As a physicist, you have the advantage of a three-way choice when it comes to developing a career. You can become a scientist, opt for work that involves science outside the laboratory, or consider offers from the broad range of employers who are keen to recruit you to do something quite different.

Let’s start with science. There is no doubt that we are in the grip of a telecommunications revolution. Optoelectronics, microwaves and radio communication are all extremely important technologies, and both equipment producers and service suppliers are actively recruiting. BT is the largest UK recruiter in the field, particularly to its research and development laboratory at Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich. Firms such as Racal, Nortel, Philips and Marconi (formerly GEC) have vacancies too.

Communications is also vital in the defence sector. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is a major employer of physicists, particularly at its laboratory at Malvern. Other significant employers include the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) at Cheltenham, and HM Government Communications Centre at Hanslope Park, near Milton Keynes.

Work with materials provides another attractive area of employment for physicists. You might work on electronic materials for one of the leading integrated-circuit manufacturers, semiconductor providers or electronics companies. And although electronic devices are mostly produced outside the UK, some research and development opportunities exist here in Britain. Alternatively, work can be found with materials manufacturers such as Corus (previously British Steel), with electronic equipment producers such as BAE systems (previously British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems) , or with contract research organizations like the Rubber and Plastics Research Association. Incidentally, Matra Marconi, which makes satellites and puts them into orbit, has some extremely interesting projects on the use of composite materials that are both light and robust.

The energy sector should not be neglected. Last year the price of oil rose from $10 to $25 a barrel, and we can expect this increase to soon feed through into greater activity and new jobs. In exploration and production this means more openings for geophysicists to work on seismic surveys, and to carry out physical analyses of oil fields and wells. Other significant areas of study include the processing and distribution of oil, as well as applications such as lubrication. Several oil companies, including BP Amoco, Esso and Shell, are recruiting science graduates this year to research posts and other opportunities.

The gas and nuclear-power sectors also provide opportunities for physicists. Firms worth considering include British Energy and British Nuclear Fuels Limited, as well as AEA Technology, which is now a contract researcher covering a wide range of fields.

Physics continues to have an increasing impact on medicine. Hospitals employ medical physicists to introduce, calibrate, maintain and use relevant equipment, and the manufacturers of medical equipment also provide some employment opportunities in design, development, and occasionally marketing and customer services.

Astronomy will never be a major area of employment, but some physicists, usually those with a PhD, do find work in this area within university departments or at the Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh (formerly the Royal Greenwich Observatory). Those interested in the weather may find employment with the Meteorological Office or the laboratories of the Natural Environment Research Council, which investigate climate change, global warming and related topics.

What about careers outside the laboratory? Demand for teachers continues to outstrip supply, especially in physics, where good teachers are desperately required. This is not a job for the faint-hearted, but it can be rewarding if you like communicating your science at many different levels, enjoy being centre-stage, and can cope with the increasing mounds of administration. Employers include state schools, sixth-form “crammer” colleges, private schools, further education colleges and the armed services.

Opportunities also abound to make a career as a patent agent, a technical writer in technical sales and marketing, and a host of other jobs where a broad scientific education is essential.

Physicists are renowned for their logical thought, analytical minds and problem-solving skills, which – together with their mathematical ability – make them exceedingly employable over a wide range of jobs. Outside science, the area presenting the most vacancies for physicists is information technology. Physicists make excellent computer programmers, despite many university physics departments never having progressed further than FORTRAN. Anyone with a good degree in physics can soon learn the skills now in constant demand – a knowledge of C++, Visual Basic, the Windows NT operating system and Java. Employers include consultants and software houses, engineering companies and IT departments of large firms. Electronics companies, in particular, employ software engineers, who work closely with electronics engineers on the design of circuits and the development of embedded software.

Other jobs now available in the IT sector include Web-site developer, Web-site manager and network manger. There are also roles in customer services and help desks, in multimedia, electronic commerce and virtual reality, as well as in artificial intelligence.

For many physicists, the City beckons. Many physicists – especially those with a PhD – find jobs as investment bankers and financial analysts, where their roles include research and forecasting (see “Modelling the money markets” by Jessica James Physics World September 1999 pp13-14). And do not forget that chartered accountants regularly take on trainees who have degrees in physics, as do the other areas of accountancy. Insurance companies and retail banks are also major recruiters in the field.

How much can you expect to earn? Salaries for new graduates are extremely variable, averaging in the region of £16 500. Join the civil service as a researcher or teach in a school and you will start on a salary of around £15 500. Go for a PhD and in three years’ time you might earn £16 000 as a post-doctoral researcher in a university (currently about 30 000 people in the UK do this). Take a job with an investment bank and the figure will be nearer to £25 000. Jobs in computing usually pay around £17 000 to start, though Reuters pays at least £24 000 to new graduates.

My advice is to remember Newton’s second law of motion: if you want to change direction, action is essential.