Post: #1

Hey everybody,
I decided to graduate after four years of school instead of pursuing a specific engineering degree because I heard that the vast majority of engineering jobs (only civil engineering) do not require a license. Now unfortunately this means that federal financial aid won't help me any more if I choose to do more schoolwork which is why I'm a little apprehensive. It is possible for me to still chase a master's in physics for two more years but not sure I want to go through with it.

I'm going to graduate with a degree in math and physics in the spring (I got average grades) and I was just wondering where a good place to look for jobs would be. I've never really looked for a job before (outside of shit summer jobs) and am not sure where to start or how to get started. My school's career office wasn't much help. Worst case scenario I'm probably just going to join the military or something.
Thanks considerably guys, I appreciate it.
Hades

Post: #2

My first thought would be finance. You can do risk analysis, modeling, identification, regression....a bunch of stuff that is useful for people who want to find under/overvalued financial products or predict their future performance.

Aside from that, you could get certified and teach high school or something. I have a friend who is going that route with mathematics.

Perhaps you could work as a research assistant?

Depending on whether you are a US citizen, willing to travel, and old enough, you can apply to take the Foreign Service Officer Test and work abroad for the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. The test has a reputation for being somewhat difficult, but if you can double in math and physics, you can study for the FSOT. There's more information on the State Dept website.

Personally I have gotten all my interviews through either cold calling or using my school's career office, so I can't really suggest anything on that front.

Post: #3

Agreeing with Polymath, finance is a good path. (although since I a non finance person know about it, the field may be crowded)

And chances are if you did some hardcore physics and math, you're nice with a computer. So consider some sort of CS position that's amenable to what you're doing.

Actuarials are also an option.

WIA

Post: #4

I worked with a guy once. He had a physics degree but his first job out of school was sales. We worked together in the semiconductor industry. The company we worked for made machines that measured the thickness of the metal layers deposited on semiconductor wafers using ultrafast pulsed lasers. You need to understand the physics of how these things worked in order to sell them. He spoke fluent Korean and English. I think he was making $100k+. Not bad for a first job right out of college.

Post: #5

It may be pretty hard with finding pure Physics jobs, so I agree with finance, actuary science and of course my biased suggestion....computer science.

As for grad school, I don't know about a M.S. in Physics. I would opt for a Engineering Physics which interdisciplinary and allows emphasis in other engineering/computer science areas. I would also look into a "Masters of Engineering" program (M.Eng). Some of those M.Eng programs allow for a "hodge-podge" of engineering and science courses packaged up into a graduate engineering degree. The key is finding graduate schools that allow non-engineering undergrads like Math and Physics and do not require ABET accredited engineering degrees.

Post: #6

This reminds me of when I quit emergency medicine, and I had to figure where in medicine I was willing to start over.

For brainstorming, google 'Alternative jobs for physicists' and 'Alternative jobs for mathematicians,' for potential pathways to take.

You're not going to find a job by browsing the help wanted ads as someone who is taking an 'alternative' pathway. You'll have to target the industries that interest you and network/hack/bludgeon your way in. Getting the job may initially be harder than the job itself. You may also want to explore industries and talk to people first to get an idea of what out's there.

The grades you received are not important if you are willing to market yourself aggressively. Good grades are for people who can't be bothered to market themselves (they seem to get bitter about it anyway, I've encountered a few that say stuff 'But I graduated at the top of my class, and that dude is earning more than I am!')

Since you want to do engineering, perhaps you can start by targeting engineering firms. Note that if someone in a large firm likes you enough, they may create a position for you where none existed. Even if it's only a part-time position, it may be a way of getting the foot in the door.

This flow diagram I made in another post is probably most relevant to what I've said:


see /thread-13545.html

Post: #7

Finance for great cash (but I'm pretty sure you need a PhD - well if you want to be a Quant, anyway)
Exploration Geophysicist for good cash and travel (probably need geophysics courses though)
Computer Programmer

also Management/Strategy Consultant, believe it or not (Physics graduates are good at modelling abstract systems, processes and dynamics)

Post: #8

Finance and consulting would be difficult unless you graduated from a top school. You should be qualified for many entry level engineering jobs

Post: #9

Consider the US Patent Office if you're in us. After 1 year you can move to wherever you want in the country and be location independent. Salary does kind of top out at maybe 120-130 eventually, but that can be more than enough depending on where you live.

I'm not sure if you can or are allowed to work from a foreign country, but with a VPN I'm not sure why you couldn't do it.

Post: #10

btw, Uncle Westcoast over at wallstreetplayboys has some pretty brutal advice to give on how to get into finance. Have a look if that interests you:

http://wallstreetplayboys.com/?p=444

http://wallstreetplayboys.com/?p=495

scroll through his 'Wall street' posts for other relevant info:

http://wallstreetplayboys.com/?cat=3