Careers for Physicists

Most of us became physicists because we found physics fascinating. We assumed somehow that, when our formal studies ended, we would find jobs in physics that would continue to reward us intellectually and, unlike our graduate work, would also reward us financially. Depending on what year we started job hunting, our expectations might have been fulfilled easily or might have been redefined drastically.

Physics Today has covered careers in physics for many years. During the last downturn in employment, we launched a series, Career Choices, which ran from 1993 to 1998 (see http://www.physicstoday.org and visit the related articles archives). More recently, as the employment picture began to change again, two Reference Frame columnists conveyed their concerns about careers: Philip W. Anderson in “Why Do They Leave Physics?” (Physics Today, September 1999, page 11 , and Leo P. Kadanoff in “Changing” (December 1999, page 11 ). “Physicists in Finance” by Joseph M. Pimbley (January 1997, page 42 ) and “Career Opportunities in Optics” by Anthony M. Johnson and C. Breck Hitz (May 2000, page 25 ) were published as feature articles.

This special issue presents four feature articles that take a broad look at careers for physicists.

Young physicists and other scientists and engineers had a tough time finding jobs eight years ago (see the article by Kate Kirby and Roman Czujko, Physics Today, December 1993, page 22 ), but since then the picture has changed dramatically. In “The Physics Job Market: From Bear to Bull in a Decade” (page 36 ), Kirby, Czujko, and Patrick Mulvey provide employment statistics showing that nearly twice as many physicists are working outside of academia as in it. The authors observe that a large majority of new physics PhDs do find their jobs professionally challenging.

Although the job situation has improved, Barrett Ripin makes a case in “Preparing Physicists for Life’s Work” (page 43 ) that colleges and universities need to provide a broader range of courses and find ways to better prepare students for a variety of careers. Some departments are doing business as usual, he says; others are changing in an evolutionary fashion; and some have even introduced career-skills courses.

Many recent PhDs still hope to make a career in academia, and currently these prospects are better than they’ve been for the past decade. Matt Anderson wanted to be in academia, and tells us how he succeeded in “So You Want to Be a Professor!” (page 50 ). Now on the physics faculty at San Diego State University, Anderson gives pointers on improving aspects of one’s job hunt, ranging from the curriculum vitae to interviews to etiquette.

Many job opportunities exist in defense, including private defense contractors, US Department of Defense research labs, Department of Energy-sponsored national security labs, and colleges and universities. John F. Holzrichter, in “Attracting and Retaining R&D Talent for Defense” (page 56 ), stresses the importance to the US of continued high-quality defense R&D. But he is concerned that many bureaucratic obstacles are making it difficult to keep scientists happy and productive.

Below is a list of additional resources available through a number of organizations, and we hope you will find it useful.

This special issue is hardly the final word on careers for physicists. For example, many career opportunities are available in the software industry, in large industrial labs, and in small startup companies. “Physics,” it has been said, “is whatever physicists are doing.” It is in that spirit that Physics Today will continue to cover the ever-changing job picture for physicists.