Man with a PhD and Nobel-cited research has sent out 2,300 applications yet cannot land a job

Man with a PhD and Nobel-cited research has sent out 2,300 applications yet cannot land a job Despite unemployment hovering between 3.5 percent and 4.3 percent over the past three years, applicants say finding work remains difficult - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A Princeton University graduate, whose research was cited by the Nobel committee, says he has applied for more than 2,300 jobs since earning his Ph.D. in 2024 but remains unemployed and living in his parents’ basement. Jack Weis, a 30-year-old Salt Lake City native with a doctorate in chemical engineering, has applied for jobs ranging from pharmaceutical research and national laboratory fellowships to software engineering and food preparation, The Wall Street Journal reports. The son of two physicians graduated summa cum laude from Rice University before earning his doctorate at Princeton. His research focused on the chemical principles behind ice formation and molecular interactions, and the Nobel committee later cited his work while announcing the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. Despite his academic credentials, Weis has struggled to land research positions and postdoctoral fellowships. Many applications went unanswered, while others ended in rejection, prompting him to expand his search beyond his specialty. “We never dreamed he would have issues. He’s an Eagle Scout, he helps others, he’s environmentally conscious, he’s physically fit,” his father, Dr. John Weis, told the Journal. “He’s smarter than I am, he’s more articulate than I am. He’s got an encyclopedic knowledge of history.” Despite unemployment hovering between 3.5 percent and 4.3 percent over the past three years, applicants say finding work remains difficult. Alicia Contreras, a former United States Agency for International Development official with an MBA and 17 years of public service experience, has struggled to find work since the Trump administration shut down much of the agency’s overseas operations, she told The Guardian in April. After returning to the Washington, D.C., area, she submitted nearly 100 applications over six months without receiving an offer. “The job market is pretty bad here. I got a request to do like an artificial intelligence video interview, but other than that, most of it has been rejections,” Contreras told the outlet. “I feel like it’s saturated.” According to one survey of about 218 job seekers, from Andrew Hudson’s Jobs List, Inc., 61 percent said they were concerned about employers failing to respond to applications. Others cited age discrimination, fierce competition and potentially fake job postings, while some worried that AI was making the hiring process more impersonal. Weis briefly secured a gig paying $70 an hour through Mercor, a tech startup that hires experts to train AI systems in their respective fields. Valued at $10 billion last year, the company has worked with OpenAI and Anthropic and recruits contractors across specialties including astronomy, creative writing, law and investment banking. Through Mercor’s Studio platform, Weis developed chemical engineering prompts to train AI, evaluated its responses and refined its answers. But his hours varied from four to 20 a week before the work dried up, leaving him without a steady income. “Friendship with Mercor ended, unemployment is my best friend now,” Weis wrote in an email to the Journal. He also tried networking with fellow graduates and alumni from Princeton and Rice, but those efforts yielded few opportunities. His applications eventually included a food-preparation job at a company selling frozen crab cakes. Weis is considering a career change and has registered to take the Law School Admission Test in November as he weighs whether to attend law school. He has also become involved with the Utah GOP and submitted rule-making petitions to federal agencies, including one proposing that health insurance be separated from employment. He believes that if workers no longer had to rely on employer-provided health insurance, more people might feel free to leave their jobs, potentially opening up positions for other applicants. Meanwhile, Weis is also exploring entrepreneurship. Using AI, he designed a drone equipped with LED lasers intended to kill myrtle spurge, an invasive weed. “If I truly believe I have some value, I should go out and get it,” he told the Journal. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments