>Got a Physics B.S. >Love it; decide to pursue a Ph.D.

>>17130497
It's all about who you know. I'm gonna be a cop.

>>17130497
>I've taught engineers; I've been in engineering classes.
Well try to contact anyone that you've met in those classes. Networking is the key.

>>17130526
My students are just that--students. I don't have any ins at relevant companies that I can think of. Most of my friends switched to comp sci and work in software.

>>17130497
Have you tried kissing ass and inserting yourself into little cliques surrounding said industry? (Networking)

Lying helps a lot. Try getting into an association or find your old buddies. Make sure to step on people toes, blackmail, and extort your colleagues to move up the latter.

All that BS you hear about merit and working your way up is the biggest pile of shit lies you will ever hear.

Start kissing ass my friend.

>>17130549
Oh, I'm more than willing to do this at this point. How can I find the right asses to kiss?

>>17130555
I'm sure there's many groups or associations in your city pertaining to your work. You just kind of have to start out by just being there. It will be awkward at first, but just be outgoing as possible and let people know youre approachable.

Just look online. Networking is a broad game, not very limited.

You can probably work in academia as a lab tech. I was in Biology, worked in Bio labs, get very good interviews as a lab tech. Wouldn't you also have had this experience at Physics labs? Do Physics students do anything useful?

>>17130569
>Wouldn't you also have had this experience at Physics labs?
Absolutely. I have countless hours logged in the lab.

>Do Physics students do anything useful?
Everything from designing circuitry to working with vacuum equipment to computational modelling and materials synthesis--and that's just what I've done personally. There are many different branches; all have different experience.

>>17130583

And have you applied to work as a physics lab tech? That is what your work makes you most suited for.

Make sure you tailor your resume to the job listing. A lot of times they literally use computers to sift through which resumes have their needed keywords [located in the ad] as possible.

Also "lower your standards" for any STEM job probably just means applying to work for a job you are ill suited for. You couldn't work in a Bio lab or as a medial assistant. You have experience in a physics lab.

My path sounds sort of like yours except I never had illusions of becoming a professor, and I didn't bother with the M.S. when I dropped out and just worked in various labs through undergrad, took on a PhD program so I could use the stipend to pay off my undergraduate tuition. I get callbacks on maybe like one out of ten applications. If these are jobs you are well suited for and you are getting callbacks on one in sixty or whatever, then something is wrong with your resume or your cover letter. Also try to apply where you won't need relocation funds.

>>17130597
I think in all my time looking through employment, I've found maybe one or two jobs called "physics lab tech". Usually, it just gets lumped in with engineering.

>>17130604

It might not be called "physics lab tech", but there are places for technicians in a physics lab setting, right? That is what you did as an undergraduate, right? You're just leaving the university, so you must have known lab techs there.

Just make sure you tailor the resume/cover letter/online form so it hits on all the buzzwords they ask for.

>>17130583
>designing circuitry
That's comp eng

>Vacuum equipment
Mech eng, maybe comp eng

>Computational Modelling
That's CS

>Materials synthesis
Chem eng

You decide to specialize in something that's purely theoretical, you have almost no market value. Get a secondary skill and you'll be a prize catch, but just "physics" doesn't cut it. Anybody who specialized in any of the things you mentioned will understand them better and be much, MUCH better at them.

Just go travelling.

>>17130626
The first comparison is totally true.

The second, not so much on either count.

The third is assuredly true.

I agree that specialization is the key, and that's something I wish I'd known starting out.

>>17130626
I misspoke. CS is absolutely nothing like computational modeling, actually. The programming barely ever gets harder than simple for loops--it's the math and systems modeling that are very intensive. Honestly, probably the most marketable skill I have since no other field seems to do this.

>>17130865
This is correct. No cs major would even come close to being able to understand the math/physics behind computational modeling.