Job opportunities with a Physics major

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I'm going into senior year of high school and can't decide whether I should major in a branch of engineering (electrical) or physics. I change my mind every day about this. What I like most about engineering is that you get a reallly good starting salary with just a bachelors degree. For Physics I guess you need a PhD to get any kind of job:</p>

<p>How many years will it take to get a Phd in Physics?</p>

<p>Can I get a job that pays a reasonable salary without a Phd?</p>

<p>And is Physics a career in which I would have to do a lot of moving throughout the country just to find a job? In other words, are there available jobs in most states? (I live in New Jersey).</p>

<p>Also, I do not want to be a Physics professor, so what kind of jobs are available with a graduate degree?</p>

<p>I really like Physics more because of the theories and ideas, and am not THAT interested in applying this knowledge like engineers do.</p>

<p>I'd appreciate if someone can answer these questions for me.</p>

2

<p>Other than teaching, Physics degree holders can get a job in some different engineering fields. I'd say the most common would be aerospace and mechanical. You could get a job as a Physicist or Astronomer, but you'll need a Ph.D. to do so and the job market is very limited for either one of those fields (meaning you need to be very intelligent and have a damn good resume).</p>

3

<p>But in order to build up a resume you need to get hired, which would be a problem if you can only start getting jobs with a phd ...</p>

4

<p>to build your resume - school lab research, internships, publications...</p>

5

<p>Can anyone else answer some of these questions?</p>

6

<p>I think a physics degree would just be usen in an engineering field anyway. You dont want to be a teacher so Im not sure what else there is left besides engineering. I would go with an engineer. You already like physics so why do you have a problem being an engineer.</p>

<p>Im more of a guy that like to do research and stuff rather then use my creativity which I dont have very much. Im still going to be an engineer though. Theres not many jobs where you get to just sit on a computer all day and research stuff. If there was I'd do it, but Ill have to be an engineer till there is.</p>

7

<p>It will also depend of your emphasis-area of Physics. If you lean towards electromagnetics, then you may end up with EE-type jobs.</p>

<p>Some schools offer an Applied Physics, Engineering Physics or even Computational Physics, so your emphasis will also factor in.</p>

8

<p>Well I was thinking more of experimental or theoretical physics. I'm more interested in that than applied physics or engineering. But if there are very limited jobs besides teaching, then I would do engineering.</p>

9

<p>Bumping to get more opinions. Anyone?</p>

10

<p>//gots nothin'</p>

<p>Honestly... most of us that hang around here and answer questions are engineers, which means that we don't deal in experimental/theoretical physics. It'd probably be in your best interests to seek out some physicists and talk with them. Professional societies can also helps lots with those sorts of things.</p>

<p>Sorry... =&lt;/p>

11

<p>I believe a major portion of physics majors are employed by the government.</p>

12

<p>Try this link: <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos052.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos052.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>O thank you. That link answered most of my questions.</p>