Jack Weiss earned a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University in the United States, and his research has even been recognised by the Nobel committee. Yet despite all his achievements and qualifications, the 30-year-old has not found a permanent job. Since finishing his PhD in 2024 he has applied for more than 2,300 jobs, still without landing the one he wanted.
Weiss, from Salt Lake City in Utah, now lives with his parents. In his search he has applied for jobs outside his specialist field, from software engineering posts to a company that sells frozen crab cakes.
The Wall Street Journal recently described his struggle in a report.
Weiss graduated with the highest honours from Rice University and joined Princeton’s PhD programme in 2018. His research dealt with principles of chemical science and interactions between molecules. In 2024 his work on how ice forms was cited in a Nobel committee discussion as an example of machine learning applied to scientific research.
Despite his advanced degree and research experience, getting a job proved hard. At first he applied for research posts at drug companies and for prestigious fellowships at national laboratories. Most did not reply, and some rejected him outright.
Weiss then began applying for jobs across different industries and regions, but in most cases he was not called for interview. Reaching out to fellow alumni of Princeton and Rice brought little result. Some simply advised him to keep checking companies’ job postings.
In January 2026 Weiss found part-time work with a new company that hires experts to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems, paying $70 an hour. But the work was irregular: one week he might get 20 hours, the next only four.
At one point the work dwindled further, and for several weeks he got none at all. In mid-March, the report says, he was told in a group chat that his contract had been ended.
Weiss is now thinking of changing careers. He plans to apply to study law and is preparing to sit the admission test next November. He is also trying to become an entrepreneur, working on an AI-powered drone to remove unwanted invasive weeds.
Both of Weiss’s parents are doctors, and they are baffled that their son cannot find work despite his qualifications. His mother, Holly Carvers, went through his job applications to see whether anything might look negative to employers, but found no obvious problem.
‘It is really unexpected,’ she said, expressing her frustration. ‘I do not know how to explain this situation.’
His father, John Weiss, said: ‘I never in my life thought this boy would have to struggle like this to get a job.’
Wall Street Journal reporter Lindsay Ellis interviewed Weiss while reporting on job seekers’ experiences across all 50 US states. She said his experience stood out because it reflects a labour market where hiring has slowed and opportunities are shrinking.
The current US labour market is being described as low-hire, low-fire: companies are taking on fewer new workers, and those in work are not leaving for other jobs as readily as before. As a result, there are fewer vacancies for people looking for a job.
Recent employment figures reflect the squeeze. The report says the share of people in the US who had been unemployed for at least 27 weeks reached its highest level in nearly a decade this summer, leaving aside the coronavirus pandemic and the period that followed it.
Weiss’s experience shows that higher education, recognised research and specialist skills do not guarantee a job in today’s market. With hiring slowed, even qualified candidates are having to wait a long time for work. Source: NDTV
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