Today's job market for physics and astronomy majors is very tight. For many graduates it can be frustrating to realize there is so much competition among job seekers in these fields. Here you can find links to resume and cover letter writing, physics career planning, job listings, etc. The UI Physics and Astronomy Department is committed to educating students to the fullest extent possible, and extends that commitment throughout the students' career development process.

RESOURCES

University of Iowa Resources

Physics & Astronomy Department Contact:
Aaron Votroubek
211 Van Allen Hall
Phone:  335-0134
E-mail:  aaron-votroubek@uiowa.edu

• Pomerantz Career Center
• Engineering Professional Development

Career Planning

• AAS Career Services -- Great resource for those looking at careers in astronomy.
• The Professional Astronomer -- Produced by the Astronomical League this article describes the job market for astronomers.
• APS Careers in Physics -- Physics career information and guidance resources.
• Careers in Science & Engineering -- Student planning guide to grad school and beyond.
• Physical Sciences Resource Center -- Geared towards physics teaching.
• PhysLINK -- Information on all things physics.
• Physicist/Astronomer Occupational Outlook -- General details pertaining to a physicist/astronomer career from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Report on Initial Employment in Physics and Astronomy -- AIP report on initial employment of physics and astronomy graduates.

Education Programs

• AAS Education Services -- Astronomy education resource.
• ASP Astronomy Education -- Astronomy education at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
• Division of Educational Programs -- From the Argonne National Laboratory.
• Iowa Space Grant Consortium -- Intrastate project operated by ISU, UI, UNI, and Drake University to conduct research and educate the general public.
• National Astronomy Education Projects -- Catalog of projects and programs in astronomy education.
• Educational Resources in Physics, Astronomy & Related Fields -- From Sonoma State University, this site has many resource links spanning all levels of education.

Preparing Resumes/Cover Letters, Interviewing

• CareerLab -- Articles from The Career Advisor on job search and career topics.
• EmploymentGuide.com -- Online employment source.
• CV Tips -- Curriculum vitae advice.
• JobWeb -- Links to employer info., job search tools, and career fairs.
• Kaplan -- Test prep, admissions and tutoring.
• The Best Resumes on the Net -- Straightforward resume information without all the clutter.
• Quintessential Careers -- Career and job hunting resources guide.
• TrueCareers -- Online employment source.
• WorkSearch -- Links to resume, cover letter, and interview articles.

PLACEMENT

Physics & Astronomy Jobs

• Physics Today Career Resources for Job Seekers
• brightrecruits -- Dedicated jobs website from Institute of Physics Publishing.
• AAS Job Register -- Job listings from the American Astronomical Society.
• TIPTOP -- Dynamic job list for physicists.
• Jobs in Physics, Astronomy, & Other Fields -- From Sonoma State University, this site has many, many links to job listing sites.
• WORKinOPTICS.com -- Optics and photonics career web site from the Optical Society of America.
• NatureJobs -- Online scientific recruitment, published by Nature, the international weekly journal of science.
• ysfine.com -- Links to JOBMENU, a worldwide listing of academic and research positions in physics.
• Space Jobs -- Employment opportunities in the space industry.
• Fermilab Career Opportunities -- Job openings at the Fermi National Laboratory.
• Jobs @ LLNL -- Job opportunities at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
• Jobs@SLAC -- Positions available at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
• STScI Employment Opportunities -- Job listings at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
• Academic Careers Online -- Career opportunities in education and academia.
• America's Job Bank -- General database for searching all kinds of jobs.
• JobBank USA -- General database for job searching plus other career resources.
• Job-Hunt.org -- Job hunter's online super list of the best job sites on the web.
• Jobs.net -- Job search, employment resources and career advice.
• JobsCity.net -- Search, post global jobs, resumes, careers.
• Monster Jobs -- Search for jobs worldwide.
• Net-Temps -- Search for contract, temporary and permanent employment.
• Jobs UK -- Jobs, employment and recruitment in the UK.
• Smart Career Move -- Resource to finding employment in the state of Iowa. Site created by the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Internships/Cooperatives

Outside the Physics and Astronomy General Office (Room 203 Van Allen Hall) you'll find many internship/cooperative opportunities posted. Also be sure to check out these excellent sites listed below.

• Summer REUs and Internships -- Maintained by the Physics and Astronomy Dept. at Carleton College.
• National Academies Graduate Fellowship Program
• NRAO Summer Student Assistantships -- Summer student research assistantship program at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
• STScI Summer Student Program and Graduate Research Assistantships -- Available through the Space Telescope Science Institute.
• InternshipPrograms.com -- Internship search engine that can search 2500 programs and 200,000 positions.
  

CONTACTS

Corporate

• 3M United States
• Alcatel-Lucent
• Boeing
• E.I. du Pont de Nemours
• Eastman Kodak
• Hewlett Packard
• Honeywell
• IBM
• Lockheed Martin
• Motorola
• Raytheon
• Rockwell Collins
• Sun Microsystems
• Teledyne Scientific & Imaging

Research Organizations

• Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
• American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
• American Astronomical Society (AAS)
• American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• American Physical Society (APS)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO)
• National Radio Astronomy Observatory -- NRAO homepage with links to various employment opportunities.
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Office of Naval Research (ONR)
• Optical Society of America (OSA)
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - Office of Science
• European Organization for Nuclear Research -- CERN homepage
  

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY ALUMNI

• UI Physics & Astronomy Alumni
• UI Society of Physics Students