Life After College with a Physics Degree

Physics is among the hard sciences' most versatile degrees. Industry sectors available to majors and graduate degree holders include finance, engineering, software development, teaching, public policy development, research, data science, medicine, and more. This page contains information on a small subset of paths. For more information, contact the undergraduate or graduate advisors or visit the 91ÁÔÆæ Career Center.

General Resources

Engineering, tech, and private industry sectors in general offer physics majors some of the most common and lucrative career paths. Visit the links below to explore your options and to learn more.

Careers in Teaching

Physics majors are highly valued as teachers. At the primary and secondary education levels (i.e., kindergarten through 12th grade), opportunities can be subdivided into those at public schools and those at private schools. Public schools offer higher salaries but require more extensive credentialing levels. Private schools tend to make hiring decisions in connection with a school-specific centralized vision. At the community college level, teaching positions require a master’s degree or beyond.

91ÁÔÆæ Resources

External Resources

  • Santa Clara University page.
  • San Francisco State University page.
  • : The State of California's teacher recruitment page.
  • : Coalition of universities and physics societies seeking to help advertise teaching among STEM majors. GFO’s website provides resources to help you decide if a teaching is a good fit, and also provides information on things like certification and loan forgiveness.
  • : Resources on local teaching conferences, networking opportunities, field trip ideas, and more. Aspiring teachers may be especially interested to read the organization’s page.
  • (TFA): Teacher recruitment and placement program.
  • (BATTI): Teacher recruitment and placement program.
  • For private primary and secondary schools, teacher placement services are common and usually free to the applicant. See, for example, the page, and contact Prof. Curtis Asplund at curtis.asplund@sjsu.edu for further information and advice.

Careers in Government

A degree in physics can be valuable for many careers in various levels of government, though some may require additional training or experience. At the local level, see the page and the page. State-level jobs are posted at the website, and national job opportunities can be found at the website. These sites can feel overwhelming sometimes, but it helps to narrow down your search based on geographic preferences and to use keywords like "physics," "data analysis," or specific topics you're interested in. 

Many physics-related federal government jobs are located in the national laboratories. See the for a more detailed description. A listing of open positions can be found at the page. Many jobs in these laboratories involve the construction or maintenance of nuclear weapons or other weapons-related work. You may want to evaluate the ethics of such work. See the article "" by Stewart Prager and Frank N. von Hippel in Physics Today for further context. Similar ethical considerations apply to some jobs in aerospace, aviation and defense industries, and in the US Intelligence Community, all of which hire many people with physics degrees.

Careers at Nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations aim to accomplish some collective, public or social benefit, rather than make profits. The number and variety of such organizations is enormous, and includes museums, community service agencies, charitable giving organizations, and public policy think tanks. You may find resources and some help navigating such jobs in California at the website. Some well known nonprofits that focus on scientific issues and that particularly hire people with physics degrees include the and the , as well as the professional societies: the , the , the , the , and others listed at the bottom of the .

Careers in Academia

Academic careers (working as a professor at a four-year-college or beyond) are among the easiest-to-picture careers available to physics majors. The typical path leading to a career in academia in the U.S. includes matriculating into a PhD program immediately or within one or two years after completing an undergraduate degree. (This differs from some other fields, where graduate school more commonly follows time spent in the workforce.) For more information on career paths in academia, contact the undergraduate or graduate advisors or contact a tenured or tenure-track faculty member in your field of interest directly. See also the Department’s affiliation with .