Jump to content

I am looking for a job


JoeFerguson

Recommended Posts

Anybody on here a chemist? I will be finishing grad school at the end of the summer. I have been searching for a job for quite a while. I'm starting to resort to alternative means of job searching, such as this one.

 

If anyone has anything, PM me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what exactly does an organic chemist do?

 

The majority of my training is in synthetic chemistry. I synthesize stuff. I am trying to parlay that into a position with a variety of different types of companies: ie. pharmaceuticals, coatings, fragrances, etc. I hope you were requesting a serious answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The majority of my training is in synthetic chemistry. I synthesize stuff. I am trying to parlay that into a position with a variety of different types of companies: ie. pharmaceuticals, coatings, fragrances, etc. I hope you were requesting a serious answer.

I was..thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The majority of my training is in synthetic chemistry. I synthesize stuff. I am trying to parlay that into a position with a variety of different types of companies: ie. pharmaceuticals, coatings, fragrances, etc. I hope you were requesting a serious answer.

 

I ama chemist, Joe. But retired. My contacts are either dead, or dispersed to who knows where. :blink:

 

I worked mainly in process materials, and process engineering, in automotive... coatings, sealants, metal-pretreatment, corrosion control, waste treatment, EPA regs and the like. More manufacturing work than chemistry, as it turned out.

 

The auto, metal coating field is fairly active. The ever-increasing safety standards have brought a whole new kind of steel to the transportation biz, ultra high-strength steels etc., and soon to come - if these daffy new CAFE regs Congress pets themselves about actually happens - a lot of titanium and magnesium (Dirty secret - we are then talking about 25K entry-level vehicles).

 

It's hard to figure out provenances these days. PPG, DuPont, BASF still are big players in the OEM business...topcoats, electrocoats, primers, repair coatings etc. The old, prominent pre-treatment companies...Parker and AmChem...have been sold, bought, sold many times. I think Parker was acquired by Henkel some time ago. I know they have an exciting project underway, a room-temp conversion coating, not using zinc phosphate or chrome compounds. Ford has a line running it somewhere. Henkel is also working on that old technique, autodeposition.

 

I've lost track of the adhesive and sealer outfits.

 

As always, there is a certain artistic component to coatings applications and subsequent durability. It's a field with grey boundaries - experience matters.

 

Rheology is a big thing in the coatings biz. As well as solvent technology. I'll toss out terms like dilatency, shear,critical pigment packing volume, thixotrophy, pseudoplastic behavior, viscoelasticity. Thud. :devil:

 

If you do get a job in coatings, do hunt up a copy of this:

 

Paint Flow and Pigment Dispersion - A Rheological Approach to Coating and Ink Technology, 2nd ed. by Temple C. Patton, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-03272-7.

 

It's one of the Holy Books. ;)

 

Good luck in the job search.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a couple of openings. PM me if interested. I would need to know more about you before I would commit to a referral. These are tough times for hiring in the pharma area. There used to be many more on our site.

 

(near Philly)

 

A Master's Degree in a field of science with a minimum of 4 years relevant academic or pharmaceutical laboratory experience or a Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 6 years relevant laboratory experience.

 

Knowledge of principles of drug metabolism. Knowledge and experience in metabolism studies in vitro and in vivo, radiation safety and radiometric analysis. Experience in assay/instrument troubleshooting.

 

(Sanford, NC)

 

BS or MS in life/physical sciences (e.g. Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology). Relevant experience may compensate for lack of graduate degree.

 

Training on cGMP for laboratory operations, ICH and other regulatory guidelines related to method validation. Method-specific training prior to execution of laboratory studies. Training in statistical analysis and technical writing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/

 

Here is the url for Chemical and Engineering new. I assume you are a member of the American Chemical Society.

If not, it is a good organization to join.

I am a chemist but in the dinosaur Ferroalloys industry.

 

I am already a member of the ACS and am aware of their career website. Thanks for the advice, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A snappish reply to a fellow who responded to your asking for help.

 

You might have a long job search...

 

I didn't think it was snappish, but I have modified my post to make it seem less so. I apologize to you LewPort if I was curt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am an educated chemist who concluded early on that it would be more rewarding (read that as $$) in the fields of sales (GASP!!) and marketing (DOUBLE GASP!!!!!) with the hope that there would be more value in having someone that could talk the techie lingo as well as understand the commercial aspect of industry as well.

 

For a humble viewpoint of how not to build a career, i give you mine:

 

Graduate (1974) - no jobs (same as now...)

bake Pizza's for 6 months

 

Gain related employment as a bench chemist at an adhesives company. enjoy the work, but lack vision of where it's going (which was correct). Work 3 years.

 

Take job as a Development Engineer at a "high tech" paper company making industrial niches products. Surprisingly, greatly satisfying! Much chemistry, high activity.

 

Probably talk too much - promoted into sales engineer, back to technical director, then sales manager, then director sales & Marketing. I note that while titles change, job function doesn't really change that much. Work there 15 years...

 

Realize paper industry is a study in changing ownerships (like much basic industry), left to be Vp Sales & Marketing at struggling paper company trying to be high tech. Didn't work out (neither did the company - it closed). Out of work 2 months.

 

Take Market Manager job to feed the family. Great job - low salary. Stay 2 years.

 

Take Director of marketing job at competitor of first paper company. Find that Titles still lie. Basically find technical reasons why our products work and leverage the commercial side with strong eye on product management & costs. Promoted to VP Marketing & Technology which closes the loop. Now marketing can define technical directions in my head while I have a drink at the bar. However, I must warn, bi-polar tendancies do develop... Stong side affect is 15 hour days become the norm with many Saturdays. Still there after 15 years... still bi-polar.

 

What to make of this? Look at your skill set and opportunties as they may present themselves. Don't view yourself as "just a chemist" - look at your personality and what you like and what you don't like. There are hundreds / thousands of opportunites for technically adept people on the commercial side.

 

Oh, and I forgot... BE FLEXIBLE! Life comes at you fast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...