Jobs for someone with a Bachelors in Applied Physics

[Xyius]

Hello all!

I will be getting my bachelors in applied physics by this time next year and I was wondering what types of jobs are open to someone with such a degree? I am studying physics, not for financial ease, but simply because I truly love physics. So I am ignorant in the job a Physics major can obtain.

Electromagnetic theory has quickly become my absolute favorite subject of physics and I hope to eventually get a job dealing with this field such as telecommunications. I do not think I have such options at this point due to my lack of higher degrees.

If anyone can offer any advice I would greatly appreciate it. :D

Thanks!

 

[ZapperZ]

Question such as this can't be answered because you neglected to indicate WHERE you are looking for such jobs. You could be the top of your class in, say, Papua New Guinea, but because of the nature of the economy there, you certainly will have a horribly difficult time to find a job in applied physics.

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

Scientific and engineering/technical socirties offer guidance on career opportunities. Most, if not all, have student memberships.

http://www.aps.org/careers/

http://careers.ieee.org/

One may narrow a search by looking in the area of telecommunications.

http://www.comsoc.org/career-center

 

[Xyius]

Question such as this can't be answered because you neglected to indicate WHERE you are looking for such jobs. You could be the top of your class in, say, Papua New Guinea, but because of the nature of the economy there, you certainly will have a horribly difficult time to find a job in applied physics.

Zz.

Sorry, I am obviously showing my ignorance in this subject. I am an american student seeking a job in america.

And thank you Astronuc for the links!

 

[SophusLies]

Electromagnetic theory has quickly become my absolute favorite subject of physics and I hope to eventually get a job dealing with this field such as telecommunications.

Granted I got very lucky but my first job was playing with software for a computational physics company, the field that we dealt with most was E&M. It seems that E&M is one of the more marketable fields for physics. RF, optics, radar, etc. are always crossing EE and physics. I suggest to pick up some programming classes so you can get a hard skill to market yourself stronger because you'll be competing with EE's that have spent a lot more time doing E&M modeling and designing. While you were/are struggling through your upper level physics classes the EE's are most likely learning specific RF software which makes it harder on you.

Just a side note, my plan is to finish my PhD (leaning to E&M related now, photonics, accelerators, plasmas, etc.) and go back to the company I worked for and get a higher level position doing more of the actual physics work. I still have many contacts there and have full confidence that once I finish my PhD I'll be able to get back in there, this is an ideal situation. If you can get your foot in the door somewhere after your bachelor's and stay on good terms you'll be far ahead of the typical grad students in terms of contacts/job leads.