I finished my PhD with no job offer
TL;DR Four years of theoretical physics, around 100 applications, mostly rejections. Then Google. The search is part of the story.
I finished my PhD with no job offer. Four years of theoretical physics at the Max Planck Society in Berlin: density functional theory, molecular dynamics, modelling materials atom by atom. My big passion.
Then six months at Stanford in 2023. Silicon Valley was right outside the door, everyone was building something, and I wanted to be part of that momentum. So when I handed in my thesis, I didn't stay in research. I started applying.
It took half a year and around 100 applications, most of them rejections. Quant trading, consulting, data science. Then Google said yes. If you're in the middle of that grind right now: it isn't a verdict on you. It's a numbers game with a long tail.
Track applications like an experiment: what you sent, what came back, what you change next round.
