Career Poll: Exploring Paths and Specializations in the Working World

[ZapperZ]

OK, let's go to those who selected Option 4:

4. I am working in a completely different field than what I had in mind when I was in elementary/high school or when I just started university.

I would be very much interested in hearing the reasons why you completely switched fields when compared to your "first love". Did you find a different "true love"? Were there economic pressures to go into a different field? Did you find that you couldn't make it in what you thought you wanted to do?

Note that you could have gotten your education and degree in the same field that you had in mind, but all that matter is your current profession that is now completely different than even the area of study that you originally envisioned when you were in high school/starting college.

Zz.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

In High School, I wanted to become an Electronics Engineer. My Degree is in Math. I am a Software Engineer. So I voted for 3 and 8. Besides, these were the only italicised choices I had.

The reason I switched from Engineering to Math was that I found the Physics much harder than the Math. The reason I became a Software Engineer is that I had an Atari home computer for recreation and found that I could make a better living with it than as a Mathematician.

 

[TMFKAN64]

I would be very much interested in hearing the reasons why you completely switched fields when compared to your "first love". Did you find a different "true love"? Were there economic pressures to go into a different field? Did you find that you couldn't make it in what you thought you wanted to do?

I didn't answer 4, because it was phrased in the present tense, but I'll answer this anyway as a hopefully soon-to-be 4...

I started out in Computer Science, and fell into the computer industry pretty quickly after graduation. I've done well enough there, at least financially, but I never really felt like I was accomplishing much... just writing mounds of code and fixing tons of bugs.

With time, I started to fall in love with physics, and a rather strange series of corporate mergers a few years ago left me in limbo for a year and a half while I waited to be laid off. I still had a job, but literally no work to do. I took advantage of the time to start taking upper division physics courses at a nearby university, and now I'm finishing up my MS in physics and hope to become a full-fledged 4 sometime later this year...

All of the economic pressures are to keep me in the same field... I'm an experienced programmer, but a novice student of physics. But as a certain film director once said, the heart wants what it wants...

 

[ZapperZ]

OK, so we are up to Option #5 now:

5. When I was in elementary/high school, or just started university, I had no clear idea what I wanted to become.

Those who selected this option, can you describe when you knew what you wanted to become, and then if you actually managed to do just that?

I selected this option. While in high school, I knew that I wanted to do something in science or engineering, but at that stage, one often thought of doing everything and anything. So I had no clear idea what I wanted to become, even though I had some idea of the general areas that I would want to do.

So when I got to college, the most "natural" thing to do was to major in physics. Even then, I still took a few engineering courses because I still didn't know for sure if I wanted to become a physicist. It was during this time, after taking a few engineering courses (luckily the physics degree requirements at UW-Madison at that time allowed for a number of credits of "free electives" from any subject area to count towards one's degree requirement, so the 2 engineering courses that I took counted) that I realized that I did not want to be an engineer, and that physics held a lot more fascination and challenge for me.

Still, I had no idea what area of physics I wanted to go into. As an undergraduate, this isn't a problem because one isn't required, or even has to commit, to go into a particular area of physics. Still, I did an internship at Fermilab between my Junior and Senior year, and that actually had a reverse effect on me by turning me OFF of particle physics! :) So by the time I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I still don't know what area I wanted to go into, but I knew that I didn't want to do high energy/particle physics! :)

It was during graduate school, after my qualifier, that I found my "calling" after I "shopped around" and found an area that I wanted to work in. It helped that the professor at an opening for an RA, and it also because quite enticing that the work was to be done at Argonne. To me, it was a no-brainer of a decision. It was the best decision I've made and basically is the single-most important decision that shaped my professional career. The rest is history and how I ended up as an accelerator physicist has already been described elsewhere.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Hum... No new entry for Option 5. Looks like we will have to move on.

Seriously, while this is a poll, and I can certainly collect statistics, I don't want this to just be a matter of numbers. This is why it is important that, if you have participated in the Poll, that you don't simply enter in your choices and not provide some idea on the circumstances surrounding such choices. No poll can truly reflect an accurate representation of those who participated, so I'm trying to go beyond that and get a clearer picture of what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.

Again, if you are not comfortable revealing such information in public, you are more than welcome to contact me via PM, and your identity will be kept secret when I compile all of this.

So now we come to the next group of selection.

6. I am working in exactly the same field of study and the same area of specialization (if any) that I received my degree in.

7. I am working in the same field of study that I received my degree in, but not the same area of specialization (if any).

8. I am not working the the same field of study that I received my degree in.

So in this case, it is not what you perceived what you want to be, but it is what you did pursue and successfully obtained a degree in such-and-such a field. Please describe (i) how you were able to successfully work in the same exact field of specialization as your degree (ii) what circumstances led you to work in a slightly different field or completely different field, and do you wish that you could find something in your field of specialization instead.

Please indicate how happy or satisfied you are with your current state, and in an ideal world, what you you prefer to be working in?

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

There's an article in Science Career section this week that's relevant to this poll. It is titled "http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_03_27/caredit.a0900040" ". It highlights 3 different people who had a major career shift, and certainly not what they planned on doing.

Zz.

 

[Deviousfred]

I'm not sure what to pick. In high school I wanted to be an mechanical engineer. I did engineering coursework for about 3 1/2 years and did very well before dropping out of college to join the military. Once I got out, I was way too far behind and had forgotten a lot of what I had learned to continue engineering so I decided to change majors to something I could finish rather quickly to start paying the mountain of bills. I chose Math/Science Education. I'm hoping to fereshen up in the engineering material and pursue a degree in engineering education so that I can teach engineering courses in high school and try to direct more engineers to colleges. I'm also working on getting certified for teaching Physics at the high school level and really just try to direct more students in science related fields.

If you're wondering why I dropped out of college in the first place, it was because I was stupid (not dumb just made bad decisions) and lacked motivation to finish college. If I could go back to engineering and start fresh I would do it in a heartbeat. It's rather complicated because of my situation in life and certain tuition issues at my university, but I will get that ME degree one day and maybe a Physics degree as well.

 

[Choppy]

I'll answer for # 5.

As I finished high school I know I wanted to go into the sciences. Medicine seemed like a good option, but I was infatuated with physics in the way that only high school kids can be infatuated. I took a first year of general science to play the field and found that I continued to enjoy and do very well in physics. Biology and chemisty were okay, but not something I had a passion for, so I transferred into physics as a major.

Even at the end of undergrad I didn't know what I wanted to do. One of my room mates actually convinced me to apply to chiropractic school of all things. Chiropractic... it was like picking up a girl at bar I knew nothing about. During the interview they told me I had a very impressive set of credentials for a physics major. "Why do you want to be a chiropractor?" they asked. I'm glad I didn't have a good answer, otherwise they may have accepted me. Dodged that one.

Fortunately I also applied to graduate school. My credentials were good enough to get in (although not everywhere I applied), but my problem was that I had so many other interests, I hadn't spent much time really thinking about the path I wanted to pursue in physics or researching the options available to me.

When you don't have a plan, you 'end up' places. I ended up in theoretical plasma physics. I stuck it out for two years and although I earned a master's degree, I knew well into it that I didn't want to stay in that field.

I went through a short affair where I was absoutely sure I was going to become a cop. I figured with a physics background I could quickly climb through the ranks and earn a detective position. A pair of un-lasikable eyes kept that dream out of reach though. I still think I would have been a good cop - although my friends who are cops don't seem to be very happy.

I always knew about medical physics. It was always in the periphery. You might say it was like that girl who's always in your class at school, but you never really talk to. What had always attracted me to physics had been the 'fundamental nature of the universe' type stuff - you know, the physics in the short skirts and tight sweaters.

Medical physics was a T-shirt and jeans with a nice personality.

But all it took was one other guy to take an interest in it.

One of the postdocs I worked with became infactuated with it and decided that was what he wanted to do with his life. I guess the prospect of jumping from post-doc to post-doc wasn't all that appealing to him.

So I eventually began attending some seminars and after a few I realized what it was all about. I applied to a few graduate programs for a Ph.D., got accepted, and haven't looked back since.

To answer #6, I'm working in the exact field of my Ph.D. I did a two year post-doc and am currently finishing up a residency in medical physics.

Sure a T-shirt and jeans are practical, but they're sexy in their own way.

 

[ZapperZ]

Thanks Choppy.

I'm hoping that there are many more accounts like this. Not only have you given a very clear story behind your decisions, but there's also a very valuable lesson that a lot of young physics students can learn out of it - that you can come to LOVE and cultivate an interest in an area of physics even if you don't think you'd like it in the beginning.

For many students, they pick a certain area of physics with a certain sense of "ignorance" about other fields. I've mentioned this many times already with regards to how many incoming students will tend to gravitate towards the "short skirt and tight sweater" physics that you've mentioned, while ignoring that other parts of physics not only are the "workhorses" of physics, but also can be "fundamental" as well.

In any case, I hope others who have responded to this survey can post their own situation and the circumstances surrounding where they end up. And those who haven't taken the poll, please do so!

Zz.

 

[71dsp]

I was a real screw off in HS. I was intelligent enough to make it through the classes without doing any studying. My saving grace is that my school used a weighted GPA and AP courses carried a heavier weight than "normal" courses. So I could make a C in an AP course and still have a decent GPA. Enough to graduate in the top quarter of my class.

So when I started college, my bad habits carried over. Needless to say, I flunked a few courses and was on my way to failing out of college. At this time I was an architect major and had switched to ME. I decided a needed a break, and a friend at the time, convinced me to join the national guard. Best decision I ever made. Being away from home in a military setting really helped me develop the discipline I needed. When I got back from training, I buckled down, and I was determined to bring my GPA up. After a couple of semesters, I grew tired of the ME courses (by this time, I was a junior by hours standards). I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I was always good with mathematics, so I decided to become a math major. My school was a little odd in that you had to remove yourself from one college before applying to change your major. So I requested that I be removed from the College of Engineering. When I went to the College of Science to become a math major, my GPA wasn't high enough! I should have done more research into the process, but I did not. So here I was, a junior, about to become a senior with an undeclared major! After a few semesters the math dept accepted me, so all was well. Sometime close to graduation, I had decided that I wanted to go to grad school. I didn't meet the minimum GPA requirements, and by my calcuations, I would meet them by the skin of my teeth if I did 4.0 semesters from that time until graduation. Fortunately for me, I did it. :)

I started grad school immediately after my undergrad program was complete. I did my master's in mathematics, and specifically in abstract algebra. I had aspirations of a PhD, but after some time in grad school, I discovered that I didn't have the drive and commitment that a PhD required. Much to my dismay, I don't believe I had the talent either. Regardless, I finished my masters and went into the work force.

I now work in the banking industry which I greatly enjoy. In fact, I'm graduating this semester with an MS in Quantitative Finance. I'm taking a stochastic process course in the IE dept, and the professor has been trying to recruit me into the IE PhD program. I have to say, I'm giving it some serious consideration. However, I can't do the GTA/GRA thing. That would be an 80% pay cut for me which is way too much, as I now have a wife and family. Regardless, stochastic processes and the way they relate to financial instruments is of interest to me. I just don't have time to learn it on my own.

However, with all the car projects I do, I really wish I would have finished that ME degree!

 

[ZapperZ]

There's about 10 days left in this poll if you haven't participated already. I hope to write something about it when it is closed. If you care to reveal the circumstances surrounding the choices you made in this poll, that would be a tremendous help.

Cheers!

Zz.

 

[D H]

I voted 1 and 8.

1.
I grew up in the Apollo era. Making spacecraft go from one place to another, and in particular making them dock as in 2001: A Space Odyssey was just too cool. So, 40 years after the release of that movie, here I am working for a company that specializes in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control, and in particular, specializes in rendezvous and proximity operations for human-rated spacecraft . And I don't even have a degree in this field!


8.
NASA was pretty much gutted while I was in college, with human spaceflight taking the biggest hit. My high school dreams were just juvenile pipe dreams. I majored in physics, did a senior research project with my previous year's stat thermo instructor on a fairly new aspect of physics that is now called chaos theory. I was accepted into a couple of PhD program, one with some money attached: I was good to go. Not quite. My adviser convinced me, two days before graduation and 100 miles way from school, that I did not want to go into physics as a career. I was the best man at a wedding. I got a phone call right before the wedding. How he found out where I was, how he found some weasel way to keep from graduating (I took five liberal arts courses in my first two years, three in my last two years, instead of four and four), and why he did that are beyond me. A good friend at the wedding had graduated a year before I did (also in physics) asked whether petty school politics such as this was what I wanted to face for the rest of my life. "I could help you get a job at NASA -- unmanned space rather than human spaceflight, but it is still NASA". So, here I am. Not quite. It took another twenty years to get to the point where I was doing exactly what I envisioned doing in high school.

 

[Astronuc]

I voted 1 and 8.

1.
I grew up in the Apollo era. Making spacecraft go from one place to another, and in particular making them dock as in 2001: A Space Odyssey was just too cool. So, 40 years after the release of that movie, here I am working for a company that specializes in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control, and in particular, specializes in rendezvous and proximity operations for human-rated spacecraft . And I don't even have a degree in this field!


8.
NASA was pretty much gutted while I was in college, with human spaceflight taking the biggest hit. My high school dreams were just juvenile pipe dreams. I majored in physics, did a senior research project with my previous year's stat thermo instructor on a fairly new aspect of physics that is now called chaos theory. I was accepted into a couple of PhD program, one with some money attached: I was good to go. Not quite. My adviser convinced me, two days before graduation and 100 miles way from school, that I did not want to go into physics as a career. I was the best man at a wedding. I got a phone call right before the wedding. How he found out where I was, how he found some weasel way to keep from graduating (I took five liberal arts courses in my first two years, three in my last two years, instead of four and four), and why he did that are beyond me. A good friend at the wedding had graduated a year before I did (also in physics) asked whether petty school politics such as this was what I wanted to face for the rest of my life. "I could help you get a job at NASA -- unmanned space rather than human spaceflight, but it is still NASA". So, here I am. Not quite. It took another twenty years to get to the point where I was doing exactly what I envisioned doing in high school.

You forgot to mention the summer at CSM! For me it was my first direct exposure to nuclear engineering - and I met some really nice girls - including the one I took to prom even though we lived 90 miles apart and went to different (obviously) high schools.

One of the guys in the CSM program that summer ended up with a PhD in Astrophysics, and I saw him on a PBS-NOVA program talking about his satellite-based experiment. Unfortunately, it failed. Anyway, he is now a prof at CalTech.

 

[D H]

You forgot to mention the summer at CSM! For me it was my first direct exposure to nuclear engineering - and I met some really nice girls - including the one I took to prom even though we lived 90 miles apart and went to different (obviously) high schools.

That was pretty intense, especially for a high school kid. I went in knowing some simple math and some very simple physics and electronics. In two weeks we learned the basics of calculus (one week each for differentiation and integration). Six weeks after that, we had built a J-K flip flop, built a near ideal power supply, and experimented with various radioactive materials.

 

[Astronuc]

That was pretty intense, especially for a high school kid. I went in knowing some simple math and some very simple physics and electronics. In two weeks we learned the basics of calculus (one week each for differentiation and integration). Six weeks after that, we had built a J-K flip flop, built a near ideal power supply, and experimented with various radioactive materials.

We did the same. But at the end of two weeks, the university students gave us a killer final on calculus because we kept them up at night.

It was a lot of fun though. Did you visit Rocky Flats?

I have to be careful not to derail Zz's thread.

 

[ZapperZ]

As per Msg #10, I've subtracted one vote from Option 1 and added one vote to Option 2.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll. While the poll is closed already, you may still leave your responses to your poll selection in here since the thread will remain open.

I hope to write something based on this non-scientific poll soon, and it sort of illustrates a point that I'm trying to get across. So stay tune...

Zz.