Tips for Landing a Physics Job: From BS to the Workforce

[galactic]

Got my BS in Physics few months ago, had one interview for an entry level analyst for an education company, but no call back after the initial phone interview. Found the job on indeed.com

I have my BS from ASU and live in Arizona currently. I have become accustomed to not finding many jobs relating to physics and have hence lowered my bar to jobs that just require a bachelor's degree.

I have been working for my family while I've been job hunting , so I haven't had a "ton" of time to go hardcore job hunting.

I'm hoping for job search tips , job search keywords, general tips on how to get a job which pay's decently, I'd love to find a job even if it's WORLDS away from a mathematical job.

At this point, I just need money and to get my own place and move out of my parents house. I've been looking for jobs on indeed.com , searching for "anaylst" , "entry level bachelors", "mathematics", "physics", "entry level", "process engineer", etc.

I'm hoping those that have been in my situation can help give me some tips for getting a job

many thanks :D

 

[mal4mac]

What about "Programming", "IT", "Support", "Retail", "Banking", "Finance", "Teaching", "Management"?

You should have good chances, above humanities graduates, in any job requiring technical or mathematical/numerical ability (however basic!) - another three keywords there: "technical" "graduate" "numerical".

 

[Hercuflea]

Check out actuarial internships which could lead to full time job. Even if it's unpaid for a few weeks until you get a job offer. Sorry I'm not sure of any examples but I'm on a phone and haven't looked for them.

 

[ModusPwnd]

Check out actuarial internships which could lead to full time job. Even if it's unpaid for a few weeks until you get a job offer. Sorry I'm not sure of any examples but I'm on a phone and haven't looked for them.

Minimum wage laws prevent unpaid internships for people who are not students or for students where the internship does not provide educational value or career development.In my case, I had the same troubles. I had two degrees in physics and research experience. I applied for years, nothing. I had to work in a restaurant to pay the bills. I went back to school for engineering and was just recently able to turn that into a career style job.

My advise: Go back to school! Study something relevant (that is, marketable) at the BS or MS level. Good luck!

 

[homeomorphic]

I'm in the same situation with my math PhD. It's a tough time to be a recent graduate. I can't help too much because if I knew how to break out of it, I would have already. You're really supposed to try to talk to tons of people about jobs (informational interviews, etc), but I find that advice hard to follow very well, since I'm never sure who to contact. But when I did manage to talk to people I knew or someone who knows someone I knew, it got results way faster than online applications, so you can see first hand, as soon as you try that, that the job advice books are right about that. So, think of everyone you know who might know of a job. Or even talk to everyone you know and see if they know someone who might know about a job or even just information about the profession. Whenever you have an informational interview, one of the big questions to keep in mind is whether that person knows more people they could get you in touch with.

If you go the actuarial route, it helps to pass an exam to get an internship (costs money to take exam, though). The field doesn't seem very easy to get into, but if you are willing to move to the East coast, there are opportunities out there, I'm told.

Do you know any programming? If not, it's pretty easy these days to find tutorials online and you can download some version of all the most popular programming languages for free. Might take a while. Web development is supposed to be not that hard to get into. It can take some time and effort to get off the ground with it, though.

You should also think about tutoring if you want something that might make money right off the bat. I know someone who is making a very good living tutoring right now. Maybe he knows some trick about how to market to himself to the rich kids in town. I have another friend who makes a more average living tutoring. It takes a heroic marketing effort to make a living from it. But it's doable, I think. You can put up flyers (a lot of flyers--try to make them look good), Craigslist, Wyzant, department tutor lists, contact teachers, and so on. I make $40/hr, myself, but I don't have many customers at the moment, since I've been focusing on trying to find something better and more reliable. You can also try to get long distance customers online, and there are a few companies that will pay you to do that.

 

[symbolipoint]

Minimum wage laws prevent unpaid internships for people who are not students or for students where the internship does not provide educational value or career development.


In my case, I had the same troubles. I had two degrees in physics and research experience. I applied for years, nothing. I had to work in a restaurant to pay the bills. I went back to school for engineering and was just recently able to turn that into a career style job.

My advise: Go back to school! Study something relevant (that is, marketable) at the BS or MS level. Good luck!

This is or at least seems to be very good advice.
I say this on the forum.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Minimum wage laws prevent unpaid internships for people who are not students or for students where the internship does not provide educational value or career development.


In my case, I had the same troubles. I had two degrees in physics and research experience. I applied for years, nothing. I had to work in a restaurant to pay the bills. I went back to school for engineering and was just recently able to turn that into a career style job.

My advise: Go back to school! Study something relevant (that is, marketable) at the BS or MS level. Good luck!

Sorry to pick on you, but this begs the question of what is marketable at the BS or MS level.

 

[imhotep123]

Hi,

Have ever tried to call up the companies after completing your application? As recruiters and hr officers receiving hundreds of CVs, it's really hard to make your CV stand out from the crowd. I would suggest you to call up the companies directly once complete your application. In this way, they can see your personality on the phone.

Also, make sure to register job boards like and local recruitment agencies. There's also nothing wrong with being flexible and to work in a restaurant or a pub to cover your bills. This will show you that you are hard-working and not lazy.

I work for an engineering specialist job board (www.engineeringjobsandwork.co.uk) provides jobs Worldwide. Therefore I have a little bit knowledge about the recruitment process. Also, make sure to put all the relative keyword on your CV as most of the job boards use boolean search to find candidates. Boolean search simply scans the CV and recruiters do their search typing keywords like "HTML, Java, AutoCad, Technician etc..."

the market is really competitive but never give up! All the best

 

[vociferous]

Did you do any programming in your BS? Are you maybe willing to expand that knowledge a little? There are a lot of high tech companies here in the Bay Area hiring.

While companies rarely need a resident physicist, many need a programmer with these skills, especially game developers, but really the mathematical and analytic skills fit well in many types of technology jobs.

Another career path for you to at least consider is National Defense. Consider enlisting or being commissioned in the armed forces, either active or on the reserve/national guard side or working for a defense contractor (which is easier if you already have the clearance). It is not a career path for everyone, but you should at least look into it.

 

[atyy]

In my case, I had the same troubles. I had two degrees in physics and research experience. I applied for years, nothing. I had to work in a restaurant to pay the bills. I went back to school for engineering and was just recently able to turn that into a career style job.

Great to hear that!

 

[ModusPwnd]

Thanks! It is great. Its a job that I think I am well suited for and sounds fun. So far I like my coworkers which is probably the most important thing. My boss said they haven't hired an entry level person for my position in over a decade! (That means I have a lot of **** to learn, and quick :p )

 

[hylander4]

Got my BS in Physics few months ago, had one interview for an entry level analyst for an education company, but no call back after the initial phone interview. Found the job on indeed.com

I have my BS from ASU and live in Arizona currently. I have become accustomed to not finding many jobs relating to physics and have hence lowered my bar to jobs that just require a bachelor's degree.

I have been working for my family while I've been job hunting , so I haven't had a "ton" of time to go hardcore job hunting.

I'm hoping for job search tips , job search keywords, general tips on how to get a job which pay's decently, I'd love to find a job even if it's WORLDS away from a mathematical job.

At this point, I just need money and to get my own place and move out of my parents house. I've been looking for jobs on indeed.com , searching for "anaylst" , "entry level bachelors", "mathematics", "physics", "entry level", "process engineer", etc.

I'm hoping those that have been in my situation can help give me some tips for getting a job

many thanks :D

I second the comment about Tech companies.

If your grades were okay, have you considered applying to any FFRDCs? JHU APL, MIT Lincoln Lab, Lawrence Livermore, Southwest Research Institute. They all hire people with Physics bachelors, and for work that actually uses physics! I work at Lincoln, and I'm pretty sure I've even met some ASU alums here.

You might also consider consulting firms like Accenture, Deloitte, etc. A lot of times they just try to snatch up smart people. One of my old roommates was a civil engineering major, and they hired him straight out of college to be a management consultant.

 

[Ben Espen]

I think Boston Consulting Group hires technical people and provides business specific training. My father-in-law works for Deloitte, and they are indeed interested in smart people regardless of specific degrees.