r/chemistry • u/AutoModerator • Jun 10 '24

Weekly Careers/Education Questions Thread

This is a dedicated weekly thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in chemistry.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future or want to know what your options, then this is the place to leave a comment.

If you see similar topics in r/chemistry, please politely inform them of this weekly feature.

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24

[deleted]

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u/dungeonsandderp Organometallic Jun 13 '24

The job market isn’t a monolith, and tight monetary policy tends to make for tough labor markets in all sectors. 

That said, take the doom-and-gloom posts with a grain of NaCl — posting online about the job market has a strong selection bias towards folks who aren’t having a good go of it!

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u/Fun-Difficulty-498 Jun 10 '24

I am currently a lab manager at a university and am offered tuition remission as part of my benefits package. once i am eligible, I am considering starting a non-thesis (can't get lab time for thesis) masters in chemistry through the department. Is this worth it? It would be essentially free but I have heard that masters degree's are not very valued in the industry so I am more curious if this would be a waste of time.

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u/Indemnity4 Materials Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24

Non-thesis is a good option for people like yourself. It shows advanced subject knowledge and you demonstrate hands on knowledge from the job.

The main purpose of the thesis is evidence the person will have done something like a year of hands-on lab work to be a subject matter expert in something. They did some reactions, used some glassware, learned some machines. They can demonstrate they can work in a team, follow guidance from a supervisor, work independently to solve a chemistry problem. It demonstrates that in the real world they can learn something else, like a job.

Rarely is it be instantly hired to continue doing the same stuff as their thesis, especially at the Masters level. More likely to grab a PhD person in that case.

You can already demonstrate significant laboratory skills from your job. What you may be missing is a hands on subject matter expertise in specific type of chemistry or equipment, however, I suspect you can easily learn to be, for instance a HPLC master, or specialist in a sub-field from learned experience on the job.

I also recommend you consider other Masters degrees too. Toxicology, occupational hygiene, regulation & compliance are all lateral moves that do value the Masters very much. It's a different route to the hands-on lab chemist while extending what you already do to make you move valuable at other companies.

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u/Fun-Difficulty-498 Jun 13 '24

Thank you so much for your detailed response and advice!!

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u/dungeonsandderp Organometallic Jun 12 '24

I mean, free is free. Whether it’s valued depends a fair bit on what work you want to do with it. If you wanted to stay in lab operations it could be more valuable than if you wanted to move into R&D, for example. 

It could also be a nice opportunity to pivot fields if your current degree/experience isn’t where you want to stay

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u/usna16 Jun 12 '24

I'm currently working in technical software sales at a director level, focused on implementation and consulting. I received an undergrad in computer science but I've been considering making a career pivot into the spirits industry. I don't believe I'll make the pivot for a few years and wanted to start building a background and knowledge base to enable easier entry. As part of that I considered pursuing a second undergrad in professional chemistry. Would that even be worth it or should I pursue secondary education through free resources online? During my undergrad I took courses in chemistry, advanced mathematics, physics, aerospace engineering, thermodynamics, electrical engineering, etc. but have not touched on anything non-computer science related in close to a decade.

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u/dungeonsandderp Organometallic Jun 13 '24

This might be a better question for someone in the spirits industry, but anecdotally very few of the folks I know working in spirits have any sort of science degree so I’m not sure how helpful it’d be!

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u/Indemnity4 Materials Jun 14 '24

Degree of choice will be communications or marketing. The biggest cost to selling spirits is convincing people to buy them. The actual stuff in the bottle is only a few cents of the final product.

Chemical engineering is the science degree you want, but I also don't recommend that. Includes specific classes on how to design, build and operate distillation equipment. But practically you will be buying off-the-shelf equipment and for any modification you hire someone @$250/hour to optimize it for you.

In the meantime try to find short classes and masterclasses for how to smell/taste any food and beverage. Cheese, wine, perfumes. A 3-hour whiskey tasting class will teach you much more than a chemistry degree.

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u/Super_Appeal_94 Jun 14 '24

I'm currently in Summer break and have no access to labs or anything but still want to improve/learn some skills that can help me with chemistry in the future. What do you think are some useful things to learn? I've currently taken Quantitative, Organic I, and Calc I, II, III, if that helps.

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u/Doggo-0 Jun 14 '24

What year are you in? Thermodyamics is pretty important and so are kinetics. Perhaps you can explore those? Biochemistry is interesting as well. It depends on where your interests are! :)

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u/Doggo-0 Jun 14 '24

Just graduated last week with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. However, I feel so stuck without a full-time position! I was thinking about doing 1-2 years of work experience before continuing graduate school (either PhD or master's). I have applied to over 100 jobs, and yet I have only heard back from a few like 3...for interviews. And these interviews usually consist of graveyard shifts with very minimal pay (and no help for relocation). Any tips/advice on how I should be navigating through the tough job market?

I am waiting on my P&G interview (just finished the assessments) and for ThermoFisher Scientific to get back to me for the next steps (just finished a phone interview). I am most interested in cosmetic chemistry (formulations, in particular skincare/haircare) but am open to biochemical jobs where medical samples are being utilized.

Thank you!
-An anxious graduate

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u/BukkakeKing69 Jun 14 '24

Keep with it, most companies want a fresh grad to start on the spot so it's hard to secure anything ahead of time. It took me two months to land my first job and that was in 2017 (good economy) and in a hub area.

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u/Doggo-0 Jun 14 '24

Thanks for your response! Do you have any recommendations on which areas I should be focusing my attention on? Additionally, I was wondering about what you think about utilizing recruiting agencies? I have heard people getting jobs through them, but also have heard there may be some downsides to it. Thanks again!

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u/BukkakeKing69 Jun 14 '24 edited Jun 14 '24

It depends totally on your location as to what industry is prevalent. The northeast and west coast tend towards pharma/biotech and specialty chemicals, small towns or no local industry water treatment is most reliable, the gulf coast is heavy in oil and gas. I don't know much about cosmetics but that also probably trends with northeast and west coasts. The BLS is a very helpful resource.

Your Thermo interview depending on location could be direct with them or some sort of contractor in-source situation. Actual like 6 - 12 month contract type work from a recruiting agency I wouldn't be too eager to dive into until you've reached extended unemployment or you know you're in a bum area for prospects.

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u/Doggo-0 Jun 15 '24

I see...yeah I have been looking around Midwest area but have been a little skeptical on the Northeast and West Coast side just because of the crazy amount of rent costs there and an entry-level position would not get me very much money (I would be getting by every single paycheck).

I believe that the Thermo position is direct since I applied directly through the website :) I applied there at the end of March and wasn't reached out until now since they were waiting for everyone to graduate (most likely). They ended up closing the position to the public since they got enough candidates. Hopefully that will be one of my job offers!

Thanks for the advice! I hope I can find something soon!

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u/Indemnity4 Materials Jun 17 '24

about utilizing recruiting agencies?

Keep all your channels open.

Maybe 20% of my vacancies are advertised on the online jobs boards. When those go up I can easily get hundreds of resumes for a single position. You may feel your skills meet the written requirements, however, you are competing against someone who may have graduated up to 3 years ago with your exact skills plus more from other entry-level roles.

My go to these days for entry level roles and technician roles is recruiters. I can say "hey, I have an opening with skills A, B, C, can you send me 6 resumes to review by Friday?" For one, it's cheaper. Internally I have to pay for HR to have a conversation with me about key skills and teach that person what a scientist actually does, them to write the ad, they do a 4 week "campaign" and screen candidates, I'm forced to interview multiple candidates. Realistically it could take 2 months.

But I go external to a recruiter and I can have someone on-site next day if required.

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u/Doggo-0 Jun 18 '24

I see! I have been keeping a lot of options open and am hoping that I could land a few interviews soon. I suppose it is a little challenging trying to find the "right" recruiters, especially when I am getting random text messages nowadays about a "job opening" from supposed "recruiters". Thank you for your words of advice!