This piece resonated with me as I also did not really envision myself working in industry when I started grad school; figuring that I would just stay in academia in one form or another. However, when I started to look outside academia (after seeing lab mates stuck in endless post-doc loops), I was surprised at the breadth of opportunities that were available.

Even though my degree was in physics, I was doing stuff relevant to several different industries. I interviewed for roles in data science, materials science, petrochemicals, food science, and pharma. Ultimately, I ended up in pharma and the very first program I worked on was an immunotherapy to target the type of cancer that caused the death of my grandfather. It wasn’t some grand design on my part, just a coincidence that echoes some of what this author experienced.