I apologize in advance as there very well may be a thread discussing this very topic. I am currently a freshmen in college majoring in mechanical engineering. However, the impetus of that decision was that I like math and science and I know that I have a better chance of getting a job after college than with a straight physics major. However, I am not enjoying the labs I am doing in regards to engineering and I much prefer pure physics type labs. I would love to major in physics and possibly minor/double-major in math, but I am just worried that if I decide not to go to grad school after (which I am not ruling out right now, but I would like to have options), I won’t have very good chances of getting a job right out of college. Thoughts?
Physics majors who go into non-physics jobs (meaning most of them, at either the BA/BS or PhD level) commonly go into such areas like computer software or quantitative finance, where their quantitative skills help them pick up the needed skills and knowledge for those jobs (though majoring in physics is less optimal than a more closely related major for those jobs if that was the goal from the beginning). Some also go into some types of engineering jobs (where licensing is not required, though that is also less optimal than majoring in engineering if that is the goal from the beginning). Teaching high school physics is another possibility, though there is typically an additional teacher credentialing requirement.
The American Institute of Physics has information about [employment of graduates with B.S. in physics](Field of Employment for Physics Bachelors in the Private Sector). My experience as a physics professor for many years and advisor of undergraduates is that physics majors generally have no problem finding employment. If you like physics better than mechanical engineering, then by all means get your degree in physics or maybe applied or engineering physics if that is available at your university.
Looks like that link shows:
36% engineering
25% non-STEM
23% computer or information systems
13% other STEM
5% physics or astronomy
But that is only for those BA/BS graduates working in the private sector, which made up 65%. The rest included 10% college or university, 9% high school, 6% active military, 5% civilian government national lab, 5% other, according to https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/employment/bachinitemp-p-14.1.pdf (figure 3).
Yes, agreed. The big concern that I hear often is whether physics majors can get jobs in industry and the answer is clearly yes.