What do physicists do?
Besides studying physics that is...Where do they work? How do they pay their bills? How much money do they make in a year?
These are some links we used in exploring what a physics major might
look forward to in terms of career options, degrees and jobs as part of advising
day. The links by themselves will provide a lot of information if you explore
them patiently. We also had lots of stories, anecdotes, experiences, examples
and advice shared by physics faculty members. That part is difficult to document
here. If there is demand we may have one of these sessions again next quarter.
If you have further questions, fell free to contact Chitra Solomonson, Keith
Clay or Ajay Narayanan. Our contact information can be found at:
http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/physics/faculty.htm
Careers Using Physics
The vast majority of physicists do not teach or do research in a traditional
sense at a University or a government funded research institution. So where do
they end up? Explore the links on the following page to find out more...
http://www.spsnational.org/cup/profiles/index.html
Jobs in Physics
Get a sampler of some currently available jobs at the following links.
http://www.physicstoday.org/jobs/ Explore the links in multiple ways.
Employers in the government sector
Army / Navy / Air Force / NASA / FBI / NSA. I don't have links but you can
use google or other search tools to find out more. I would be glad to add any
links you want to contribute.
Private Sector
Here is a search engine hit from Google. Again this will be updated, but you can
get similar information at sites like Monster.com
http://www.job-search-engine.com/keyword/physics-graduate-economics?page=2
Some large employers in the private sector include: Intel, IBM, Boeing, Microsoft, Motorola, HP etc.
Who is
hiring Physicists - information by State
More Information
The Statistical research wing of the American Institute of Physics
has a ton of interesting material:
http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/career.html