Is there anyone here working in physics?

sei046

Just wondering if anyone here can tell me about their career in physics?
I am hoping to work in that field but worried about jobs


Dave

Civilian_Target

Most people with physics degrees go on to do something else, you really need a PhD, or at least a MSc before you go to work in the Physics industry. There isn't much of a Physics industry in Ireland anyway, outside of academia there's pretty much no jobs. You'd have to move to UK or further. There are plenty of jobs if you're good at physics, but if you don't have the flair for it, there's plenty of jobs in other fields that a degree in physics will get you into (they usually pay better too!)

dudara

I did a PhD and that was as much of a career as I wanted. I still love physics, but really couldn't handle the "minuteness" of working in a small specialised area any longer.

I now work as a management consultant and I love the variety that the job offers me. However, all my physics skills such as logic, numerical ability and reasoning all stand to me very very well.

ga2re2t

It all depends on what you want to do in life. As Civilian_Target said, many physics graduates go on to do jobs not directly related to physics, e.g. computer programming, engineering, finance and lots more. However, if for example a physics graduate and a computer graduate are competing for a job as a computer programmer, then the computer graduate will almost always have the advantage.
My advice, and this may seem old and not really help you, is to choose physics because you like it (if you really do?!) and not for the paycheck at the end of it. If you are really passionate about a subject and work (and not forgetting to play!!) hard then things usually fall in to place at the end of the day. This is especially true for a physics degree.
I graduated from physics at DCU, went on to do a Masters in France and am now completing my Ph. D. in Physics in France. As part of my Ph. D. I am currently (as in right now!) working as a very well paid intern in a multi-billion dollar research company in Silicon Valley, California. I didn't forsee any of this when I filled out my CAO form! It's been a long road, but now I'm really starting to reap the benefits of following my passion for physics and not simply focusing on the job oppurtunities at the end.
To finish up, if you work at something you really like doing then you will excel in that area, and people who excel at what they do usually find that jobs look for them, not the other way around.
I wish you all the best!

sendic

Hi

As has been said before, only do physics if its a subject you're really interested in. People with physics degrees end up in lots of different careers. Imho, people who do a computational physics type course are particularly employable, but you've really got to enjoy programming to do that.

If you do want to work in science/physics its quite likely you'll need to do some sort of postgrad. there are more and more 1 or 2 year taught masters courses coming available, especially in the UK. these are often highly specialised or geared toward a specific industry. If you want to do a postgrad, remember its going to take anywhere from 6 to 9 years from the time you start your degree until the time you get a job. PhD/research masters students typically receive a maintenance stipend. taught masters students rarely do.

naturejobs have a feature on science jobs in ireland coming out on the 16th of november. www.naturejobs.com

good luck