Interview with the employers of recent graduates

This is one in a series of interviews with employers that have recently (in the last 5 years) hired staff who have completed a 3 or 4 year or Honours level undergraduate degree with a Physics major or a Physics-based multidisciplinary major. We’d like to gauge your opinions on the value of an undergraduate Physics major as demonstrated by your employee(s).

Could you please provide the following information?

We would like you to think about physics graduates who have worked for you in the last few years. Please try to separate physics graduates early in their employment from those who have worked with you for some time. We would also like to concentrate on graduates with a basic (not postgraduate) degree with a Physics major.

Are there special knowledge, skills and approaches that these Physics graduates have?

A good understanding of the physics of optics. Spectral radiometry. Good mathematics skills. Computer programming.

Please comment on their ability to learn and adapt.

Physics graduates have a broad range of skills. Computer programming skills are not as advanced compared to Computer Science graduates.

How could Physics graduates be better? Do fresh graduates from other disciplines meet these expectations? Is it reasonable to expect university graduates to come with these attributes or are they better learnt/developed at work?

Computer programming skills could be improved. It is critical that physicists have the ability to understand application areas and how these impact on other disciplines. Knowledge of environmental and agricultural physics would assist. A multi-disciplinary approach needs to be developed.

After a couple of years of employment, are Physics graduates different from those from other disciplines? If yes, in what way?

Graduates from other disciplines are highly focussed on their speciality but don’t look at the range of disciplines from physics through to biological applications compared to Physics graduates.

Would you employ a Physics graduate in preference to those from other disciplines? If so why?

Yes, I would employ a Physics graduate as first preference and then Computer Science or a Biological Scientist with a physics background. Physics graduates are able to expand their thinking beyond their own discipline. Physics graduates can learn biological discipline easier than visa versa.

Graduate attributes table

Please fill in the first four columns of the following table by ticking the box that represents the level to which your employee(s) with a Physics education demonstrated a particular attribute, as gauged at the start of their employment with you, i.e. the attributes they have.

Please say if there was another valuable attribute.

Could you now please fill in the last column, this time indicating whether a particular attribute should be present to a greater or lesser extent at the start of their employment, or whether it is about what you require (OK)?