Careers for physicists

Unlike Engineering, Physics is not a pre-professional degree, and there is no one career path for students with degrees in Physics. For example, getting a PhD does not necessarily lead to being a Physics professor — while some fraction of people will get academic positions, many others will be successful in many different private-sector and government jobs.

Physics is a degree that gives you excellent training in curiosity-driven problem solving. Many employers value this kind of training and appreciate the unique perspective that Physics graduates bring to other fields.

The fields in which physicists can work in academia, government and the private sector are varied. Some examples include (but are not at all limited to):

• astronomy and cosmology;
• data science;
• education and science communication;
• finance;
• geophysics and geology
• law;
• MBA and entrepreneurship;
• medicine and medical/health research;
• robotics;
• satellite and radar technology;
• software engineering and development;