- #1
ThomGunn
- 20
- 0
Hello,
I'm a graduate student who failed their quals, and as such will be terminating my physics education with a masters degree. Up to this point in my education I've done excellently, but due to several factors I've was unable to pass the quals. This isn't really an issue because one of the factors I mentioned before is that as time has gone on I've realized the university I'm attending isn't a great fit for me. Furthermore, my interest in physics has diminished and at this point I'm far more interested in pursuing a career in an unrelated or minorly related field.
This is where I need help. I know many of the fields that are open to physics majors degree holders:Finance,Software,Managerial Consulting, etc.
Aside from finance I'm not particularly interested in doing much of that, and I believe I'm only interested in finance due to the large financial incentives. Consulting,rather, working as a grunt/code monkey on a consulting team actually seems right up my alley. The only downside is that I'm not much for travel and I've got a significant other who'd I'd rather not be away from for weeks at a time.
I suppose I should give a brief description of my skill set. In physics I've worked almost exclusively in computational physics and I am proficient in FORTRAN and C, and can optimize programs using openMP and MPI. I enjoy scientific programming but feel that a job in software development will be lacking on the motivating interest. I've never worked as a software developer so I don't know, but this is what I think.
Aside from computation I've got the standard skill set of problem solving,critical thinking,etc associated with a physics degree. I'm a decent public speaker and my presentation skills are above average I'd say. From my professors and student evaluations I'm also a pretty good teacher. If it helps my myers-briggs type is ENTP.( I know these are kinda BS, but my fiance is wild about them and to me it seems like a decent way of communicating aspects of your personality in a succinct way.) I think that's about all of the stand out skills I have.
My question to the community is this; What are my options either academic or in industry? I'm not fond of the idea of pursuing another degree or continuing my current one at another university. I'm having a hard time pulling together the motivation to finish my masters, but at this point I feel like I'd have a two-year gap with nothing to show. I've learned skills yes, but the degree seems to be the only thing that matters.
I guess specifically I'm looking for fields/job titles I'd be qualified for so that I can further investigate them. I'm also drawn to anything that would allow me to work remotely. I'm at my best when I can work when I want to, rather than strict hours. This is more a pie in the sky kinda thing, but I figure it's worth mentioning.
Thanks in advance
I'm a graduate student who failed their quals, and as such will be terminating my physics education with a masters degree. Up to this point in my education I've done excellently, but due to several factors I've was unable to pass the quals. This isn't really an issue because one of the factors I mentioned before is that as time has gone on I've realized the university I'm attending isn't a great fit for me. Furthermore, my interest in physics has diminished and at this point I'm far more interested in pursuing a career in an unrelated or minorly related field.
This is where I need help. I know many of the fields that are open to physics majors degree holders:Finance,Software,Managerial Consulting, etc.
Aside from finance I'm not particularly interested in doing much of that, and I believe I'm only interested in finance due to the large financial incentives. Consulting,rather, working as a grunt/code monkey on a consulting team actually seems right up my alley. The only downside is that I'm not much for travel and I've got a significant other who'd I'd rather not be away from for weeks at a time.
I suppose I should give a brief description of my skill set. In physics I've worked almost exclusively in computational physics and I am proficient in FORTRAN and C, and can optimize programs using openMP and MPI. I enjoy scientific programming but feel that a job in software development will be lacking on the motivating interest. I've never worked as a software developer so I don't know, but this is what I think.
Aside from computation I've got the standard skill set of problem solving,critical thinking,etc associated with a physics degree. I'm a decent public speaker and my presentation skills are above average I'd say. From my professors and student evaluations I'm also a pretty good teacher. If it helps my myers-briggs type is ENTP.( I know these are kinda BS, but my fiance is wild about them and to me it seems like a decent way of communicating aspects of your personality in a succinct way.) I think that's about all of the stand out skills I have.
My question to the community is this; What are my options either academic or in industry? I'm not fond of the idea of pursuing another degree or continuing my current one at another university. I'm having a hard time pulling together the motivation to finish my masters, but at this point I feel like I'd have a two-year gap with nothing to show. I've learned skills yes, but the degree seems to be the only thing that matters.
I guess specifically I'm looking for fields/job titles I'd be qualified for so that I can further investigate them. I'm also drawn to anything that would allow me to work remotely. I'm at my best when I can work when I want to, rather than strict hours. This is more a pie in the sky kinda thing, but I figure it's worth mentioning.
Thanks in advance