I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering, I didn’t want to work as an engineer because when I tried it out it was a soul crushing experience…you are basically a toll with little respect, boring meaningless projects…even the senior engineers weren’t any better off they spent most of their time on perfecting their power point presentations and of course no flexibility in the hours. So I know work as a sales engineer on electrical equipment, which has great flexibility, I’m on the road a lot and the money is decent but I’m not learning anything technical and I feel my brain rotting. So I wanted to do my masters and after studying a little in some physics text books, I enjoy it a lot. But what can I do with a master’s in physics? I hear phsyisits don’t make much money and job opportunities are scarce. I wanted work in someplace exciting, I was always interested in aerospace maybe I could do something at NASA? Idk anything about this field, can someone provide me with some direction and guidance?
Physics majors and those with MS in physics do very well in the job market but usually they are not working in the field of physics. Rather they work in the kind of jobs that engineers, computer science majors and data scientists are in as well.
With a MS in physics, or better, applied physics is is more possible to work in a research environment but not as a PI. For a research job in physics you would have to have a PhD. Then there are a lot of opportunities available in R&D. However, if you are getting a PhD then you can access the same kinds of careers with a PhD in Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Materials Science & Engineering.
Bottom line, physics can lead to a great career and you will be able to get a good job, but it is more about finding the right place to work than your major and accessing the right kind of job will determine what kind of degree you choose to get. By the way, it is certainly possible to have ME majors get a MS or even a PhD in physics, we have had a number of such students in our physics program at Illinois Tech.
