Jobs for the Major
How this major affects a job search
For lovers of science, being a physicist is pretty much the bee's knees. All scientific work is indeed important, but the study of physics incorporates the absolute basics. Without an understanding of the physical universe, we'd have confused chemists combining chemicals and perplexed paleontologists polishing paleoliths, which are not good situations to be in.
Physics provides a fundamental understanding of, well, everything. That means that you've got a lot of career options as a physicist. Other scientists may feel that their field is the most important (they're wrong), but that's between them.
As our collective thirst for knowledge has not yet been satiated, opportunities still abound. You may have a tougher time getting a basic research position in a lab than teaching physics at a high school, but if you've obtained your PhD from a respected university and really know your coulombs from your joules, you should be okay.
Physics majors with a Master's degree work in many of the same places that those with Bachelor's degrees do, but tend to take on more supervisory roles. Roughly half of those with PhDs are employed in academia. (Academia, for the record, involves instruction and learning, and is not a delicious nut. Just FYI.)
Common Career Fields
Aerospace Engineer. Engineers "figure stuff out" (technical definition). They solve problems. Lawyers engineer the legal system, doctors engineer your biology, and aerospace engineers figure out ways to make stuff work in air and space. Like…arrows, floating through outer space. Take that, doctors and lawyers. Naturally, these guys figure out everything involving planes and spaceships by researching, developing, and testing the materials and systems used in rockets. Why yes, this actually is rocket science.
Astronomer. As an astronomer, you'll become intimately familiar with actual stars—you know, the ones we're made of? You'll know all about the life cycle of stars, and deep space phenomena like nebulae, black holes, and other star systems. Plus, you'll use a telescope and other "tools," like parallax, ascension, declination, to tell (true) tales of worlds that are lightyears away from our own. Knowing all that stuff comes in handy when you're an astronomer, especially when you work for a company like NASA—or, if you're cool enough, maybe even SNASA, the guys who sent people to the moon.
Astronaut. Astronauts are scientists, explorers, teachers, and preachers (about the greatness of NASA and the glory of space exploration) rolled into one. They are men and women with a mission—even though, these days, there are very few actual missions to go on. Before you run off to NASA to sign up to be a future space cowboy, you may want to check out the chances of achieving your orbital dream.
Less than one percent of applicants are accepted into the grueling astronaut training program. For those who actually want to make it off planet Earth, polish your hitchhiking skills. In 2011, the U.S. ended its space shuttle program, which sent vehicles filled with astronauts to the orbiting international space station. If you want to get the heck out of Dodge—or Mission Control in Cape Canaveral—and into space, you'll have to muscle in on a Russian crew heading there in a Soyuz spacecraft.
Nuclear Engineer. You may think "a-bomb" when you even read or hear the word "nuclear." True, it was (and is) nuclear science that enabled countries to construct nuclear weapons, but nuclear science opens doors to scads more useful and peaceful applications. Nuclear engineers can work with electrical utility companies, designing and licensing electrical plants, while others may work with regulatory agencies providing information and consulting about best safety practices. They can even find a place in the government (often within the Department of Energy) while still others get into the medical field or food science. (Irradiated apples. Yum.)
Physicist. So you're into exploding particles. Developing and using microscopes so powerful you can see an electron. Using freakin' lasers as part of your job (perhaps attached to sharks?). So yeah, that makes you pretty powerful. Especially when you consider that the research and discoveries of physicists have led to the invention of the atom bomb, advancements in space exploration, and in systems of renewable energy.
Researcher. While a lot of physicists head into academia, the other half of PhDs engage in long-term research projects. These projects may either be in corporate labs or for the federal government. Not all physicists are rocket scientists—as you can see, there is actually quite a bit of diversity among those with degrees in physics...even if 94% of them do wear the exact same horn-rimmed glasses.
Seismologist. Seismologists are pretty much the reason California (where quakes happen daily) hasn't crumbled into a billion tiny hacienda-style pieces. In earthquake central, it's important to know how to build structures so they don't topple over. Seismologists do this by measuring the seismic waves that ripple through the ground. They can also predict what'll happen when a certain-sized earthquake hits. Perhaps it'll be a tsunami, a fire, damaged plumbing, or maybe just a skeptical Facebook status update ("Did anyone else feel that?"). If you live near a fault line, thank a seismologist.
Current unemployment of the major
6%Percentage of majors who get a higher degree after college
67%Stats obtained from this source.