No Stupid Questions

Writing takes a HELL of a long time to start getting good, usually a million words or so, and that's not guaranteed success. Physics, as others have mentioned takes mathematics to a high level, have you looked at other aspects of sciences and math if you at least enjoy it?

If you'd like to get some career guidance, I do alot of training and mentorship pro-bono, drop me a message might be able to help a little.

A friend and I graduated the same year, and both had potential as a coder or graphic designer.

I chose to focus on coding, he chose to focus on graphic design.

I have had higher income and stronger job stability across my career, so far.

AI has affected both professions, but AI is still shit at doing either job correctly. It seems immediately obvious when companies shovel out AI slop images. It is less obvious when back end web server code is a vulnerable pile of shit. There's a lot of "fuck around and find out" happening in AI over-adoption, right now.

The market for programming is at an all time low, with like 93% employment, last time I checked. - Which is still pretty nice.

The US gov predicts further recision of programming jobs next year. Recruiters reaching out make it seem - to me - like the demand is heating back up, again. But I'm some random person, and they're scientists. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ If I were you I would trust them more than me.

References:

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/graphic-designers.htm

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-programmers.htm

Edit: Auto mechanics, plumbers and HVAC technicians I have known have enjoyed at least as much job stability as I have. The pay ceiling is lower, as an employee, but a few of the ones that start their own businesses are pulling more income than I am.

I recently completed my Masters in theoretical physics. It's a LOT of high-level math, and quite a bit of programming (mostly Python). Additionally, PhD's in physics are super competitive and only the top students get the positions.

If you are dead set on physics, even at the bachelors level, you should get started on your math skills now. Otherwise, I recommend you steer towards writing or something else. It's not a subject people do unless they really love it. Just my 2 cents.

You don't need to be good at math to learn to code. In fact, someone telling me there wasn't much math involved is what made me seriously consider it.

And well over a decade in, I've actually found I enjoy math when it's about how things fit together rather than the numbers themselves... But generally you can totally avoid it, the computer is really good at math so make the computer do it

Get away from the C++, start with python then move to another high level language like typescript or C# or something. You can learn to code on your phone if you hook up a keyboard, it will be limited but you will be able to do code challenges and even build apps

As far as the future? AI is really killing junior dev jobs. Which is going to lead to a lack of mid and senior devs pretty soon.

The Internet is also dying, a lot of people make money as content creators, but it's not a quick path to money and it's a very uncertain one. The people who love it are living their dream, if that's not your dream, don't do it to yourself

My honest advice? Get a job as a handyman and major in computer science if you find you have the aptitude.

No one knows what is going to happen in the near future, but people will always need things patched up. And if you can break through the gap in junior devs, there's going to be a huge need for people to maintain all the old code that underpins modern life

In uncertain times, it's good to go all in or hedge your bets. If you're not the all in type, learn every skill you can

My advice is to target either healthcare or the trades. What you need is a medium-skilled career that will earn well, so you can write as a hobby. You can do very well as a carpenter, plumber, sonograph operator, or other medical technician. These are trades that have professional skill training courses you can take. It’s not necessarily a college program.

But forget writing. If you write well that will always help you a little bit but the fact you have written two short stories doesn’t even belong in a conversation about what job to get.

And forget coding. It doesn’t sound like it’s for you and it’s a very unstable field right now because of AI. We don’t know what it will be in 5 years.

Get into the trades. You’ll always have good work. You won’t be tied to any one area.

Is it that difficult to change your major? You are in in your first year. You may have wasted a year of school but you know physics does not make you happy.

I noticed the second thing you mentioned was writing. Writing may or may not pay a lot but I suggest you continue. Most writers don't write for money. They write because it makes them happy.

If you aren’t comfortable with mathematics then physics isn’t for you…

I'm one of the few people here working in the trades and I'm not the tiniest bit worried about being replaced by AI or automation. I also like that at the end of the day I've actually manipulated the physical world and objectively made it better. Yeah, I might not be coming up with cure for cancer or influencing world politics but granny over here has a working faucet now and she's immensely thankful for it and I also get cookies (not the digital kind)

My 2 cents is get a laptop (or desktop) soon. For educational and technical purposes, I believe it's way more valuable than is perceived. Around 24, my laptop was so slow I never used it. I relied on my android phone as well, believing it to be the same. It wasn't. The simplified UI, inaccuracy of small touch screens, and small screen drastically reduced the depth of my device usage. I became a Facebook/reddit blob. I can understand the argument that someone 22 today is likely less adapted to the pc UI, equalizing their depth of usage, but I do not accept the inverse, suggesting my older age makes me significantly worse at using a phone. Even just having a full page worth of information at once, providing context for the entire form, is something lost due to readability on phones by zooming in. Spatial relationship is better retained with a large view than sliding around on a phone. Spatial relations improve memory retention as well.

I'm scatter brained on this explanation because I've never written it down before. I just feel for you because your situation isn't far off from where I was at that time.

I'm finally back into creating art. Even though I'm in a highly technical field, I can't turn off the creativity. I got back into doodling, back into imagining creations, back into viewing art. There's no way I could make a career out of it though and I probably wouldn't want to. I'd hate it soon. But, while I do believe I have a good job now, I'm only here to get paid. But at least now I'm at a point where I can find the emotional energy to be freeform in my own time. Money has leveled out, housing has stabilized, and probably most importantly, I got "more" of a social circle simply by removing all the asterisks I was tacking onto each relationship. Work buddy? Friend. Childhood friend? Friend. Hobby friend? Friend. Friend of a friend? Friend. Limited shared activity friend? Friend. Online-only hobby friend? Well, turns out, I traveled that way and they welcomed me into their home. What do you know, friend.

Fuck. Where am I even going? Other people are giving you technical advice but I read your post as someone stuck in their feelings rather than in their logic. I don't know.

You really don’t need much maths for coding unless you’re doing things like games or engine coding.

Why are you studying physics?

Have you talked with your professors, instructors and or people with physics degrees about what the career options are?

Moreover, if you’re curious about design or writing, have you considered taking some course work in those areas? Do you live somewhere that required elective courses outside of your major?

A mediocre engineer makes more than a mediocre artist.

If you are good at any STEM and any creative profession you should pick STEM.

Decent Earning Options? In this economy?

Based on what you wrote, it seems like you need to take a step back and look at the whole picture. Why are you at school and what do you want to study.

Goin to school can help you position yourself for a career, but is usually primarily about becoming educated (and isn't for everyone).

If you're primarily concerned about a career, then focus you're studies on something you feel capable in. Physics requires a lot of mathematics (and nowadays usually some programming). Programming coursework may have mathematics, but usually relies more on logic than math. Writing is a great way to work on communication skills and analysis, but will have a less direct career path after school (becoming a professional writer is no guarantee).

On top of all of that, most people won't even end up working in their field of study.

At the end of the day, no one really knows where the economy is going long term. That means there isn't a surefire path to success, and why I recommend you think harder about what you feel good about pursuing.

Not sure what's your question here, you're a first year student, you've never done that physics before. How comfortable do you feel, doing it for the next 5 years?

Physics is a versatile Stem field with applications going from medicine to AI so with a master of physics you'll find a job. While you may be more generalistic than an electnonic/electrical/software/mechanical engineer you 'll get a good theoretical and experimental foundation covering also these field (which are tools you need to do physics but also applications of physics)

Science/Engineering isn't a field to make big money If you want to make money, go for a business degree, ypu ll earn more for a more bullshit job.

Physics major that doesn't do well in math? Also not good at coding?

I wouldn't go down physics unless you want to improve in both those areas

Even then, physics isn't where people go to make money

Edit: regarding the device, I would go for a laptop no matter what you go in. A cheap tablet can be found for under $100 and a drawing tablet by wacom that connects to your laptop is like $40

https://www.ebay.com/itm/316136237261

Edit 2: If this was advice 5 years ago I would've told you to do whatever major you wanted because if you wanted tech with a psychology major, people would still hire you. In this economy, pick whichever you most likely want to do and make sure your plan B, C, D... can be easily attainable with the major you have.

A lot here. I have two suggestions:

• Create, then
• Share

Channel everything you want to do and is rattling around your brain into creation. It doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing is. Get feedback from people you trust, then push them out without caring if anyone looks at it or reacts.

And keep learning. Especially things outside your comfort zone.

Eventually you'll figure it out.

I suggest "World Domination." If you start in the US now, all anyone will ever say is, "Well, at least he's not trump."

The only real advice I have to give is depressing as fuck: You don't actually have to like your career. "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" is a lie. It can- and will- still be work. If you're very lucky, you won't come to hate it, if you're doing what you love. but eh, yeah. The number of people I know who've stopped being passionate about it by forty far outweigh those that stay passionate.

Look at your options for stability in the short term, with long term goals to develop into the other things you want to work towards. (Writing, for example.)

Get a civil engineering degree and go into construction management. Then, crawl your way into international development. You won't be at home, but that seems like a decent fit for someone with an affinity for STEM and a desire to make money.

I'd advise chemical engineering, guess what degree I got. But besides my bias, CE is a very broad education subject, so no deep dive into math beyond calculus. Also, like another poster pointed out, lots of people end up working in a different field, so the broad education helps there too.

How about aerospace industry. Or energy industry.. those data centers need power

Don't go into coding if you don't have a passion for it and are just looking for a lucrative career path. With the exception of some niche specialties, that field is over saturated.

Disclaimer: The following suggestions are uninformed guesses and should be treated as such.

If you want to go through school, maybe psychiatry? Lots of interesting insight into people that can help inform your stories. Plus, the mix of growing normalization of mental health and current trends, I see this as a growing industry.

If you want to skip university, look at trades like electrician, plumber, nurse, etc. Good money and, at least for now, there is a lot of focus on careers that require (or at least favor) 4 year degrees, some competition for work is significantly less.

Usually I’ll answer product management because that’s what I do and I enjoy it (and I had no idea this career existed while I was in school), but reading this I actually think it could be a good fit for you, depending on how you feel about socializing with people.

I have an English degree but I also worked at an IT company every summer from high school through college, doing many different jobs with an increasingly technical focus. I taught myself HTML and CSS when I was like 10, but except for one high school class of Java I never got deeper into coding than that.

My interest in language and words combines with my technical aptitude in product management. I usually describe it as a job of translation, because I have to work with customers, internal users, business leaders, designers, and developers, and I need to be able to talk to and listen to all of them and understand their context well enough to translate to the other groups. I might need to tell the exact same story half a dozen completely different ways depending on my audience.

There are lots of different approaches to product management and every company does it differently, but some of the critical skills are being able to identify and deeply understand problems (of the business, of customers, etc.) and propose solutions to those problems.

It sounds like you have some technical aptitude but also interest in language and story telling (and a big part of product management is writing what are literally called “user stories”), so if you don’t mind the people interactions, it might work for you too.

I’ve been on or involved with Product teams for about 10 years now and had an actual Product Manager title for over 6, managing a team of PMs for the last 3. I feel like I found it by accident but I totally lucked into a career I actually love, so I’m happy to talk to people about it any time!

Doctor. Everyone always needs doctors, all the time forever. And they'll always make good money, because even rich people like to continue living.

Most universities in the UK have a careers officer where you can talk to people with lots of experience helping students with these types of questions. If your institute has the same then my advice would be to talk to them about your options, what you could use your degree for or how to look at other non related options.

will keep me going for a long time along with the money

This depends entirely on you. I chose my path in life thinking “what can I do today and still be passionate to do tomorrow?” And here I am, some 15 years later, still liking my everyday tasks.

Some comments: not many writers have an income stream out of their work. Many have a little extra at the end of the month, most have their name on a book and that’s it. The Steven King/Rowling/… are few and far between.

A degree in Physics opens many doors if you do it seriously: physics research and coding being the two main one, but not only.

All comments we can give are local to us, your location and the society around you really influences the options. Talk to your seniors and professors and anyone willing to answer your questions about the job market. Think outside of the box but look at the data around you before jumping ship.

Time travel or nuclear fusion. Either one would be awesome.