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/xrelaht Condensed matter physics 4d ago edited 4d ago
I am an American working in the US for a European company that makes high fidelity photon detectors. I am the primary technical point of contact in the US, and a secondary sales contact. I am made much stronger in each of those through my research background, both my PhD and my postdoc work. Dealing with customers brings an entirely different set of problems than doing research, but it’s an interesting experience and I’m happy with it so far. We have customers in many fields, and I am constantly having to learn what they do so I can communicate with them better. This was seen as a major advantage of hiring me instead of someone with a MS.
I don’t technically work “online” because I am building an assembly & service lab here and I have to travel on site to visit with customers, but I work from home any day I’m not traveling or working in that lab. I’m out of town about one week a month and I’m in that lab one day a week when I’m in town, but I expect that to increase once it’s finished and we start routing US orders through there.
Finding a job that was a good fit was difficult, but that’s partly because of my own expectations about where I saw myself going and a reticence to leave research. Once I connected with this company, it was like putting on a good pair of shoes: very easy interviewing and onboarding process.
The building we have the service lab in is across the street from where I did my postdoc. In principle, I am still on projects with that group. In fact, I’ve been encouraged to do so by my manager. In practice, I don’t have time to participate much. The most I’ve managed to do so far is give advice to the grad students who are working on them.