Study Physics: Benefits & Job Opportunities for Young Mscs

[Lorenzo Bellini]

Hello, I'm new in the forum and.. I'm sorry for my English but I'm Italian.

I'm on this forum because I need other points of view.
I'm 17 and I'm in front of the choice of the University.

What do you think about studying Physics? And why study Physics? How are job opportunities for a young Msc in Physics?

Thank you very much.

 

[dlgoff]

What do you think about studying Physics?

For me, studying Math and Physics was probably the most rewarding experience in my life.

And why study Physics?

To gain “knowledge of nature”.

How are job opportunities for a young Msc in Physics?

You might want to consider Engineering Physics.

 

[Lorenzo Bellini]

I know what is Engineering Physics.

I prefer Physics! Because in Engineering, I don't like very much technical examinations.
I love the idea of study Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, the 4 fundamental interactions..
But I also know that in the Bachelor, I will study classical physics. So i need to wait the Master.

My dream is to do research in Particle/Theoretical Physics..

But, on one hand there's the dream.
On the other hand there's the job..

Surely, an Engineer has more job opportunities than a Physicist, hasn't he?

 

[wukunlin]

You pretty much have the right idea. I just graduated with MSc in Physics and job specifically for physics grads are pretty scarce, and you still need to take into account of the different physics disciplines. Engineering grad jobs are more numerous by about two orders of magnitude. You should do physics only if you REALLY like it (looks like you do) and want to pursue a career in academic research. I still advise you do an internship or two during undergrad holidays just in case you change your mind like I did (heh, I was too ignorant and stubborn to listen when people told me this).

A somewhat common path for physicists to find non-academic jobs is to go into quantitative finance (or mathematical finance, computational finance, financial engineering, or whatever they call it in your university) and work with financial models, there are some postgrad programs for these but they tend to take two years so make sure you do all your career planning before you finish your undergrad.