Career options

[appianway]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently going through a mini crisis of "I have no clue what I'm doing with my life" despite the fact I'm in first year, so I thought I'd ask around for opinions.

Basically, I'm in the situation where I'm not enjoying any of the subjects I'm doing (with the exception of physics - but that said, I also find that physics at the moment is void of creative and elegant problem solving). I know that I don't want to be a lab rat, so chemistry and biology are pretty much out for me at the moment. I'm not a fan of mathematics. I want something where I can do problem solving - be that in business, law, science or policy - but I also want a career which doesn't feel completely esoteric.

In essence, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of subjects or possible careers for me. I've considered swapping degrees, but my parents are intent on me doing something that actually leads to a job. I'm currently studying physics, economics, chemistry and mathematics in a science degree, and things which appeal to me at the moment include population studies/demography, atmospheric science, science policy development, science/law (although I think this is heavily influenced by my parents), economics research and science journalism. Any ideas?

[luken93]

This is probably a stupid question, but you haven't thought of medicine? Problem solving skills, science, and will definitely lead to a job. Furthermore, you have the marks to do it...

[iNerd]

This is probably a stupid question, but you haven't thought of medicine? Problem solving skills, science, and will definitely lead to a job. Furthermore, you have the marks to do it...

She said "chemistry and biology are out at the moment".........which is integral to med

[funkyducky]

Double degree in science/arts or science/commerce?

[mikael]

You seem like an Engineering person.

What course are you doing at the moment?

[appianway]

I'm doing the PhB in science - in high school, I did well in science on an international level I suppose, but I'm finding that the only discipline that I enjoy is physics - the very subject that I used to excel at.

I discounted medicine because I'd be hopeless at it, and it'd drive me insane. For starters, although I find biology interesting at a theoretical level, I can't stand germs in real life. Seriously, I'm a bit pedantic about hygeine. I think I'd hate molecular biological research, as it feels imprecise, dirty at times and too repetitive - I worked at a pathology lab during summer and I had a moment when I realised I didn't want to be doing that for the rest of my life. I guess the reason why I don't want to be a chemist (or do chemical research is similar) - I find that after a small amount of time, the work needed for experiments lacks originality, because you just go through the methods that have already been designed. I'm not a super methodical person.

At the moment, I'm considering doing physics as well as science communication, economics or geology/geophysics/atmospheric science. I think I'll keep physics up as I really enjoy it, but the other subjects I'm doing now make me feel like transferring to arts or something (if only doing a liberal arts degree in the USA was financially viable!). Does anyone know where geology or geophysics can lead? I'm also interested in public health and health policy...

I guess one of the things that I miss at the moment is being inspired. I'm finding that everything tends to be so methodical and tedious - I'm rarely captured by the elegance of a solution or entralled by the details and contradictions of a problem. I really want a career - and a course - where I'm constantly analysing things, and thinking over ideas and solutions to problems. At the moment, I feel bored and disengaged - I miss being excited by thought.

Yeah, so in short, any more course/career suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks guys

[luken93]

Well I'm not really an expert in the field, but maybe something to do with disaster management but in particular geophysics or something like that? I'm just throwing out ideas here, feel free to disregard

I found this though, it may be helpful?
http://physics.usyd.edu.au/about/grad_jobs.shtml

[eeps]

I tend to agree with what funkyducky said; Science/Arts, which I believe ANU does offer as well - this. Based on what I've read thus far, that could be an alternative course to what you're currently doing. If you're not really sure on what you want to do, try other courses such as Science/Arts, Science/Law etc. which are more open/general, that doesn't tie you down to one thing or another. In that way, you'll have the option to do further studies in the area(s) which you enjoy (i.e. physics).

[binders]

why not study philosophy? logic, reason etc. you could apply it to physics and science. meta-science if you like.
it can give you the range to be creative without getting germs on you and there can be elegant solutions in logic,
especially where it embraces maths etc.

[Russ]

Epidemiology and public health, specifically designing interventions and analysis of outbreaks (that's not entry level though but you won't be exposed to the germs, relax)

[lynt.br]

I'd say do Science/Law but I may be biased. I don't know how ANU does it but law is usually a 'credentials' degree unless you're one of the few people who are interested in it. Otherwise Science/Arts is another option.

From the commerce side of things, I'd say you would excel at Economics or Econometrics or any applied maths subject.

[Readinya]

Don't you think anything physics related is bound to be somehow related to mathematics as well?

My brother right now is in this final year of a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering... and you know what he's doing right now? Building his own race car. And i mean building it from scratch - designing, getting sponsors, working in and out...

But from what i gather, engineering is a pathway that is very very broad; some involve physics, and all of it involve puzzling over the solution to a problem in an organised, logical manner. There are so many different types of engineering that you could go into. And engineers are in high demand, so getting a career out of it is definitely going to happen.

Despite my brother being in uni almost constantly working on that car, he says that this is the first time he's been so passionate about something. I hope you can find a similar passion. Good luck!

[shinny]

For starters, although I find biology interesting at a theoretical level, I can't stand germs in real life. Seriously, I'm a bit pedantic about hygeine.

How's that make you hopeless at Medicine? It'd actually make you a very good doctor. Hygiene is something that doctors are notoriously known for not doing enough of. At the end of the day, Med is still a job and standard OH&S regulations apply, so it's not like you'll be diving face first into a pool of E. Coli. Gloves, face masks and stuff like that are everywhere, and they're something not being used enough of - hence the rate of hospital-acquired infections we get in our hospitals nowadays. But if you mean more in terms of the fact of touching disgusting things even through gloves and such, then the most I can say is that you simply get used to it. There's plenty of stereotypical 'girly girls' in Med who've simply gotten used to it and are fairly desensitised.

So yeh, if you want something stable and with problem solving, I don't see why Med couldn't be a possible option. If you want the option of research together with a stable income, being a doctor would be a great option. Your physics background could potentially also be very useful given the direction that medical research is heading in at the moment. Or it could take you in a public health direction. Really, a Medical degree doesn't mean you have to be backed into becoming a doctor. There's plenty of doctors who do other stuff and just have their doctor job as an income source really, until they feel comfortable enough to ditch it. It's just a good way to open plenty of doors through a very interesting course.

[schmalex]

I'm doing the PhB in science - in high school, I did well in science on an international level I suppose, but I'm finding that the only discipline that I enjoy is physics - the very subject that I used to excel at.

I discounted medicine because I'd be hopeless at it, and it'd drive me insane. For starters, although I find biology interesting at a theoretical level, I can't stand germs in real life. Seriously, I'm a bit pedantic about hygeine. I think I'd hate molecular biological research, as it feels imprecise, dirty at times and too repetitive - I worked at a pathology lab during summer and I had a moment when I realised I didn't want to be doing that for the rest of my life. I guess the reason why I don't want to be a chemist (or do chemical research is similar) - I find that after a small amount of time, the work needed for experiments lacks originality, because you just go through the methods that have already been designed. I'm not a super methodical person.

At the moment, I'm considering doing physics as well as science communication, economics or geology/geophysics/atmospheric science. I think I'll keep physics up as I really enjoy it, but the other subjects I'm doing now make me feel like transferring to arts or something (if only doing a liberal arts degree in the USA was financially viable!). Does anyone know where geology or geophysics can lead? I'm also interested in public health and health policy...

I guess one of the things that I miss at the moment is being inspired. I'm finding that everything tends to be so methodical and tedious - I'm rarely captured by the elegance of a solution or entralled by the details and contradictions of a problem. I really want a career - and a course - where I'm constantly analysing things, and thinking over ideas and solutions to problems. At the moment, I feel bored and disengaged - I miss being excited by thought.

Yeah, so in short, any more course/career suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks guys

There are plenty of jobs for geologists, I think mostly in mining, but I could be wrong. I may be biased myself, but the last part sounds like economics, analysing things and thinking over ideas and solutions to problems. The only thing is that economics has a lot of data analysis and mathematics, although the mathematics is different to the sort of thing you would have done in methods or something. It can get a bit dry at times, but there's definitely a lot of problem solving and analysis. There's actually quite a bit of similarity between physics and economics in that they both try to explain complex things using sets of simple laws and then involve a whole lot of maths to work stuff out. Although, I've never studied physics so I wouldn't really know.

[schnappy]

My parents are adamant that I should become a teacher, but I'm keen on engineering. Teaching seams more of a thing you do when you're old and frail... all the good teachers I've had at school use to do other things... maths teacher for instance was a psychologist, metallurgist - has masters in both chemistry and psych, but some how found himself liking maths teaching.

Everything I've read you say screams engineering, though it has maths in it that's really just part of physics I suppose.

Couldn't you work at CERN appianway ?