More than 2,300 applications, still no job: the struggle of Princeton PhD Jack Weiss
A young researcher who earned a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University has applied to more than 2,300 places without finding a permanent job. The 30-year-old American, Jack Weiss, has now become a widely discussed example of the strange employment crisis in the United States.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Jack Weiss is currently living with his parents in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After graduating with the highest honours (summa cum laude) from Rice University, Weiss joined Princeton's doctoral programme in 2018. His research focused on the scientific principles of ice formation and intermolecular interactions.
When the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced in 2024, the Nobel Committee cited his work as an example of how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be applied to scientific research. Yet even a researcher with such recognition is struggling to find a permanent job.
He has applied to everything from pharmaceutical research and national laboratory fellowships to software engineering, and even to a food-preparation job at a company selling frozen crab cakes. But no good news has come from any research laboratory or ordinary workplace.
Despite holding a degree from a famed institution like Princeton, he reached out to alumni of both his universities — Princeton and Rice. Instead of advice, however, many of them simply told him to look through the job advertisements again.
After a long search, Weiss found part-time work in January 2026 at a startup that trains AI systems. The job paid 70 dollars an hour, but the hours were uncertain; some weeks offered 20 hours of work, while in others it dropped to just four.
Gradually the work dried up, and in mid-March he was informed through a group chat message that the contract had been cancelled. With that, his only part-time source of income also ended.
His physician parents are stunned by their son's situation. His mother, Holly Carvers, herself checked the application papers and found no mistake. She said: 'This is unexpected. I cannot explain how to interpret the whole thing.'
His father, John Weiss, expressed surprise and said: 'I never thought this boy would face such a struggle over a job.'
Weiss's story reflects a wider picture of the current US labour market — where even highly educated and skilled young people are struggling to find permanent work.
Having nearly given up hope of a conventional job, Weiss is now looking for an alternative career path. He plans to sit an admission test in November to study at law school. Alongside that, he is working on an entrepreneurial business plan to control harmful weeds using AI-powered drones.
Describing his current situation, Weiss said: 'If you believe something actually has value, you have to step forward yourself and turn that value into reality.'
