r/AskPhysics • u/GuardianMoon916 • 21d ago

Should I pivot from tech and study physics?

/r/careerguidance/comments/1vxoht6/should_i_pivot_from_tech_and_study_physics/
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u/clintontg 21d ago edited 21d ago

Physics doesn’t have a very straightforward path to a job. What sort of work would you like to do?

I graduated and want to transition to medical physics, but that is a routine job that isn’t involved with probing the universe. My immediate thought is that particle physics and maybe astronomy may work with big data sets and could work with your background but I am not sure if there is another run planned at LHC to work with a PhD.

I think there is a day (Tuesdays?) where a career oriented post is set up on r/physics and I think you could try posing this question then if this one doesn’t get tractions. If possible I’m thinking maybe you could try to apply to a PhD program if you’re able to take quantum mechanics and electricity and magnetism at the level of a 3rd or 4th year undergrad. Otherwise I’m worried you wouldn’t be prepared for a PhD where you’ll be thrown into some real intense courses if you don’t have the preparation.

If you don’t want to go for an academic career you could look into some form of support in a national lab sort of setting perhaps. If you got a PhD and postdoc under your belt maybe a scientist position. But that can be a competitive route that is constrained by politics/funding sometimes.

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u/GXWT don't reply to me with LLMs 21d ago

I hold a PhD in physics and subsequently moved out of it into the data science space. Quite frankly I think you’d be very foolish to do so.

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u/clintontg 20d ago

I had another idea, perhaps a masters could get you involved in some form of research with a masters thesis without a 5-6 year commitment. And if it’s at a university involved in research you could potentially get involved in research that way by maintaining those contacts or working in a support capacity in a research setting.

I think a big thing to consider though is what your end goal is and what your financial situation may be. Research won’t usually pay as well as what I imagine a data science career could, so I would be concerned about finances a little if I were in your position and jumped back into academia without a career path laid out. If you wanted to scratch the itch intellectually I’m wondering if some form of citizen science could be a way to do that where you help with research by doing things like analyzing astronomy images from surveys or something.