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Throughout the course of your Bachelor's degree in APS or Physics at CU, your classes and/or research will help you develop a wide array of scientific and technical skills. Due to this extensive training, there are a variety of career paths available to APS/Physics graduates, including many beyond the scope of the fields themselves. One excellent resource in Physics is APS' page, which provides examples of real physicists and their career paths.

Research

If you choose to pursue research after graduation, you will usually study and contribute to some area of APS/Physics (or possibly another field). Depending on your specific subarea, a typical workday in research can involve handling large data ranges on a computer, conducting table-top experiments in a lab, performing calculations by hand, and much more.

Research is a great career option because it is a direct application of your undergraduate degree and an opportunity to pursue APS/Physics for the rest of your life. The downside is that research is highly competitive; there are far fewer research positions available than there are APS and Physics graduates. To earn a permanent research position, a student must usually have decent grades, research or internship experience, and excellent recommendations from professors.

There are some research positions available that only require a Bachelor's degree. These are usually support positions, such as Research Assistant or Laboratory Technician. However, many research positions require a Master's degree or PhD; see our page on Applying to Grad School.

There are several categories of research positions:

Academia

Working "in academia" means working at a university or college. Academics generally have a high level of research freedom, because they do not have to serve a specific national goal (as federal employees do) or help develop a product (as industry employees do). Academia has a reputation for being highly competitive and challenging, although this varies by position and institute. Longterm academic positions include:

• Tenure and tenure-track faculty- "Professor", "Assistant Professor", etc. This is typically what people mean when they discuss "being a professor" or "professorships". These positions are highly competitive, and require a PhD and usually one or more postdoctoral fellowships. Tenure and tenure-track faculty lead research groups and can be in charge of several undergraduate/graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and permanent researchers. They also usually teach 1-2 classes a year and participate on faculty committees (they may review graduate students' applications, for example). Professors are initially hired as tenure-track faculty and begin teaching and forming a research group. After six years, they go through a "tenure review" process in which their department will analyze their research/teaching accomplishments and career progress and determine if they deserve tenure. If they do earn tenure, they will get a raise and earn special academic freedoms. If they fail to earn tenure, they usually have to leave the university and find another position.

• Research faculty- "Research Professor", "Assistant Research Professor", etc. These positions usually require a PhD. Research faculty conduct research, but do not earn tenure (except in extremely rare cases). They also do not typically teach, although they may choose to teach a course through a partial adjunct appointment. Research faculty can be renumerated, which means that the school pays them to conduct research, or non-renumerated, which means that they are funded through an external organization.

• Research support- "Research Associate", "Professional Research Assistant", etc. These positions typically require a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree. These employees usually work in a research group, like a graduate student or a postdoctoral fellow. In fact, many graduate students are considered research support, but many research support employees are not graduate students.

• Technical staff- "Lab Technician", "Electronics Specialist", etc. These positions typically require a Bachelor's degree. Technical staff are typically highly trained in some experimental or scientific technique, and use this training to support many different research groups.

• Adjunct faculty- "Adjunct Professor", "Adjunct Lecturer", etc. These positions usually require a Master's degree. Adjunct faculty are paid to teach courses and are hired on a semester-to-semester basis. Sometimes researchers will accept a partial adjunct position if they are interested in teaching a course, which can be fun and a great way to get teaching experience. However, full-time adjunct positions tend to pay very poorly.

• Teaching faculty- "Instructor", "Assistant Teaching Professor", etc. These positions usually require a Master's degree + research/teaching experience or a PhD. Teaching faculty are usually in charge of large, intro-level courses.

National Labs/Government

National laboratories are facilities designed to serve one or more national goals. US national labs that hire APS/Physics students typically fall under the Department of Defense or the Department of Energy (NIST is a notable exception). National labs usually hire scientists as federal employees, research staff, and support staff as in Academia (see section above). Some positions involve leading a team of postdocs and graduate students, but there is no teaching. See for a list of relevant American national labs.

Note that some positions at national labs are only open to citizens and nationals of the country that funds the lab. See to learn more about citizenship and federal employment in the United States.

National labs typically offer a little less academic freedom than professorships (your research must ultimately serve a national goal) but more than industry jobs (your research can be more of a long-term service rather than something with direct applications to products, etc). While national labs exist to serve national goals, research done at a national lab still contributes to worldwide scientific knowledge; federal employees frequently publish their research in scientific journals just as professors do. A big upside of national lab research is not needing to apply for tenure or serve on academic committees.

Industry

Working "in industry" means working for a company or organization that is not part of any government/university. There are companies in various industries that may hire APS/Physics graduates, including global companies like Lockheed Martin and small/local companies like KMLabs in Boulder. Industry positions typically involve research that directly applies to product design or manufacturing processes. For example, Microsoft and Google are currently hiring physicists to conduct quantum computing research, in the hopes that quantum computing technology could bolster their algorithms/products and help them expand into areas like decryption services. To learn more about industry, see and .

There is generally not as much academic freedom in industry as there would be in a national lab or university. Additionally, many research results can only be seen by people within the company. Industry researchers may occasionally publish research in scientific journals to demonstrate prestige of their company (e.g. Google employees frequently publish quantum computing discoveries because it reflects well on Google), but publishing industry research is much rarer than publishing national lab or academic research. On the other hand, you may submit many patents, which can serve as a record of your accomplishments like academic papers would. One significant upside of working in industry is never having to apply for funding grants, apply for tenure, or serve on academic committees.

Starting salary varies greatly by company, but tends to be higher in industry than in universities/national labs.

Military

A somewhat less well-known research path is military service and research. Sometimes APS/Physics students earn scholarships in exchange for agreeing to do several years of military research after they graduate through ROTC and similar programs. The US Navy, for example, needs excellent nuclear scientists to service and design submarines. Note that there are and .

If you are interested in military research, you should look into scholarships or programs that fund your degree in exchange for a contract- you could save a lot of money and access great networking opportunities. To learn more about military research, visit military branch websites- for example, the U.S. Air Force has a , which requires a Bachelor's degree in APS, Physics, or a related field.

To serve in the US military, you must be a permanent resident with a Green Card. If you are a non-citizen interested in US citizenship through military service, see USCIS' page on .

Engineering/Technical Jobs

Some APS/Physics graduates choose to pursue engineering and technical careers rather than research careers. Engineers and technicians use existing knowledge to solve problems, while researchers create knowledge (there is some overlap, especially in industry research). Engineers and technicians tend to work for companies and usually only need a Bachelor's or Master's degree. See for more information.

If you are in the Physics program at CU and are interested in engineering, you should consider majoring in Engineering Physics (see the program webpage and sample curriculum). Note that the Engineering Physics BS degree is not accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (). This can affect your eligibility for engineering scholarships and fellowships. If you are in APS/Physics and are interested in a specific type of engineering (e.g. Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering), you may consider a minor, a double-major, or a master's degree in an engineering program.

It is crucial that you develop technical skills if you are interested in engineering/technical jobs (e.g. coding, digital logic, vacuum systems). You can hone technical skills as an undergraduate through research, internships, lab teaching, work-study positions, and classes.

Engineering positions tend to have high starting salaries given that they only require Bachelor's or Master's degrees.

Teaching

Many APS/Physics students pursue teaching at the secondary education (grades 7-12) or higher education (college and up) level. Higher education teaching usually requires a Master's degree or a PhD. University teaching positions include highly competitive tenure-track professorships, which involve leading a research group in addition to teaching, and full-time teaching positions. See the "Academia" section above for more information.

Secondary education teaching positions usually require a Bachelor's degree and a teacher's license (this varies by state and country). If you are at CU Boulder, consider applying for the Secondary Science licensure program.

You can prepare for a career in education by being a at CU, or by teaching classes through a licensure program.

Outreach/Inclusion

An excellent career option in APS/Physics is outreach/inclusion work that aims to make APS/Physics more accessible. This can include working on talks and demonstrations for the public or students, or running programs that help students build scientific and technical skills. It can also include positions that address questions of equity in universities and organizations. To learn more, see .

You can build experience in outreach/inclusion by participating in , especially in a leadership or administrative role.

Writing

If you are interested in APS/Physics and writing/journalism, science writing may be an excellent career option. Journals and organizations sometimes hire students with strong science backgrounds to edit and write articles. For more information, see . Some science writers work as freelance journalists and are paid by article. Others have permanent positions at universities or companies.

If you are interested in science writing, you should try to build strong writing skills at CU. You may consider taking the at CU.

Computer Science/Programming

Many computer science and software engineering positions are open to APS/Physics students with strong programming skills. Note that some computer science positions are highly competitive and saturated with people with computer science backgrounds. You may find your niche in a position that combines APS/Physics and programming; for example, scientific computing.

Taking scientific computing and programming classes at CU may help you build programming skills. You should be highly literate in at least one popular programming language, like Python or C++, if you wish to pursue a career in programming.

Law

Some APS/Physics students choose to pursue legal careers after earning undergraduate degrees. Patent and Intellectual Property Law firms in particular often hire scientists. Note that some careers in law require you to attend law school, but there are also paths that do not require law school. , scientists should connect with individual firms to find out about apprenticeship and training options.

If you would like to attend law school, you will have to take the LSAT. Since the APS/Physics departments at CU are not well-equipped to help with law school applications, you should use Career Services as your primary resource. Keep in mind that law school can be , whereas a PhD in APS/Physics should be free and salaried. Due to the high cost, you should only pursue law school if you are certain that your career will require it.

To prepare for a law career, build strong communication and writing skills as an undergraduate. , speaking French and/or German is also desirable, but not required.

Medicine

Some APS/Physics students pursue medical school and/or healthcare careers after graduating. To apply for medical school, you will need to take certain recommended courses and . CU Career Services has special resources available for students interested in healthcare careers.

Note that medical school is , while a PhD in APS/Physics should be free and salaried. Only pursue medical school if you are passionate about working in healthcare/medicine.

To prepare for medical school, take a wide range of science classes and build a strong background in biology and chemistry.

Other

There are many APS/Physics-related career paths not listed here. APS/PHYS Professional Development hopes to host panels with APS/Physics alumni in the future to demonstrate the diverse career paths available to CU graduates. See for information from past alumni guests.

What if I can't get a job?

If you are not able to find a job in any of the above career areas, please don't be discouraged. Many APS/Physics graduates have successful careers that are not related to their majors (often by choice). Even in unrelated careers, your degree can signify that you are a hard worker and are well-practiced in scientific thinking. If you are struggling to find a job and want to meet a Career Counselor in person, you can schedule an appointment or go to drop-in hours at Career Services. If you want to learn more about various careers, attend our Events and explore the Career Services webpage.