Question to those who went through Uni (esp. Physics grads)

How many of you are still in the field that you studied? I'm just finishing the second year of my Physics course and looking ahead I find myself totally clueless as to what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. Our next door neighbour is an electrician and right now I think a life as a sparky wouldn't be half bad, but I'm remarkably indecisive.

Anyone got any career-change stories to relate?

 

I've never worked in the field that I studied (Economics). Although I'm pretty sure it helped me land my current job.

 

I've heard a lot of people say that rather a lot of people in physics courses don't actually go into physics.

 

I did Technology for 2 years at Jordanstown and didn't bother to finish. No jobs in it anyway. I only ever heard of one person who studied in it working in the same area, and he said he was a bit of an exception!

 

Physics + Mathematics = Engineering

^ That's what I was always told; it's the reason I'm a sparky myself.

You can do alot worse I assure you.

 

2 years in Jordanstown feels like 20 years in Maghaberry
I did my first year at Jordanstown, then transferred from the poly to Coleraine.

My degree is in Biology, but I now work in IT for a Government Agency. It's been over 12 years since I worked in a Biological field and I left due to the lack of jobs in that sector, after I left uni, I could only get temp jobs working in Biological fields, the only permanent job I could get was in the lab in the Bacon factory just outside Ballymoney, but it burned down the week before I was due to start so I sold my soul to the Civil Service and ended up in the IT strand.

I used to work for the Dept for Employment and Learning in NI and ran reports on the destinations on leavers from Higher education so had evidence that 1 year after graduating the majority of graduates worked in areas not related to their degree. We used to run courses for graduates to give them skills in areas that were in demand and that their degree didn't cover.

 

I do physics atm and have just about finished my second year (sigh, several to go yet!). Im doing an honours in computational physics and want to go into the games industry in some way, whether it being to help design and program games, produce them or just help create the middleware physics engines its the kind of things im looking to do at some point. Certainly have alot of work to do before then though with respect to learning HOW to make games!

Physics simulations is always a route I dont mind taking though - while im not the best at physics i've always shown a competance for programming and its something I enjoy so why not

I suspect many who do a physics degree dont go into the industry because its such a hardcore course to take - byt the end of it I expect to be frazzled and totally void of enthusiasm for the subject... but i'll have a physics degree and ergo can do anything in the world, ever.

 

See, I likes the sound of that

 

Well im just about to complete my course of Offshore Engineering at Newcastle and ive been offered one job as a "Drilling Technition" by Schlumberger, been for an interview for Graduate Engineer with Technip and am in the first stages of being head hunted for a position as a jnr Drilling Engineer by Halliburton. And although i had drilling engineering as part of my course (one module) im still debating with myself about what i want to do! Schlum isnt a engineering job as such, but could be turned into one through time if i forced it although with Technip its not drilling but will get me to Chartered Status. And chartered status does seem to stroak my ego a little LAGMonkey CEng....mmmmmmm

Although saying that weve had some Accountant firms pop in the department to get us to work for them.

 

Add more maths to physics? Are you mad? Physics and Engineering are basically the same thing, just engineering tends to be a more practical degree and physics more of a theoretical one. With an engineering degree you tend to learn skills like CAD and design techniques that you wouldn't learn in physics.

It is true that most physics students don't go into a career with it, lots become engineers. A physics degree would get you into most jobs that don't require a specialist degree. The main reason jobs require a degree nowadays is it's an easy way for employers to see that someone has "life skills".

 

My dad did physics, ended up doing a PhD in Astrophysics only to become a FORTRAN programmer. I did Engineering, and am working in it full time and loving it (well, most of the time).
Oh, and real life engineering involves a hell of a lot less maths than it did at university - in real life you only need to be able to remember where to look up how to do the hard mathsy bits and have a feel for if the numbers you're getting are dodgy.

 

BA Public Relations - I start my job in a month

 

Software Engineering, on placement which is fairly relative to my job, as someone on my SCM forum put it "Your job will always be full of ****, that's why when you get a proper one you'll be paid one hell of a lot"

 

pdf27 - what branch of engineering?

 

I'm about two months from getting my Masters in International Relations.

Sounds fancy, but I have no idea what I'll end up doing.
Was wanting to do civil service, but now I'd just like to see more of the world and stop going to school.

Probably not the sort of answer you were looking for as it isn't a "practical" degree.
I rather wish I had done something in the sciences.

 

Uni: Software Engineering
Job: Programmer / Developer / Software Engineer

 

Being a Chartered Engineer is over-rated. Only other Chartered Engineers actually give a sh*t.

I went for a job a year or two ago; I was asked by an agent if I had any qualifications beyond my degree that might swing it for me. I pointed out that I was a Chartered Engineer. He responded that it's 'not quite an MCP but it will do, I suppose'.

WTF? One takes years to accomplish and is an indication of your attitude and your approach to the industry. The other says that you have done a couple of exams on Microsoft Word.

But the thing is, neither the agent nor the employer knew much about CEng, whereas plastic qualifications like MCPs were (and are) all the rage.

 

God that must have smelt good. If there's any factory that I'd like to be near when it burnt down it'd be a bacon factory.

Mmmm bacon.


Um and yes I am in the field that I studied but that was computer science. I'm using a surprising number of things that I learned while at uni for work. My housemate has a degree in Astrophysics and wants to do something related. Unfortunately he barely even passed (not even a 3rd) so he's currently working for phones4u...

 

Just move near a crematorium, it's close enough to the smell.

 

I my degree qualified as both Aero and Mechanical engineering. I now work on vacuum pumps (ultra high vacuum/very high rotational speed ones) which is turning into a wierd hybrid of mechanical engineering, physics and programming (VBA).