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Physics degree graduates

mark2003

People who have graduated/are graduating soon with an undergraduate degree in Physics but chose not to pursue a postgraduate degree, what types of jobs have you done/looked to get into? I'm considering studying it and wondering what the career prospects are like without postgraduate education.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

I haven't, but know some physicists - most ended up doing a PhD, but one who didn't went on to work at the Met Office as a software engineering grad scheme thing (purely software engineering, not the science/modelling side at all). I also know one who did do a PhD, and then left academia to work as a data scientist at a large insurance company. It's pretty common for physics grads to go into various financial services fields in general, even without a PhD.

There are also of course the vast majority of grad scheme roles which have no specific degree requirements or preferences, including in financial services, banking, general business/management focused grad schemes, the media, the civil service, law training contracts etc. Plus then there are possible roles in various NGOs and similar. It's really more a question of how imaginative you are in considering where to apply...

Obviously there are also some more physics related roles in the engineering area (particularly modelling oriented roles where an engineering degree isn't required because it's not a design role), and in e.g. the energy sector, defence sector, etc, more generally.