Make the most of your physics degree - new IOP website

Physicists for jobs and jobs for physicists

Institute of Physics Press Release
11 August 2009
Bright recruits 
 
When you think about lawyers, management consultants, accountants and economists, physicists are not the first people who come to mind. With 8 out of 10 graduate physicists working in fields not directly related to their academic discipline, but highly appreciated in their varied work places for the problem-solving skills they have acquired during their studies, perhaps they should.
 
A new website dedicated to physics graduates and industry professionals with a background in physics www.brightrecruits.com is now available to help physicists connect with top employers and help top employers connect with physicists.
 
Job sectors included on the website are academic, aerospace, charity and not-for-profit, computing and IT, consultancy, defence, education, energy and utilities, engineering, financial services, health and care, instrumentation, legal, management, manufacturing, science communication, telecommunication and transport.
 
Endorsements for physicists come from far beyond academia and industrial R&D. Physicists can be found as economists, analysts, programmers or general managers as their training in physics equips them to spot patterns in information rapidly, communicate complicated principles, manipulate numerical data, work successfully in teams, write reports, program computers and, just generally, problem-solve.
One advocate for physicists, Alex Seeley, Tax Advisor at Ernst & Young, said, “Physicists are excellent strategic thinkers because they can successfully interpret complex information into actionable results that can positively affect organisations. Data collection, extraction and outcomes are core functions for business and such skills are inherent in physics.”
 
Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, chief executive at the Institute of Physics, said, “We are delighted that the new website is up and running and we hope it puts physicists in a stronger position to demonstrate their qualifications and their acquired skills to employers in traditional and non-traditional industries.”