Job Prospects For Physicists

Common Career Paths

Physicists find employment in a variety of settings after earning their degrees--including high schools, government funded labs, on wall street, in medical physics facilities, and high tech industries, just to name a few!

Explore our career track profiles to learn about typical educational background, salary, future outlook, and daily activities.

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Consultant in Industry

Business, technology, and education consultants work with various clients, combining data and analytics skills with relevant knowledge to find solutions within that sector.
 

Consultant
Data Science

Data Science is a growing field in which many physicists find jobs. A data scientist works on designing and developing data models, often working with a team.
 

Data Science in Industry
Faculty at Bachelors/Liberal Arts Institutions

Faculty positions at Bachelors/ Liberal Arts Institutions carry a strong emphasis on teaching and providing research experiences for students.
 

Faculty at Bachelors/Liberal Arts Institutions
Faculty at Doctoral Research Institution

Faculty at Research/Doctoral institutions juggle many different responsibilities, including teaching, service, and managing research projects.
 

Faculty at Doctoral/Research Institutions
Woman reading CT scan results

Medical physics opens doors to many types of career paths, including research and development, clinical work, teaching, and entrepreneurship.
 

Medical Physics
Postdoctoral Research in an Academic Institution

A single postdoctoral appointment in an academic institution will typically last two to three years, and will provide an opportunity for PhD graduates to build final skills and techniques necessary for success as an academic researcher.
 

Postdoctoral Positions in an Academic Institution
Research & Development in the Private Sector

Physicists in the private sector spend time working on projects in a team where they are responsible for achieving specific goals of a project. For physicists working in R&D, this involves doing a significant amount of physics research.
 

Research & Development in the Private Sector
Sales & Marketing

Physicists working in sales and marketing bring their considerable technical knowledge into play when describing products or processes to potential customers. This career is surprisingly well suited to individuals who enjoy explaining physics concepts.
 

Sales & Marketing
Government Funded Laboratory

Physicists in government funded laboratories come from a variety of backgrounds and degree paths, and spend their time building, testing, and taking measurements on state of the art equipment.
 

Physicist in a Government Funded Laboratory

Careers for Physics Bachelors

Believe it or not, nearly 50% of physics bachelors go directly into the workforce after graduation!

High School Physics Teacher

Teaching high school physics is one of the most rewarding uses of your degree. Few careers will allow you to have as much of an impact on young minds as that of a physics teacher.
 

High School Physics Teacher
Government Funded Laboratory

Physics Bachelors working in national labs have excellent opportunities to work with cutting edge technology and support exciting projects.
 

Government Funded Laboratory
Private Sector

Physics Bachelors working in the private sector have excellent earning potential, often working the same computer science and engineering jobs as graduates in those fields.
 

Private Sector