Interview with recent graduates currently in the workforce

This is one in a series of interviews with recent graduates 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 value your opinions on your undergraduate Physics and how well it prepared you for the workforce.

Please fill in the following table of personal details:

I’d now like to ask you a series of questions pertaining to your Physics undergraduate studies (Physics below may be read as `multidisciplinary’ if appropriate).

Only did Honours year of Physics!

Came from Maths background - NO 1st, 2nd or 3rd year Physics!

1. What features of your undergraduate Physics studies were of most help to your learning?

Skills picked up:

• Problem solving, logical steps to attacking problems, seeing patterns, analysis, “learning to think” the best feature

Aiding learning:

• Example questions in course notes (including “cheat” sheet in exam)

• Group work and discussion with peers

2. How were you made aware of employment opportunities for Physics graduates in your undergraduate Physics studies?

• Careers info day @uni

• Not through lectures (only did a handful of courses, all Honours)

• Push in Honours for people to continue on to a PhD

• Some discussion with supervisor

• Bulletin board in tearoom has a very small amount of such info

3. What aspects of your Physics education have helped you most in your career?

• Analysis and computer programming

• Have the confidence to try things

• Problem solving skills, being able to see outside the box

4. Is it an advantage having done Physics? Do you think you have an advantage over graduates from other disciplines? How? Are there special knowledge and skills that Physics provides?

• Overqualified for current position

• Physics has provided the mental framework to more easily learn new discipline areas

• Better equipped than work colleagues to pick up new stuff

Graduate attributes table

Please fill in the following table by ticking the box that represents the level to which a particular attribute was used or developed in your undergraduate Physics subjects.

Please say if there was another valuable attribute or further comments.

“Honours taught me the value in working hard to receive an end result.”