I'm a theoretical physics (quantum computing) grad student. I really like what I do, and would like to continue doing it for a long time.
But I'm aware that the job market in academia for freshly minted physics PhDs is not spectacular. For personal reasons, I may not be able to go through the post-doc treadmill and I might want to make good money. Thus: programming & finance. I currently lean towards programming.
I thought LW is a good place to ask for advice related to this.
Current skills: Good at math, definitely not "gifted". I know C++, and some Python; neither inside out. I don't know specific techniques to design good algorithms for problems. For example, I tried my hand a few times at programming contests (including those at small scales) and got my ass handed to me. I've only taken basic college courses in programming.
I'm not very aware of the skills tested in quant interviews. I'm sure googling and talking to a few people will fix this, but please feel free to add your thoughts.
I have about a couple of years left till I graduate, so I can do this properly: What is the best way to make sure that when I graduate I can easily take a job in software or finance after the PhD? Looking for the most bang-for-the-buck (the buck here being time and money) way to do this.
Also, I may have blinders on. Are there other well-paying jobs out there for physics PhDs? I'm not an American citizen, so many of the government/government-funded lab jobs are out of the question.
Thanks in advance.
Some resources I've identified:
2. SICP. (How much is it worth going through this?)
What is one trying to do?
Here I am just talking about myself in OP's situation, not about OP. Obviously OP may have different priorities. $$$/effort is not very good in technical fields in general. Given that one wants $$$ and be a techie, I imagine there is some sort of tradeoff involved where one wants "interesting work (given a techie predilection)" but also make a decent living. Given this, the best bet seems to me to just become technically good at what one does (which would involve studying that pesky underlying computer science). Why even bother with a technical field for $$$ otherwise if you are in the kind of percentile that can study quantum physics?