Good morning! Including July 20, there have been over 250 new jobs posted on the ACS Careers website.
Kelly Scientific Resources, UR DOIN IT RONG: Did you see that number above? Yes, 250 positions were posted by Kelly Scientific. So, CJ, how many of those positions were relevant to chemists and/or chemical engineers? What's that you say? Maybe 50% -- wow, wouldn't that be a waste of time for ACS members?
Among the jobs posted by the morons at KSR: "clinical lab tech", "fromulation [sic] chemist", "overnight quality inspector" (with a B.S. in the biological sciences -- heh) and "animal care technician." What part of American Chemical Society do you not understand?
DuPont in Hyderabad: DuPont is advertising, yet again, for synthetic organic chemists in Hyderabad, India. Is there an Indian equivalent for the Chinese term "sea turtles"?
Bet you get household products!: The Clorox Company is looking for Ph.D. chemists to work in their product R&D division. Sounds like fun -- may I suggest a tiny mop for those hard-to-clean toddler faces?
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Chemjobber I don't know if your comments on these advertised positions above are offered in jest however they come off as ignorant/arrogant towards job opportunities for chemists that are out there. Sure we all get preconceived notions about companies/positions but should not be so closed-minded since there are likely matches for some chemists and hidden potential in others. I know for instance that from on campus interviewing many years ago Clorox used to be involved in more that "cleaning products" and had dedicated R&D efforts for Industrial Scale applications so presume still may be the case here. Even though not to your taste or desires its disingenuous to piss on certain ads when aim is to quantify job market.
ReplyDeleteHi, A829:
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
It is my intention to make jokey comments about the positions that I write about. I pick jobs that are either 1) especially desirable, 2) especially undesirable or 3) interesting. It was my hope that the Clorox job would come in as category #3, thus the comments about "household cleaners" and my kid's impossibly dirty face.
It was absolutely NOT my intention to be arrogant or ignorant about any position; on the contrary, I hope (and I have been accused of being!) unrealistically optimistic about the job market and specific jobs, as well. Believe you me, I am in no position to make negative comments about any job, considering how humble my current position is. I agree with you that the Clorox position seems quite attractive, especially since it's probably interesting chemistry and in a business that's doing a lot better (or not as bad as) the pharmaceutical industry.*
I am new at this; if you would like to point out where exactly I have gone wrong ("arrogant, ignorant" or "disingenuous") or what tone I should not be using, please do.
Cheers, CJ
*I mentioned that it "sounds like fun" and one of the likely side benefits -- how is this ignorant or arrogant?
I wonder if the ACS have a similar set up to the RSC here, and companies are jumping on a "post your jobs for free" bandwagon. Typically I've seen around 10 jobs per month on Chemistry World (the RSC equivalent, I guess, of CEN News), but as of this month they are offering free posting of jobs, and the jobs site seems to have exploded into life with ~ 50-60 jobs. Of course, it could be recovery, but seems a mighty big green shoot...
ReplyDeleteAs an addendum, what is the gut feeling about agencies advertising science jobs in general, or chemistry jobs... I have been registered with KSR here in the UK for around 5-6 years, and applied for around 80 jobs that they had available, and only managed to get 1 interview out of them - and that was for a job I had applied to several months previously directly to the company, only to be told that they were not recruiting at the time...
ReplyDeleteChemjobber (A829 again) I do apologize if I misconstrued your approach here. Initial comments ripped KSR hard ("waste of time", "morons") and I did not realize you intended a shift in tone when you later noted Clorox job (nor whether the Dupont-India item was meant as positive or negative) so felt you were down-grading that position (So I read Sounds like fun(not) rather than as you apparently meant it*). Humor/Cynicism are difficult to distinguish at times, particularly in print (and I myself fail often there also), so may have to be explicit in noting modality.
ReplyDelete* Note they do already sell facial/countertop wipes although most kids don't like the smell. Not sure parents could tolerate Cherry, Grape or Bubblegum odor so can we all agree on Chocolate?
Anyway I suggested "ignorance and arrogance" as indeed there are (were?) diverse job opportunities for chemists out there at companies like Clorox. I have even known chemist employed clinical lab techs, formulators and QC/QA types so reacting to that too but didn't jump on you specifically there (likewise it is typically easier/cheaper to create a single generic ad that is run in various publication that might be geared for different audiences). I think there is a widespread view that exists in US in that chemists often get sold on "working in academia" is the highest calling then failing that can be "pharmaceutical med chemist" acceptable as fall back. I may have erroneously stereotyped you as having that too common attitude without being aware or open to the multiple other career pathways chemists have (had?) then those two options.
Fair enough. I value the input, I really do.
ReplyDeleteI have in my head two people: 1) the relatively new grad, who's looking for a job (any job) in chemistry and 2) the out-of-work mid-career bench guy/gal. In my estimation, neither of those folks are served by the drivel that KSR dumped (gavaged?) into the ACS Careers database.
Thanks again. Cheers, CJ
Anon12:17: All good questions, and I'll try to see what people think. (And thanks for mentioning Chemistry World -- I don't cover it often, but I should check it out.)
ReplyDelete