Jack Weis, a 30-year-old chemical engineering PhD graduate from Princeton University, has applied for more than 2,300 jobs since completing his doctorate in 2024. So far, he has not managed to find stable employment.
Despite an impressive Ivy League academic record and research cited by the Nobel committee, Weis has struggled to secure a job, even after expanding his search to positions far removed from his area of specialisation. His work was cited by the Nobel committee as an example of how machine learning can be applied to scientific research when it announced the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics.
His job hunt has taken him from pharmaceutical research and national laboratory fellowships to software engineering roles and even a food-preparation position at a company that sells frozen crab cakes. (Also read: Hyderabad techie says job hunt has stretched to 7 months amid AI uncertainty: ‘My future looks completely dark’ ) Weis graduated summa cum laude from Rice University before joining Princeton’s doctoral programme in 2018. His research focused on the scientific principles behind ice formation and intermolecular interactions.
Weis is currently living with his parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to The Wall Street Journal.
He has applied for over 2,300 roles in two years with no success, according to the WSJ report . In January 2026, Weis secured part-time work with a startup that hired specialists to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The position paid $70 an hour, but the volume of work varied considerably. He sometimes worked 20 hours a week, while in other weeks, his workload fell to just four hours. In mid-March, Weis was informed through a group chat that his contract was being terminated, according to the report. (Also read: ‘I’d rather go back to that toxic workplace’: Techie turns delivery rider after 1 year of unemployment ) With traditional employment proving difficult to secure, Weis is exploring other career paths.
Even applications for jobs unrelated to his doctoral specialisation failed to yield results, the Wall Street Journal reported. Despite these academic achievements, finding employment has proved difficult. Weis initially concentrated on research opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry and postdoctoral positions at national laboratories. However, many of his applications went unanswered, while others resulted in rejections. Weis then widened his search to include different industries and locations, but opportunities remained elusive. The Princeton graduate also attempted to use his university connections to improve his prospects, contacting alumni from Princeton and Rice University. However, the advice he received often amounted to checking employers’ job listings again. Eventually, assignments became increasingly scarce, with periods of several weeks passing without work. He is considering attending law school and plans to take an admissions test in November. He is also working on an entrepreneurial idea involving an AI-powered drone designed to remove invasive weeds. His parents, both physicians, have struggled to understand why their son has been unable to find a suitable position despite his qualifications. His mother, Holly Carvers, examined his job applications to identify anything that might be discouraging potential employers. She found no obvious problems and considered the applications well-written. “I don’t know how to make sense of this situation.
“If you believe something has true value, you have to step up and realize that value yourself,” Weis said. “It’s truly unexpected,” she said. His father, John Weis, also expressed surprise at his son’s difficulties, saying, “I never in a million years thought this kid would struggle.”
