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You know you’re a physics major if you…

You know you’re a physics major if you…. have no life - and you can PROVE it mathematically. know vector calculus but you can't remember how to do long division. chuckle whenever anyone says 'centrifugal force.'. You know you’re a physics major if you…. like to know how things work!

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You know you’re a physics major if you…

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  1. You know you’re a physics major if you… have no life - and you can PROVE it mathematically. know vector calculus but you can't remember how to do long division. chuckle whenever anyone says 'centrifugal force.'

  2. You know you’re a physics major if you… like to know how things work! like analytical problem solving see math as a very cool tool (at least)

  3. Why a physics major? You love: • discovering how the physical universe works • making new or better technologies • the highest pay, lowest unemployment among physical sciences • best scores on LSAT, MCAT (2009 reportMCAT second only to Biomed Eng)

  4. Physics is a great foundation for any career that involves technology or physical science

  5. Careers for Physics Majors • Jobs for students with BS: Pie charts • Jobs for PHD • Pay • Typical day in industry • Graduate school • Typical day in National Lab • Typical day in the academy

  6. Physics

  7. What do physics majors do with a bachelors degree? • Work in industry • Research and development • Engineering • Quality Control • Computers, Information technology • Finance • Government lab technicians • Teach high school • Military

  8. They pay you while you are in graduate school in sciences like physics or astronomy

  9. Job Information Forum: An Industrial Perspective Jeff Schwartz WL Gore & Associates 57th AVS Annual Symposium 10-19-2010

  10. A Typical Day in industry… • Will depend on: • size of company • age of company • phase of project • Office Work: • Reports • Meetings • Reviews • Budget • Mentoring • Lab Work: • Experiments • Data Analysis • Statistics • Lab notebook • Lit. Research Office Work Lab Work Years at company (experience) • culture of company • role hired for

  11. Advice for Industry • Recommended classes • Statistics – Design of Experiments (DOE) • Intellectual property • Internships • Streamline Résumé or CV • Be as succinct as possible • Highlight skills that will be relevant to position • Include anything else you may think is important • Network – always take the opportunities to interact • Build relationship that may help you in the future • Gain knowledge

  12. Advice for Industry (continued) • Interviewing • Research company in advance • Ask questions • Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” • Know answers to the obvious hard questions • Where do you want to be in 5 years? • What is the most difficult ______ you have ever done? • What type of work to you like to do? • Have examples in mind

  13. Naturejobs international salary survey, 2010 (www.nature.com) Benefits of Industry • Research more geared to a product or product focus • Compensation – starting pay typically higher (bonuses) • Don’t have to write grants* *except for small business grants or start-ups

  14. Downside to Industry • Freedom to publish • Intellectual Property (IP) over publications • Downsizing • Acquiring technology instead of inventing it • Research directed by business needs

  15. You might be a good fit in industry if… • You want to help a business grow. • even, or perhaps especially, if it’s your own • You like applied problem solving. • Few companies have internal capabilities for truly fundamental research. • – Fundamental research may be more prevalent in smaller or privately held companies. • You can live with “80/20 rule”. • Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. • You can tolerate (and maybe even like) the corporate environment. • Every company has its own culture; know the culture where you work. • From Matt Wagner, industrial Careers 2008 AVS

  16. “Engineer” compared to “Physicist” jobs • In 2008, there were 1.6 million jobs titled “Engineer” http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#emply • There were 16,000 jobs titled “Physicist” and 1500 titled “Astronomer” http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos052.htm • Many with physics degrees are among the 1.6 million “Engineers” • As a group, jobs titled “Physicist” earn slightly more than those titled “Engineer”, but there are more “Physicists” with advanced degrees. • As a physics major, you are much more likely to be called an engineer than a physicist, even with a physics degree.

  17. Engineer job numbers

  18. Jobs titled “Physicist”

  19. Unemployment Rates (1996-1997 PhDs)

  20. Graduate school & beyond • Physics Careers with M.S. or Ph.D • Industry • Government labs • Academics • Engineering • Medical physics/biophysics • Medicine • Law and patent law • Business • Economics/finance Technical schools pay you to study! Those with an M.S. have important roles

  21. National Laboratories Pacific Northwest Idaho Fermi Brookhaven NationalRenewableEnergy NationalEnergy Technology Ames Argonne LawrenceBerkeley Lawrence Livermore Princeton Thomas Jefferson Sandia Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Los Alamos Oak Ridge Sandia SavannahRiver KEY: = Environmental Management = NNSA Labs = Fossil Energy = Science = Energy Efficiency and Renewable = Nuclear Energy 30

  22. Sandia’s People • On-site workforce: 11,200 • FY08 permanent workforce: 8,400 • FY08 gross payroll: $886.1M • FY08 budget: $2.3B Diciplines of Most Technical Hires (FY03 – FY05) Top 3 hire fields comprise approximately 55% of technical hires • IT • ME • EE Technical Staff (3,844) by Degree (End of FY08) Top 5 hire fields are approximately 70% of technical hires • Physics • Chemistry Top 11 hire fields represent approximately 90% of technical hires • Chemical Eng • Materials Science • Math • Biology • Nuclear Eng • Aerospace Eng Physics 6% Math 2% Chemistry 4% Computing 16% Other Science 4% Other Fields 17% Electrical Engineering 19% Mechanical Engineering 16% Other Engineering 15% 31

  23. A National Lab Might Be a Good Place For You If… • You are interested in applying your talents to resolving technical problems of national concern. • Your lifestyle is compatible with holding a security clearance. • You can adapt to having projects spanning from basic research to applied problem-solving related to manufacturing. • You can tolerate the government bureaucracy. (Nobody likes it.) • You want to work at a place in which you can have multiple jobs throughout your career without ever having to sell your house. (Applies particularly to larger national labs.) • You want a career with a high degree of flexibility and high job security. • You can tolerate good pay with minimal annual pay increase.

  24. Working at a National Lab (Sandia-Centric View!) • Culture: • Each NL will have its own culture– make sure you understand it • Each area within a NL will have its own culture • Salary/Benefits: • Salary and benefits are good, but subject to mood of Congress/Board of Directors • Benefits include insurance (health, dental, long term care), 401(k), vacation • Some areas allow flex time • “9/80” schedule • Work-Life Balance & Job Security: • Excellent • Amount of Travel • You can choose your role and the amount of travel • Foreign travel often painful (bureaucratically) • Ability to Publish/Present • Always favorable, but amount varies by administration– currently VERY favorable

  25. Things to Consider for Your Career • Are you a risk-taker or more conservative in choosing your project portfolio? • Are you interested in doing lab work exclusively or serving in a program development role? • Are you interested in an academic environment, a production or development environment, “black” (classified) work, or interacting with industry? • Are you interested in global issues and foreign travel? • Are you interested in entrepreneurship? • Is it very important to you to make yourself rich? • Network, Network, Network!!!

  26. Unemployment Rates (1996-1997 PhDs)

  27. Academic Careers Eva Chi Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering University of New Mexico evachi@unm.edu

  28. How Eva got here BS Chemistry and Chemical Engineering MS and PhD Chemical Engineering Assistant Professor Chemical Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow Chemistry Internship Internship REU Research 2008 1994 1999 2004 Met my future husband

  29. Eva’s job Captain of my own ship • Avg. 50-70 hrs/week • Research • Fund-raising • Mentoring • Publishing • Managing • Teaching • Class room teaching • Grading • Mentoring • Service • Department and university • Professional activities and service • Collegiality • Building collaborations Complete Independence Sole Responsibility

  30. You might be a good fit for academia if… • you feel passionate about research and solving open-ended problems • you love to interact with students • you like or are competent at writing

  31. Questions

  32. What skills do you think physicists say they need most in the workplace?

  33. US Labor statistics: Phys and Astro each projected to grow by 16% from 2008 to 2018 • http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes192012.htm Wage information

  34. Besides making a living, what do you hope for in a career?

  35. Satisfaction and shopping at Walmart

  36. Typical Industrial Career Track Options • Technical Ladder • More focused on research and development • Individual contribution • Working as member of a collaborative team • Management Ladder • More emphasis on directing the efforts of others • Technical competence still crucial • More involvement in strategic decisions • How IR&D will be spent • Product Development direction • Often possible to switch tracks at various points in your career

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