Daily Pump Trap: 5/9/13 edition

Good morning! Between May 7 and May 8, there were 21 new positions posted on the C&EN Jobs site. Of these, 4 (19%) are academically connected and 8 (38%) were from Kelly Scientific Resources.

Toronto, Canada: This is a classic example, in my opinion, of the bogosity of some industrial postdoctoral positions. From Encycle Therapeutics:

Post-Doctoral Scientist 

The position is centered in synthetic organic chemistry with an emphasis on peptide chemistry; research will be carried out on macrocycle synthesis, purification and structural analysis; the Post-Doctoral work will be carried out under Dr. Andrei Yudin, scientific founder of Encycle, at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus; the position is full-time, 1 year renewable contract. 

In what sense is this a postdoctoral position? Is Dr. Yudin going to provide some sort of special training or opportunity? Why not just call it a "temporary senior scientist (renewable)" position and get it over with? What's that, you say? Postdocs are paid lower? Oh - never mind.

Torrington, CT: Dymax Corporation is hiring a senior adhesives R&D chemist; 5-15 years experience, M.S./Ph.D. desired.

Montvale, NJ: Reckitt Benckiser is a personal care products company; they're looking for 2 research associates to work on anti-bacterial technology. B.S./M.S./Ph.D., 1-6 years experience desired.

Hartford, CT: Simoniz USA is looking for a detergent formulation chemist; not much guidance provided as to education or experience level.

Cambridge, MA: This is how you do an industrial postdoc. Via Schlumberger, the oil services firm (emphases mine)

Schlumberger-Doll Research, based in Cambridge, MA, invites applications for a Post-Doctoral position in its Geochemistry group. 

The candidate will join our team conducting research on oil and gas shales, which are unconventional fossil fuel resources that have experienced dramatic growth in recent years.  Shales are a kind of rock composed of inorganic minerals and organic matter referred to as kerogen (similar to coal), and these complex materials are heterogeneous on length scales below one micron.  Our research aims to understand fundamental properties relevant to shales such as transport through nanoporous materials, sorption of hydrocarbon gases to organic and inorganic surfaces, and propagation of fractures through complex materials.  For this work we are looking for a postdoc to measure correlated chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties of shale on length scales below a micron.  The postdoc is expected to investigate fundamentals of shale, participate in our active collaborations with academic and industrial partners, and publish findings in the peer-reviewed literature.

I don't think it's too much to ask to advertise ahead of time what the "training" (i.e. compensation other than money) is about ahead of time.

UPDATE: SeeArrOh points out correctly that I missed this hilarious job requirement:

Strong laboratory skills including the ability to construct and operate homebuilt instruments are expected. 

A very interesting postdoc indeed.

Sacramento, CA: Ampac Fine Chemicals desires a B.S. analytical chemist for method development; 5-7 years experience desired.

Thanks, Kelly: Cheese Technology Specialist position, Lomira, WI.

A broader look: Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed and USAjobs.gov show (respectively) 239, 709, 2,637  and 13 positions for the search term "chemist." LinkedIn shows 111 positions for the job title "chemist", with 4 for "research chemist", 14 for "analytical chemist" and 2 for "organic chemist."