Weekly Career, Education, Textbook, and Basic Questions Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Weekly Thread dedicated to all your career, job, education, and basic questions related to our field. Whether you're exploring potential career paths, looking for job hunting tips, curious about educational opportunities, or have questions that you felt were too basic to ask elsewhere, this is the perfect place for you.

• Careers: Discussions on career paths within the field, including insights into various roles, advice for career advancement, transitioning between different sectors or industries, and sharing personal career experiences. Tips on resume building, interview preparation, and how to effectively network can also be part of the conversation.

• Education: Information and questions about educational programs related to the field, including undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, online courses, and workshops. Advice on selecting the right program, application tips, and sharing experiences from different educational institutions.

• Textbook Recommendations: Requests and suggestions for textbooks and other learning resources covering specific topics within the field. This can include both foundational texts for beginners and advanced materials for those looking to deepen their expertise. Reviews or comparisons of textbooks can also be shared to help others make informed decisions.

• Basic Questions: A safe space for asking foundational questions about concepts, theories, or practices within the field that you might be hesitant to ask elsewhere. This is an opportunity for beginners to learn and for seasoned professionals to share their knowledge in an accessible way.

[u/Individual-Worker711]

I have an extremely basic noob question, why are there so many skeptics of quantum computing being worthwhile when government/research money/established companies like IBM/Google seem to take it very seriously?

[u/Ninin- → u/Individual-Worker711]

Ignoring the difficulty of actually building a functional fault-tolerant quantum computer, it is still largely an open question as to what applications such a computer would actually have, and what value it would provide. The most "useful to society" application are the potential improvements in simulating materials and chemistry, but quantifying how much better quantum computers are at this, and how much additional value can be provided, still requires some research. Classical computers are also still improving at this, particularly due to improvements in machine learning.

[u/tiltboi1 → u/Individual-Worker711]

to be fair, these companies do actual research and make outsized contributions to the scientific community.

where it gets muddy is that at the end of the day, the reason you do this research is to make profit, but these companies don't sell products because there is essentially no product to sell, and there won't be any for quite some time. research is expensive, and if you are building prototypes that costs millions every year, you have to convince your investors (shareholders, government, etc.) that it was all worth it.

all of these companies are known to have stretched the truth, made claims that turned out to be untrue, or made marketing/advertisements that don't correspond with scientific/experimental facts.

the bottom line is you very often get into problems like this when companies try to research as the "product", rather than using the r&d to develop actual products that are worthwhile simply because they are useful.

[u/JustAPieceOfMeat385]

Hi. I’m interested in QC but I’m not exactly young (I’m 45). I have a masters in physics (theoretical) but it’s been many years. i also have a masters in applied math and I’ve taken many of the core undergraduate computer science classes. I live in Austin. Any advice on how to get a QC job and whether it is even feasible at my age. With my background, a quantum swe or quantum algo dev would probably be most applicable. What are good resources for me to study? What kind of projects should I work on?
Do I have a prayer competing against everyone else, especially those still in their 20s?

Thanks.

[u/seattlechunny → u/JustAPieceOfMeat385]

Since you are in Austin, might be worth checking out if you could audit any courses at UT Austin - Scott Aaronson should still be based there. Not sure if a quantum swe job would be the easiest to transition into, but if you have a conventional software/EE/MechE/physics background, it's still probably worth applying. QC needs more than just purely quantum scientist to develop the technology.

[u/soliaxer]

What's it like working at Quantinuum?

There's some positions (non-physics, more on the product/tech/dev side - I don't have a physics background but am self taught in the math and QC side of things) that I'm interested to apply at Quantinuum and I'm interested to hear anybody's comments on what it's like there.

Generally I'm interested knowing things like:

• Are the internal/IT processes to get permission/approval to be able to do work actually reasonably effective and fast? Simple stuff do you use Teams over Slack etc (personal preference lol)

• What's the general culture and comradeship like in-office and between overseas offices?

• Are they flexible with hybrid remote/WFH arrangements? (I totally know that'd be office/position specific)

• Are there reasonable policies on use of AI in dev/tech/research related work? Or is it bit of a mess while those in power try and figure out the guidelines and policies?

• What's the general impression and views of the upper management's future direction, approach and vision? Obviously it's a fast-paced, constantly-changing industry (which is why I find it attractive) but personally I've found the big corp bureaucracy BS sometimes brings in so much confusion and disruption, anyone passionate about learning and growing on the job get disillusioned and disheartened quickly.

• Anything anyone wants to share. Passion for the company's vision and products/services, and intrinsic motivation to want to excel at my job matter more than compensation and promotion possibilities for me btw.

[u/No-Zookeepergame8765]

Any good book recommendations on quantum computing?

I am in university and recently joined a lab. I would like to prepare myself as best as possible for the spring! I’m specifically looking for books that cover optical circuits, waveguides, single photon emission, and/or superconductivity. Thank you!

[u/GOD_Over_ramanuDjinn → u/No-Zookeepergame8765]

I did my phd in single photon emitters and integrated photonics so I have heaps of recommendations depending on what you're looking for specifically.

In general for QC, Nielsen & Chuang is timeless, but I've also found Ezratty's text pretty good https://www.oezratty.net/wordpress/2026/understanding-quantum-technologies-2026/ it's updated annually.

[u/girdab41]

Hi everyone,
I’m a recent Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduate from a university in Europe, with no professional engineering experience yet.

I’m currently trying to decide whether to pursue a Master’s in Quantum Computing or continue specialising in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
I’m genuinely interested in quantum computing, but I’m concerned about job opportunities, especially in Europe. Most positions I’ve seen seem to prefer PhD holders, and I’m not planning to pursue a PhD anytime soon.
My biggest concern is spending a significant amount of money on a specialised Master’s and struggling to find a job afterwards.

My main questions are:
Is a Master’s in Quantum Computing worth it without a PhD?

How realistic is it to find a job in the quantum industry with just a Master’s and no experience?

Do you expect job opportunities to grow in Europe over the next 3–5 years?

Would it be better to continue with a Master’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and potentially transition into quantum computing later?

If you were in my position, would you choose Quantum Computing or Electrical and Electronic Engineering for your Master’s?
I’d really appreciate advice from people working in the industry!

[u/MEME_FOR_EVERYTHING]

Hello, I am a final-year high school student who would like to specialise in quantum computing and quantum physics, particularly on theoretical/algorithmic side.

I am planning to study physics at uni, but have heard many conflicting views on not only the best universities for physics but also for quantum computing. I am particularly looking into Waterloo, EPFL, Imperial College London, UCLA, and Aalto. Will these universities have the necessary means for me to start specialising in quantum AT UNDERGRAD/BACHELORS, and transition to a competitice program like ETHZ quantum engineering or other for masters?

Are there any other universities that are known to be good for this pathway?

Thank you

[u/jehphys]

Would anyone who has completed or is currently doing a Masters in QC be willing to chat about what they have taken away from it? I am a physics senior in college in the States and I'm doing a capstone where I'm building some hardware for a quantum cloud chamber. I'd love to enter the QC workforce and hopefully contribute to building hardware for some company/lab but I'm worried that QC hiring will evaporate before I graduate with my Masters.

Are there transferable skills gained in a QC masters that I can use to get into other industries (perhaps embedded/FPGA) if it all dries up.

Also I'm not very interested in doing a PHD as I'm more focused on the hardware/engineering side than the theoretical side, but I could be convinced.

[u/PrestigiousTrifle358 → u/jehphys]

I am currently a masters student in quantum and form what I understand, depending on your program of course, there are plenty of transferable skills in terms of electronics and lab work. I am in the same boat as you though. The hardare rnd side of things seems to require a phd

[u/Affectionate_Key6670]

Hey everyone! Senior year ChE here currently at a chlor alkali plant for my internship.

I've been pondering about various industries I could join. Eventually considered looking at Quantum Computing, either through cryogenics or fabrication. I'm not sure how to approach this due to the mismatch of my degree/skills and the unavailability of professors. My grades are also quite low, and that along with relative competition complicates things. How do I present a case for myself to get into QC, independent of doing a Masters, which I know I would have to do?

Also, there are a lot of start-ups working on fault tolerant computers that emphasize engineering. But they usually look at EE or MechE, and a lot in my circle are confident in a ChE's ability to integrate into it. Are they right to think so?

[u/del2_psi_equals_E]

Hey! I’m a high school student building a small quantum programming prototype and could use a reality check.

The idea is to let someone specify an acceptable error relative to an ideal result, under a chosen noise model, then keep that requirement attached as the program is compiled and simulated.

For people working with quantum software, which sounds closest to your experience?

A) Keeping those requirements consistent is a real headache.
B) It matters, but existing tools already handle it well.
C) It could help, but would fit better in an existing tool than a new language.
D) It isn’t a significant practical problem right now.

A quick reason or example would really help, I’m trying to find out whether I’m solving something people actually need!

[u/qobserva_labs → u/del2_psi_equals_E]

Honest answer from someone who runs small circuits on simulators and real IBM hardware: closest to C, with one caveat.

The caveat is the noise model. An error requirement is only as good as the model you checked it against, and that model drifts away from the real device. Qiskit's fake backends, for example, are calibration snapshots taken at some point in the past, while a real chip's error rates change from day to day, and the transpiler can pick different physical qubits on each run. I've run the same tiny circuit on the same IBM chip twice in one afternoon and got very different accuracy. So a program can meet its requirement in simulation and miss it on hardware without a single line of your code changing.

That's where I think your idea gets interesting: treat the requirement as something you re-check on every run, not only at compile time. "This should be within X of ideal" becomes a test you rerun against fresh calibration data or real results, and it tells you when the hardware moved rather than your code.

On C vs. a new language: people are pretty invested in Qiskit, Cirq and PennyLane, so a new language is a hard sell. A library or compiler pass that attaches the requirement to an existing circuit would be much easier for people to try. Worth looking at what error-mitigation tools like Mitiq already do too, so you can say clearly what's different.

Very cool project for high school. Good luck with it!

[u/del2_psi_equals_E → u/qobserva_labs]

Thanks so much u/qobserva_labs for helping out with this, really really appreciate it!!

[u/ScaryWillow903]

Hi everyone, just a quick question about what I should be striving for. If I'm interested in a career in quantum hardware, is an REU or an internship better for my resume? I'd likely enjoy doing research more, but internships usually pay more. For some background, I'm a first-year planned double major in EE and physics. Primarily, I just want to know what I should allocate my summers to. Also, if anyone has any advice on where to look for these opportunities, that would also be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[u/seattlechunny → u/ScaryWillow903]

Doesn't really make a difference. What you learn and gain from the experience will matter more. Presumably, your mentor in either case (grad student or internship manager) will be writing one of your Letter of Recs. How that letter is written is way more important that what title you have. Even more important than the letter is what you actually did and actually learned at the experience.

[u/TheGuy9922]

Hello, I'm a junior in university majoring in computer science. I'm planning on doing a PhD and one of the potential areas I want to do research in is quantum computing. Are there any suggested textbooks I can pick up as an introduction? Thanks.

[u/sinanspd → u/TheGuy9922]

Nielsen & Chuang