- #1
faizlo
- 6
- 0
What would you do if you were in my situation!?
Hi all,
This might be a tough question indeed.
I am an international student who came to the US to do his PhD in Experimental Particle Physics, my childhood love and passion.
I have taken part in one of the most important discoveries in particle physics recently, the discovery of the Higgs Boson.
Well, as most newly graduated PhD students or graduating ones, I have been looking for a job as a faculty at any college or university but to no avail. A postdoc is not an option, because statistics show that one needs two to three postdocs to finally land as an assistant professor at some university. I am not young, I am almost 37. Then, not so long ago, the political situation back home is too bad to even think of going back now with my wife and kids (I have 2 kids) and I have been delaying my graduation to the point that I cannot do this again. Even without these troubles, it is still very hard to find a position for a particle physicist back home.
I have not thought about job prospects before I do my PhD, simply I wanted to do what I loved most, research.
I still cannot find a job, and teaching, which I am/was excellent at, I could not demonstrate myself as a good TA in my university because our work needed me to be stationed at the experiment I worked for, and so have always worked as an RA, and so no good recommendations from my department as a good teacher can be achieved!
I have been thinking about this for sometime and when I tested the market and knew how difficult it is to find a job, I took courses in Medical Physics so I can make the transition; but I was lucky enough to know that AAPM have changed their regulations and I won't be able to work as a medical physicist unless I have a degree in Medical Physics (and the irony is, most of medical physicists I know are either particle or nuclear physics graduates!)
Now, after I formally graduate, I will have the option to stay here, in the US, for a while on an OPT program, but I can't stay here for long, since I have no financial resources to help me stay for more than few months.
My questions now are:
- Were I wrong when I decided to go to Particle Physics, and Physics in general?
- Is it crazy to think of getting another degree (Master or another PhD) in Engineering or another field that may help me find a job in industry? That's another 2 or 5 years of hard work!
-What else one can do, besides getting a PhD and working in a tough field to find a bill-paying job?
Thanks,
~faizlo
Hi all,
This might be a tough question indeed.
I am an international student who came to the US to do his PhD in Experimental Particle Physics, my childhood love and passion.
I have taken part in one of the most important discoveries in particle physics recently, the discovery of the Higgs Boson.
Well, as most newly graduated PhD students or graduating ones, I have been looking for a job as a faculty at any college or university but to no avail. A postdoc is not an option, because statistics show that one needs two to three postdocs to finally land as an assistant professor at some university. I am not young, I am almost 37. Then, not so long ago, the political situation back home is too bad to even think of going back now with my wife and kids (I have 2 kids) and I have been delaying my graduation to the point that I cannot do this again. Even without these troubles, it is still very hard to find a position for a particle physicist back home.
I have not thought about job prospects before I do my PhD, simply I wanted to do what I loved most, research.
I still cannot find a job, and teaching, which I am/was excellent at, I could not demonstrate myself as a good TA in my university because our work needed me to be stationed at the experiment I worked for, and so have always worked as an RA, and so no good recommendations from my department as a good teacher can be achieved!
I have been thinking about this for sometime and when I tested the market and knew how difficult it is to find a job, I took courses in Medical Physics so I can make the transition; but I was lucky enough to know that AAPM have changed their regulations and I won't be able to work as a medical physicist unless I have a degree in Medical Physics (and the irony is, most of medical physicists I know are either particle or nuclear physics graduates!)
Now, after I formally graduate, I will have the option to stay here, in the US, for a while on an OPT program, but I can't stay here for long, since I have no financial resources to help me stay for more than few months.
My questions now are:
- Were I wrong when I decided to go to Particle Physics, and Physics in general?
- Is it crazy to think of getting another degree (Master or another PhD) in Engineering or another field that may help me find a job in industry? That's another 2 or 5 years of hard work!
-What else one can do, besides getting a PhD and working in a tough field to find a bill-paying job?
Thanks,
~faizlo