On a late September day five years ago, the champagne corks were popping in Katrin Suder's lab at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. That day, her group's paper on neurophysiological mechanisms of visual perception had been accepted for publication. The physicist's expertise in mathematical modelling opened the doors to a successful career in academic science. But instead, Suder turned her skills to a career in financial analysis.
Suder now works in the German office of international management consultants McKinsey. She has found that the methods and tools of physics translate well into the business world. At university, her research involved building computer models of visual perception. Now, instead of modelling biological phenomena, she uses the same computational and mathematical skills to model factors such as consumer response.
Five years on, those who hope to follow in Suder's footsteps may find the transition a little harder to make. In the United States, prospects are shakier in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, after which the stock market plunged and Wall Street shed over 25% of its employees. In Europe, a sluggish economy has resulted in higher unemployment for physicists, regardless of sector. But opportunities remain on both sides of the Atlantic for physicists who are nimble and can apply their skills to multiple markets.
Some physicists may still be able to find jobs by applying for positions at large firms such as McKinsey. Others choose to go off on their own, using their skills and contacts to forge an independent career. And, most recently, these have been joined by laid-off scientists scrambling to set themselves up as consultants.
UNIV. JENA
Challenging economic conditions have led many physicists to consider a career change away from industry.
McKinsey, which has a reputation for recruiting PhD scientists, spends time and money teaching its new employees the language of economics. Over half of its staff don't have a financial background, so the firm offers them a crash-course in economics.
But over the past six months, the company has seen lay-offs and a recruitment freeze. Wolfgang Pleyer, managing director of the financial-consulting company d-fine in Eschborn, Germany, thinks that the current recruitment freeze is only temporary. When it ends, he believes that physicists will be well positioned to get jobs, as their skills in mathematics and modelling can be broadly applied to many economic and financial models. At d-fine, for example, physicists make up 70% of the workforce.
There are some bright spots in the European market. For instance, the situation among more traditional disciplines in industrial physics isn't too bleak, says Roland Sauerbrey, head of the German Physical Society. And that could mean opportunities for consultants with specialized expertise, especially in growth areas such as nanotechnology and photonics. The supply-and-demand situation in Europe is also favourable. The UK-based Institute of Physics reports an increase in production levels for physics-based industries of between 12% in Germany and 27% in France. Meanwhile, fewer students are earning physics PhDs.
SEEKING INDEPENDENCE
Physicist Katrin Suder opted out of an academic career to use her scientific talents as a consultant.
For many scientists the switch to business consulting is not so much a choice but a necessity as the sagging economy sees them getting laid off. For others it is more of a lifestyle choice and an opportunity to become their own boss.
In 1999, Jack Owicki chose to leave a successful career as a biophysics professor and use his wide range of contacts and broad career focus to become a consultant for pharmaceutical and instrumentation companies. He focuses on detection technologies, in particular the use of fluorescence in high-throughput screening.
After working as a tenured physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and then at instrumentation companies Molecular Devices and LJL Biosystems, Owicki decided he wanted to take control of his life and he struck out on his own. "It was a career choice as opposed to a holding pattern until I found a job," he says. In addition to his consultancy work, he teaches courses in optical detection systems. These courses are offered at national conferences, but are primarily given to companies wishing to provide their employees with additional knowledge.
Like others, Owicki has had to make some adjustments to his business strategy because of the changing economy. In the past, he was successful simply relying on word-of-mouth recommendations, but now he finds that he needs to advertise and has to travel more than he would like — although he is still as busy as he wants to be.
So what does it take to be a successful consultant? Al Kolb, who, like Owicki, left academia to become an independent consultant, says that you "have to have a host of contacts in order to make it work". The first step is to make an honest assessment of your expertise and what you have to offer. He also stresses the importance of developing your business networking and social skills.
Kolb got his PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has spent several years in industry working in instrumentation and automation for Beckman Coulter, Packard Instrument and the Automation Partnership. He says that he has witnessed an amazing growth in the drug-discovery industry in the 1990s, but has seen a shift in priorities in recent years. Many companies have been forced to abandon early-stage screening efforts and now limit their focus to late-stage drug discovery. This will eventually have to shift back as drug pipelines dry up, Kolb says. He feels confident that the industry will rebound, but for now, as companies have fewer and fewer resources of their own, they will turn to consultants to assist them in short-term projects or strategic development.
Financial markets are cyclical. There are already signs of a stock market recovery. An astute physicist could model the markets, measure the opportunity and start a new career when the time is right.
