o********e
发帖数: 474 | 1 Jul27-11, 10:38 PM Last edited by ParticleGrl; Jul27-11 at 10:51
PM.. #8
ParticleGrl
Posts: 148
Re: Grad School or Career?!?!!
I can second DaveyRocket's opinions of a career in theoretical physics. I
didn't do condensed matter, I did high energy but I'm running into the same
issues. I genuinely loved studying physics, but the intense job competition
has killed the ability for researchers to work on tough problems- if you can
't guarantee publications quickly, its career suicide. This leads to doing a
lot of "busy work" churning out papers that your heart really isn't in.
I decided not to take a postdoc, because I think its a dead end career move
for most people. Even still, I can find no industry positions, despite
hundreds upon hundreds of applications. The phd makes you overqualified for
lots of things, but at the same time no one will hire you simply because you
know physics and can do research, which is the core of the phd. The core of
the phd program will probably not help you get a job.
I'm currently bartending and make more than any of the postdocs I know.
According to the APS salary numbers, I make more than the bottom 10% of
physicists. I could have done this without a college degree, let alone the
phd. If I could do it again, I probably wouldn't.
Also, if you are a woman- any sort of maternity will quite probably kill
your career dead. This means if you want a career in physics and a family,
you should look into freezing your eggs while in grad school, and maybe
holding out until you get lucky and land tenure. Either that, or have a
significant other who can both bring in cash and be a primary care taker,
have children in grad school, raise them in poverty, and uproot them every
few years as you postdoc all over the world. |
|
