r/Physics • u/RoundElephant5876 • 6d ago

employed physicist

Those of you who have completed research physics and are currently working, how is it, what exactly do you do, are you satisfied, do you work inside your country (and if yes, which one) or abroad, online, how difficult was it for you to get your current job?

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u/SISComputer 5d ago

Bachelors in physics, research was in plasmonics/photonics and now I'm working as a material scientist at a fuel cell company. I got the job through a professor at my undergrad university because I graduated in 2021 and the job market was grim (can't even imagine it now).

I've climbed up from a lowly lab technician to a materials scientist in 5 years and I do love what I do. Corporate R&D can be frustrating but it's nice making comfortable money and going home at 5pm and not having to work insane hours.

I sometimes wonder what if I went to grad school but I'm happy where I'm at.

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u/RoundElephant5876 5d ago

That seems great, you can always go to grad school.

Could you explain more about the job market? Is it hard to find a job?

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u/SISComputer 4d ago

When I graduated a lot of places weren't hiring because it was still sort of during the COVID lockdown/masked up era so it was difficult to find a job right out of college. Luckily all my friends from school managed to find some engineering/science job but it was a bit tough and none of us are exactly in the fields we studied.

The market now seems non-existent, other friends of mine have been apply to everything non-stop for months and they're still struggling to find a position.

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u/RoundElephant5876 4d ago

Dang, sad to hear that. What country is that if you mind sharing?

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u/SISComputer 4d ago

The US

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u/RoundElephant5876 4d ago

I hope the situation gets better