Physics What are the career prospects for physicists?

[bobbricks]

If I were to be considering a career being a scientist (e.g. physicist), what would the career prospects be? Are there many jobs where you earn a sufficient amount of money to live on? And most important of all, I have heard there is very little job security, so people become employed quickly and most jobs are temporary with very few being permanent- is this true? I was considering becoming a physicist but would like a permanent job, with an adequate salary (approx. £40000 or over after several years of experience) and one that is stable so I do not become unemployed constantly.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Did you do a search of this forum? I see several threads on exactly this subject. If there is some reason they aren't addressing your question, it would be helpful to bring that reason forward.

 

[bobbricks]

I checked several threads out. In some threads, questions relating to career prospects as a physicist were asked but not all of them were answered and in some threads, it was about https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=527730, rather than the UK where I live. But please, if you can find other threads which are relevant and answer my questions, please post it here.

 

[elkement]

Just scroll down this forum an search for the posts with high numbers of replies ;-)

These are some recent threads discussing job prospects of physicists in general, in academia or in different industries:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=545123

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=585340

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=584874

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=576359

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=579248

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=581398

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=578883

 

[bobbricks]

Thanks :)