My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics and his first job out of grad school gives a $500k salary

#MAGA

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

Thats abnormally high but physics Phds have been well compensated for a couple of decades. They tend to have really solid math skills and those translate into a bunch of fields.

Good point, this has been going on for a while. I think these folks come out on top compared to those in the medical or law field because they don't have any debt when they get out of graduate school.

But does the job actually have anything to do with physics?

What's the background of your friend? Is he the CEO of a bank?

Right - many people with physics PhDs go into finance. The average physicist spends their time modeling abstract phenomena, so they are perfect market analysts (also without the weird dogmas that finance/econ people have).

Some of the more tech related PhDs in physics have skills that are in such high demand that they have no problem getting big salaries. PhDs who worked in optics, for example, can make a killing (just one example).

But, you need to be very smart to do a physics PhD that will get you this kind of job! I'm in academics (NOT physics) and I can assure you that the average physics prof at even an average school just sees the world differently.

It's not just physics salaries either. My cousin's son's wife has an engineering PhD from a good school and she was also offered a high paying job in tech a few years back. Those two are only in their early 30s and they managed to buy a house in a good part of the bay area.

asdfasdfa wrote:

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

Thats abnormally high but physics Phds have been well compensated for a couple of decades. They tend to have really solid math skills and those translate into a bunch of fields.

Really! People with physics degrees have really solid math skills...I never would have guessed.

I think that the thinking that goes into solving physics problems - translating a physical problem into a mathematical one, solving it and then, mist importantly, interpreting the result and using it to predict things and discover unknown behavior is why physics people do so well in most every field.

probably not. But people who hold a PhD in physics are among the top 1%

in terms of IQ (not EQ)

old timer here wrote:

It's not just physics salaries either. My cousin's son's wife has an engineering PhD from a good school and she was also offered a high paying job in tech a few years back. Those two are only in their early 30s and they managed to buy a house in a good part of the bay area.

Ah, they live in the Bay Area. This context helps.

How do you know?

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

1.) Top 10 for physics program, or top 10 for overall regard (e.g. an Ivy)?

2.) What general city area (e.g. greater New York City area, greater San Francisco Bay area, greater Charlotte, NC area, etc.) is this job in?

3.) How did he know how to find out about this job so that he could apply?

I ask the 3rd question because I'm horrible at this. I was also in a physics program for undergrad, but dropped it because it didn't matter who I asked at the university, no one could tell me what I could do with the degree (aside from be a professor), what industries to look into for employment, or where to look for jobs for it (aside from token online postings).

I

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

I have a physics PhD and I work in finance. I can tell you right off the bat that this is a load of BS. Nobody is hiring someone with zero experience on a $500k salary. Maybe after you've proven yourself to be a valuable resource you can command that salary, but it doesn't happen out of the blocks. Even senior people rarely get that as a salary.

Total comp is another issue, however. Bonuses can be astronomical. But not likely in the first year.

It would be very out of the ordinary for someone unproven in finance to start on anything more than $150k. If you had a stellar first year, your total comp could be $300k or more - but again this would be completely atypical. No fresh physics PhD is guaranteed $500k.

I also question the legitimacy of the post as the salary is likely inflated by the dad to make himself feel better. But for all we know the dude worked in the same industry for 5-10 years before the PhD. This would command a significantly higher salary. Maybe not $500k, but certainly in $300k +- $50k range.

And lastly, we don't know his thesis or any other work he's done. If he works in finance maybe he developed an algorithm and effectively "sold it" by selling himself to the company.

ThisSmellsWrong wrote:

I have a physics PhD and I work in finance. I can tell you right off the bat that this is a load of BS. Nobody is hiring someone with zero experience on a $500k salary. Maybe after you've proven yourself to be a valuable resource you can command that salary, but it doesn't happen out of the blocks. Even senior people rarely get that as a salary.

Total comp is another issue, however. Bonuses can be astronomical. But not likely in the first year.

It would be very out of the ordinary for someone unproven in finance to start on anything more than $150k. If you had a stellar first year, your total comp could be $300k or more - but again this would be completely atypical. No fresh physics PhD is guaranteed $500k.

I could see PhD in experimental condensed matter or biophysics --> major biotech companies in the Bay Area pulling $500k in total comp. Probably not all in salary, but something like $250k + significant company stock (which may or may not actually end up IPO'd). AI research groups at Google/Facebook and co might also offer PhD physicists with certain areas of specialization near $500k in total comp, but again, a very large chunk of that will be in company stock.

As far as finance is concerned, maybe the guy could theoretically end up with $500k all in for the year if he got pulled into Rentech or another very profitable hedge fund, but that would primarily be from performance related bonuses.

yeah that does not sound at all commensurate with what people should expect from a situation like this. I would expect the average salary for a starting PhD in industry is 70-80k

You sound jealous.

old timer here wrote:

My friend's son recently graduated with a PhD in physics from a top 10 school, and his first job out of graduate school is paying a salary of $500k. From what I was told, physics PhDs are in heavy demand in every technical sector now including tech and finance. I hear that many are choosing to not go into academia because of this. Times sure have changed!!

Good for your friend, a PhD in physics is only obtained by a very select few highly intelligent and hard working people so I am sure that he deserves it.

But does he also have the sub 14 5k PR and model hot wife/girlfriend prerequisites to be able to post on these boards? ...