this was how you were supposed to get a job. It looks like I've got a bit to learn.

 

[clope023]

To follow up on what gravenewworld just wrote,

Let's list the TOP THREE WORST WAYS TO FIND A JOB:

Number Three: Going to job fairs

Congrats, the only people who are there are HR reps (your worst enemy in the job hunt) from companies that weren't able to find employees other ways. Look closer and you'll see a third of the jobs are government and a third are sales. At least you get some face time. . . along with two hundred other people.

Number Two: Sending out resumes

Once again, you'll be stymied by that evil of evils, the HR department. Guess what, all that time you spent writing the perfect cover letter and formatting your resume goes straight into the trash - as will your cover letter and resume after essential information is scanned or typed into the computer system. No one who matters will ever see what you wrote, and you are now data in a system. Best of luck!

Number One: Sending out resumes. . . on the internet

Wow, everything that sucks about sending out paper resumes, except now you're buried even farther in the (mis)information highway, the companies are even less interested in what you wrote, and you've made yourself a target for scammers to boot. Enjoy!

If these were the methods you used to look for a job and you failed, don't feel bad. Lots of other people make the same tremendous mistake. Now you get to go check out no less than three different books from your library on how to actually get a job, read them, and try try again.

this is what I've been doing and so far it hasn't gotten me anything either, haha.

what do you suggest besides actually going to the companies or calling them then?

 

[fizziks]

Update: So the majority of the jobs I've been applying to were patent researchers/entry-level IT jobs. Nothing yet besides a couple of interviews from local small IT companies that pays 7/hr. My back up plan is to take those min wage jobs and work in them to gain real experience which is related to my major.

I've applied all over the internet. And yes, I've gotten answers from them. For those I didn't get answers, I pretty much ignored them. However some of them, I contacted them directly through the phone. So, the whole myth of applying on the internet, whether through monster.com, craigslist.org, etc isn't true; they don't filter through their applications and ignore the majority of them (as long as you call them about it).

One advice I can give to all job seekers is to be very active. Don't be too strong and call them the next day and everyday right after you send in your application. Give them 5-7 workdays after sending in your application and then contact them about it, unless they contact you beforehand. My strategy here was to contact them once every week until they deny me or ask for an interview.

this is what I've been doing and so far it hasn't gotten me anything either, haha.

what do you suggest besides actually going to the companies or calling them then?

I would agree the Job Fair thing won't get you anywhere. The majority of the recruiters that go to those things don't know jack sh*t about their own companies or what exactly their company needs. My brother went to one in 2007, got a couple of "good recommendations" from the interviewers and was told he should apply for the company for internships. When he did and contacted the companies to recalled their interviews with them, none of them remembered nor cared. It was like the interviews were for nothing besides a "false confidence" booster. (One of them was from nvidia)

A good number of people are hired out of state. There is no need for an in-person interview and a phone interview is usually suffice. The job is not worth it if they will not pay for your hotel accommodations/plane ticket to interview you. Unless you are guaranteed for that position, you have better odds at Vegas with the hotel and plane ticket you can save. I've asked other forums and my professor; they told me that out of state applicants have an equal opportunity and chance as a local in getting a job at XXXX company. But, you have to call the company if you want to get the job/position.

 

[Locrian]

this is what I've been doing and so far it hasn't gotten me anything either, haha.

what do you suggest besides actually going to the companies or calling them then?

I'd suggest going to the library as I suggested and picking up anyone of the many books they have on the subject! You might be able to get the same information probing the internet and in forums like this, but I really doubt it. Central to the process is getting in contact with the people you actually want to work for and with. In a sense, its all about avoiding the HR department like the plague.

 

[mattown]

Hilarious

I'm getting a kick out of these replies because many of you are so wrong on this subject.

I graduated with an astrophysics degree a year ago and it wasn't that difficult to land a job, but then again I wasn't shooting for physics/engineering type positions.

In my last year of undergrad I was employed for a geophysics mineral exploration company and I hated the work. I worked alongside many engineers and that job was the nail in the coffin to me pursuing pure physics. I felt that physics just wasn't the only thing I was good at.

I realized then that the reason I understood physics wasn't that I was good at physics, but rather that I'm the kind of person who when presented with a situation and when presented with certain facts, can draw accurate conclusions and insight. This skill set of mine is not limited to physics and I have since gone in the world of business where this skill goes a long way.

For the past year I've been a research analyst for a consulting firm in the medical device community and it has helped me launch a career in silicon valley. I plan to go into venture capital. I didn't get a 4.0 GPA to get this job, I got it because I sold myself and work hard.

I might also note that I personally know a prominent venture capitalist and he says physics degrees are highly sought after in finance. It is one of the hardest degrees to attain and looks very good on paper.

It really is a good degree, it's just usually those who pursue it (engineer types) generally lack the business acumen or social skills to effectively market themselves. I know this comment might piss some people off but I find it to be generally true.

 

[daveb]

It really is a good degree, it's just usually those who pursue it (engineer types) generally lack the business acumen or social skills to effectively market themselves. I know this comment might piss some people off but I find it to be generally true.

I would tend to agree with this statement. A degree gets your foot in the door in order to show that you have the wherewithal to actually stick with something, as well as certain job-related skills.

In my company we have needed to hire 2 new health phsyicists over the past 6 months. The ones who were offered interviews were offered because they did well over a telephone interview, after a screening of their resume showed they had basic skills necessary for the job (the ability to think critically and write technical papers, which is implied with any science degree). The phone interview is a personality test to see if they will fit in with the department, i.e., they are not overtly shy, which is a detriment in this position since we regularly speak with regulators, as well as other personality traits. Then, on the actual interview, the same applies. For what it's worth, here are the degrees of our health physicist over the past decade or so: physics/math (me), biology, chemitry, biochemistry, health physics, and engineering. We also have a nuclear pharmacy technician with NO college degree. It is all about can you do the job and fit in with who is already working there.

 

[FortranMan]

It's good to know someone else out there has to deal with a BA in physics too. I feel like my stomach gets gutted every time I see a BS requirement for an entry level tech position. Woot for small liberal arts education!

The problems isn't finding a job, but finding a DECENT job. The problem is I'm repeating my parent's road/fate. I grew up with poverty in the U.S. with both my parents making less than $33k a year COMBINED atm.

I'm going back home in a couple weeks. I've already spent 5 years in college with their support only to come back home for more of their support instead of getting a life of my own.

I totally know your shame. Just applied to about 13 graduate programs in physics just to get rejected by almost every single one (the others I guess are just too pretentious to even notify me). Now with the economy going down the **** hole I really don't know what else I'll be able to do, except spending my life asking "Would you like fries with that?" or joining the last true socialist institution (the military).

Right now I'm looking through the unsolicited material I received after taking the GRE, and so far I've gotten stuff referring to that graduate institution's fields in medical physics, electrical engineering, engineering management (?), and even bioengineering management (??). I'm thinking electrical engineering may be the most promising field for me, or at least the one that best correlates with my skill set. I can't imagine how people with majors in physics can land finance jobs (still true now?) with almost no experience in actual finance. Getting a masters to me looks like the best option if I want to keep out of a dead end job and do something I've had experience in and is relevant to my interests. My only obstacle now is overcoming my disenchantment with the graduate application process, and the money problem of course.

As for teaching, which seems to be the job most in demand and with the best job security, I would love to, as long as it's to people who are +18, though I'd prefer +30. It's not that I can't stand kids, it's just that I'm scared of being accused of being a pedo, like being shunned from the school system because of a ****ing pop-up pron add.

Any way, probably the best tip I heard from this thread for applying to a job is calling an organization directly. I actually have experience in phone sifting when looking for webbing material for an experimental tethered balloon system, maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[ks_physicist]

It's good to know someone else out there has to deal with a BA in physics too. I feel like my stomach gets gutted every time I see a BS requirement for an entry level tech position. Woot for small liberal arts education!

Do not let a "BS" requirement stop you from applying. They usually mean "bachelor's degree", and either a BA or BS is valid.

Nobody seems to understand the liberal arts bachelor's in physics. I had one less physics class and one less math class (than a BS), but added a significant minor field (in a different area of interest) and a foreign language.

 

[renob]

It also depends what a person means by a "decent job". If they're talking 60k a year, that's a long shot with no experience and only a bachelor's. However, the company I work for would gladly hire physics majors for between 30k and 40k a year from what I hear.

For what it's worth, my degree was double math/physics (graduated 2003 from UCLA, 3.5 gpa) and I got the job within 2 months of graduating. I had no experience in this field, but I did have work experience having nothing to do with what I do now. Now that I am finishing my master's in nuclear engineering, and once I get certified as a health physicist, I anticipate earning close to 100k a year within a couple of years.

where are you taking nuclear engineering?