30-Year-Old Princeton PhD With Nobel-Cited Research Fails To Land Job After 2,300 Applications

Jack Weiss, 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. Despite his academic achievements and research recognised by the Nobel Committee, he has yet to find stable employment. Weiss, who is from Salt Lake City, Utah, is now living with his parents at his childhood home. According to The Wall Street Journal, his job search has taken him well beyond his field of specialisation, including applications for software engineering roles and even a food preparation job at a company that sells frozen crab cakes.

Weiss graduated summa cum laude from Rice University before joining Princeton's PhD programme in 2018. His research focused on chemical principles and interactions between molecules. His work on ice formation was cited by the Nobel Committee in 2024 as an example of the application of machine learning in scientific research.

Despite his qualifications, finding work has proved difficult. He initially applied for research positions at pharmaceutical companies and prestigious fellowships at national laboratories, but most applications went unanswered or ended in rejection.

He later expanded his search to jobs across industries and locations, often without securing an interview. Reaching out to alumni from Princeton and Rice University did little to improve his prospects, with some advising him simply to keep checking company job boards.

In January 2026, Weiss found part-time work with a startup that hired specialists to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The job paid $70 an hour, but the workload was inconsistent. While he sometimes worked 20 hours a week, his hours fell to as few as four in other weeks. Eventually, assignments became increasingly scarce, with weeks passing without any work. In mid-March, he was informed through a group chat that his contract had been terminated, the report said.

Weiss is now considering applying to law school and plans to take the admissions test in November. He is also exploring entrepreneurship by developing an AI-powered drone designed to remove invasive weeds.

Weiss's parents, both doctors, have been taken aback by his difficulties in finding employment. His mother, Holly Carvers, reviewed his applications to see whether anything might be putting employers off but found no obvious problems. "It's truly unexpected. I don't know how to make sense of this situation," she said. 

"I never in a million years thought this kid would struggle," his father, John Weiss, said. 

Journalist Lindsey Ellis, who reported on Weiss for The Wall Street Journal, said his experience stood out while she was interviewing job seekers across all 50 US states. His story, she noted, illustrated the challenges facing job seekers in a labour market that has seen hiring slow down.

The US job market has been described as a low-hiring, low-firing environment, where fewer people are being recruited and employees are less likely to leave their existing jobs. This leaves fewer openings for those seeking employment. Recent employment data has also highlighted the challenges facing job seekers. According to the report, the share of Americans who had been unemployed for at least 27 weeks reached its highest level in about a decade this summer, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath.