Went to Uni of Birmingham open day. Interesting

[streeters]

I went to the Uni of Birmingham open day this weekend gone, with the intention of finding more about both the Physics and the Mechanical Engineering degree programmes.

Firstly, the Mechanical Engineering talk was disappointing. Mostly because the guy giving it was a bit of a dick. All he talked about was how elite they were and how you can't take people with "wooly" degrees seriously.

The Physics one was far more enjoyable, but one thing he mentioned surprised me. The speaker said that the knowledge you actually learn in your degree won't be as important as the skills. Basically, most people who graduate in Physics don't become physicists (a large amount become corporate accountants apparently).

Now, I don't want to study physics just to work at Barclays but this is where a lot of graduates are encouraged to go. Does anyone know the employment stats for different industries for graduates?

 

[brewnog]

Don't let the dick put you off. I applied for Mech Eng at Birmingham, and it was my second choice. I have 4 or 5 friends who did Mech/Auto Eng at Birmingham and loved it.

 

[mgb_phys]

Basically, most people who graduate in Physics don't become physicists (a large amount become corporate accountants apparently).

A lot used to do derivatives, but that's dropping as it becomes more normal the equations are being taught to accountants now so they don't need as many rocket scientists.

Does anyone know the employment stats for different industries for graduates?

The IOP has some stats, I think about 20% of graduates work directly in university/industrial research. A lot work in software, I have done physics engines for games and driving simulators for industrial vehicles through to modeling of laser scans for eye surgery.
A lot work in engineering / techncial consultancy / system's intergrators even if you aren't directly using equations you remember from your degree, you are using the ability to work with maths, data analysis, research articles etc.