Should I expect different day-to-day work in industry with a physics PhD?

[Sofia66]

I’m about a year into my physics PhD and I’m starting to feel a bit stuck. My project is very simulation-heavy, and while I enjoy the research, I’m realizing I have no idea what kind of career I could transition into outside of academia. I hear people talk about research scientist roles in industry, but I don’t really know what that day-to-day work looks like or how my skills would translate.

[Avery_L]

I figured it would be bench work with a badge, but day to day in a nonacademic role is a mix of modeling, coding, and explaining results to teammates who aren't scientists.

[Robert99]

The first move I tried felt faster paced with deadlines. We had weekly demos and I learned to frame results in terms of impact.

[Paul88]

I spent weeks matching my CV to ads, and it stayed vague until I added concrete projects and numbers that showed what I actually improved.

[RileyH]

There was a side project where I spent days cleaning data and debugging pipelines. It taught me that a lot of the job is communication and patience more than clever equations.

[Paisley_T]

Do you want to stay hands on with models or move toward product or consulting? I wonder if the bigger question is how you measure success, not the topic.

[Avery84]

I am still figuring it out and I have had a few misreadings about the role. Some days I feel close, other days I am not sure what I am aiming for.