Usefulness to employers as a physics graduate.

[kinkmode]

One last option that I was just introduced to at my aforementioned position is an Reactor Operator at a nuclear power plant. The pay is decent and advancement opportunities exists. A B.A. in physics satisfies the requirements. However, it's going to be a very different kind of career from being a 'physicist'.

 

[Lavabug]

Curiously, I found a job posting for Thorlabbs the other day. I found an entry position at OFS Optics for physicists and engineers a few months back but it isn't up anymore. Could you name the optics and biomed companies that you know? (I ask this because I generally find more stuff on their career pages than on actual job listing sites).

I'm still trying to find the forumer here who worked at a hospital doing microfluidics/bubble physics as a recent BS graduate... Hospitals are on my to do list for job listing searches.

I have no way of paying for additional studies (as I said I got through my BS entirely on scholarships) so I need a source of income soon. I haven't found many MS programs that consider students on a TA.

 

[Lavabug]

One last option that I was just introduced to at my aforementioned position is an Reactor Operator at a nuclear power plant. The pay is decent and advancement opportunities exists. A B.A. in physics satisfies the requirements. However, it's going to be a very different kind of career from being a 'physicist'.

Thanks, I thought this area of the market was dominated by engineers these days as opposed to the 60's-70's so I didn't try looking into it. I'll have a look at these.

 

[kinkmode]

I would not pay for graduate school.

I have friends who went to OSU for a Masters in Nuclear Engineering and did not pay. Look around, you might get lucky.

As far as specific companies, Thorlabs comes up a lot. Also Varian comes up periodically. As far as biomedical, I don't have any specific names. I see them come up a lot in my job searches, but there are a lot of biomedical companies in the Cleveland area.

I would also use career services at your institution and try to attend career fairs. The undergrad students that I have worked with that went directly into the job market all found jobs through various connections, either from career fairs or through alumni.

 

[H2Bro]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before as its pretty left field.

Have you considered business consulting? Consulting firms usually have on-campus hiring fairs. They are essentially looking for one skill set: Analytically deconstructing totally foreign problems in a very clear, methodical, and logical manner.

They are also pretty unspecific towards degree backgrounds so long as its something harder / includes lots of analytic problem solving. A lot of large campuses will have hiring fairs from various consulting firms, depending on the size of your city this could be Accenture, Deloitte, or others (there are a million boutique firms out there). It might be important to act fast as they generally recruit right out of school, aka from campuses.

If you missed the boat on that I would recommend contacting a hiring manager via email. Craft the email well enough and you could likely arrange an informational interview, which is your chance to impress them with your general problem solving ability. PM me if your interested in more info.

edit: the salaries are also generally pretty high, and companies could potentially like your background with chemical processing.