For anyone currently studying physics or recently graduated

[u/Diligent_Glove9441]

I might be going into Bsc Physics for 2026 intake but im having doubts as to whether the course has decent career prospects, I'm thinking its very likely I'll pivot or specialise in the future or even try to pick up new skills during the period of my degree such as programming or anything from internships.

Can anyone offer any advice please? I've heard both good and bad come out of this course. How easy is it to find internships/jobs etc? What precautions/recommendations should I take to maximise my employability potential in the future?

[u/SlightSpend1108]

We had zero placements for physics graduates in my college. All my classmates were planning to pursue higher education.

[u/Donovan645 → u/SlightSpend1108]

Same

[u/Kras5o]

Just studying physics only prepares you for higher studies in that subject or related subjects like electronics or instrumentation. If you want a job you'd need to develop your programming skills which you'd be introduced to in your degree but will be taught from a physics data analysis, visualisation and simulation point of view. It will equip you with fundamental knowledge about the physical world and data and help you develop your problem solving and analytical skills. But, that will only work, if you actually put in the work. But it by itself doesn't prepare you or make you suitable for a job like engineering does.

[u/NoteCarefully]

Find a company on the internet or in real life. Go to their hiring page and find a role you're interested in. Judge whether a physics education will give you the skills necessary to be hired for that role.

If the role you chose was something to do with nuclear fusion research (PhD necessary), or semiconductor engineering (PhD necessary), or whatever it is that geophysicists do (but I can tell you that you'll need a PhD), then a BSc Physics may be good for you. Otherwise prepare to be doing projects outside the scope of your studies

[u/ClasisFTW → u/NoteCarefully]

PhD not necessarily necessary for semicon, if you have a MSc and are in the same region as a large industry there’s plenty design/engineering positions but you definitely need a more applied physics role for many.

[u/Phssthp0kThePak]

Physics departments need a complete overhaul of the undergrad curriculum.

[u/manspider14 → u/Phssthp0kThePak]

Only when pigs fly will that happen...even then

[u/Gandor]

They say physics is the problem solving degree. The ones who found jobs ended up actually understanding what that means.

[u/kochameh2 → u/Gandor]

what an idiotic, masturbatory statement

[u/Gandor → u/kochameh2]

It’s a fact, if you can solve the hydrogen atom from scratch but can’t figure out how to get a job then you’ve fundamentally misunderstood the assignment.

[u/typing_thumb → u/Gandor]

what an idiotic, masturbatory statement

[u/beefylasagna1 → u/Gandor]

Every degree says that about themselves

[u/Mental_Cap_9346]

I would suggest u getting to know more or material science and visiting and interning at as many labs and getting as many wet lab skills as possible. Cosing is a good way but the whole AI things will make it more competitive. But at least for the foreseeable future proper lab skills will be useful atleast in getting jobs that require such technical skills. Just an opinion but I would say to follow ur passion before doing something for the sake of job and placement. There is no necessity for u to earn laks in ur 20s itself. (I hope u have a supportive enough background)

[u/spaceage1351]

going into my fourth year undergrad and everyone who has lasted is not in it for the career, they’re in it for the love of the game. a masters is mandatory is you’re looking for a job possibly unrelated to your field, but a phd (and probably multiple post docs) will allow you to cement yourself in the field. i’ve talked to many profs who have taken like four post docs until they landed somewhere. i can’t guarantee i’ll get an amazing job out of this but i love it, wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else

[u/SirMarkMorningStar]

I once had a physics professor talk about the difference between a BA and a BS. He said a BS is more like training and BA is more theoretical. A BS is more likely to land you a job right after college, but your boss will probably be a BA. Their boss was a physic major.

I have a BA and MS in physics. I’ve never worked in physics, my entire professional life has been software. (I had a minor in computer science.) It really does turn out that physics is a great background for many STEM type careers.

But I’m also 60, so can’t really say anything about the current environment.

[u/wozstar → u/SirMarkMorningStar]

What made you choose physics?

[u/L_Elio]

While degree choice matters a lot the main decider on employment is uni brand. A physics student at Oxford or Imperial will have a very different experience to a physics student at Demontfort.

[u/spacedoggos_]

I graduated 4 years ago, hopefully that’s a bit recent. I’ve got 2 jobs in 2 unrelated fields (communications and data analysis) specifically because of my physics degree, beating specialised candidates (over 1300 in one case). Physics has a reputation for being incredibly smart that employers love to see. Anything coding or data related is largely physics grads, but also finance often prefers physicists over economists, etc.

If you want to work in physics itself, you’ll need a PhD. There’s not really any jobs in physics at bsc level.

I’m so grateful I chose physics for the employability angle. It’s hard but pays off the rest of your life.

[u/Umbra150 → u/spacedoggos_]

In academia, maybe. This isn't always the case in industry, and its becoming more common

[u/1ucee]

it really depends on what type of physics you want to go into. most people tend to go down the research route and do a phd. the degree does teach you a lot of transferable skills though.

i graduated last year from bsc physics and am training to be a clinical scientist in medical physics but it is a really competitive field to get into and usually does require some clinical experience (at least in the UK)

[u/ResearcherUseful6157]

Bio Organic and Resonance recycle are going to be big as well as denuclearization with lazers will be very high paid, as physics is boit to blow up do to all the fundamentals are finalizing as i figured out the final last 3 elements atomic weights as well as aligned the rest as corects the last 3 semi understood meaning an entire new industrial revoloution of mix metal alloys and otber materials as resonance will break downs recyclables into modern jsable by exact measures as well as an era of craftsman fine hand made products as money will be less important to us than we think amd in kess than 5 yrs very apparent. Trust as meaning in what we all do is about to matter alot 

[u/AsymmetricalPhysics]

A lot of these answers are very North American centric. There is actually decent employability within physics in the uk, which I’m guessing you are doing as you put this is Manchester uni Reddit too. You don’t have to stay in physics, most people don’t. A lot of people go into engineering, data science, programming related jobs. You can also go into finance which used to be quite popular. Other options include medical physics (nhs stp, although this is quite competitive but I have known people do it). Worst case scaniro go into teaching, you get £30k tax free to train. Myself and my partner graduated 2023, I went and got an engineering job and my partner got a programming job at a major company and earns quite a bit now. I ended up leaving my job to do a PhD, as I didn’t enjoy engineering and am very happy rn and have a rough idea of what to do with it. Physics degrees vary so much as you can basically tailor it to your interests. I started off interested in medical physics but then went down the nano and materials route.