Daily Pump Trap: 8/29/13 edition

Good morning! Between August 27 and August 28, there were 64 new positions posted on the C&EN Jobs website. Of these, 3 (5%) were academically connected and 29 (45%) were from Kelly Scientific Resources. 

Monroeville, PA: PPG industries is looking for a Ph.D. analytical chemist -- looks to be entry-level.

Boston, MA: I find this Wolfe Laboratories position very interesting. It's titled "Postdoctoral Scientist", with the typical project-directed language. There's also a "client interaction" section, but I suspect it's boilerplate. And then there's this:

ADDITIONAL DESIRABLE BACKGROUND:
Post doctoral experience in analytical biochemistry or closely related discipline. Good understanding of excipient and ligand interaction with proteins. Evaluation of thermodynamic and kinetic models.  

WHERE THIS JOB COULD LEAD:
At Wolfe Laboratories Inc., we pride ourselves on retaining and growing our team members, and ensuring they are developing to their full potential. This position can provide many different avenues for advancement, including: 

Training towards becoming a Project Manager
Leader of an innovative business line
Become a Lead Technical Researcher
Managing a team of Postdoctoral employees

So, is this a postdoc* (i.e. an academic-type training position), or is it a probationary entry-level position? I'd love to know that. (There's a 'more pie' joke in here, too.)

*Note they'd like you to already have had a postdoc! 

North Brunswick, NJ: Chromocell Corporation is looking for a scientific IT director and an informatician -- interesting positions. "Must be able to bridge the gap between technical IT staff and management" -- uhhhhhh.

Naperville, IL: BP Amoco would like to hire an entry-level Ph.D. analytical chemist for work on petrochemical-focused process analytical chemistry. Cool. The title is interesting: "assistant analytical chemist."

Ewing, NJ: FMC Corporation is looking for an entry-level analytical chemist (M.S., 3-5 years; Ph.D. 1+ years experience.)

Langley, VA: The Central Intelligence Agency has decided to post a Science, Technology and Weapons Analyst position on the board. I wonder how many graduate students have applied to one of these positions? (raises hand) A very interesting prequisite:

Please attach to your online application the following items: 

A cover letter.
A 5-8 page analytical writing sample in your area of claimed substantive expertise, preferably unedited by others.

I think that's a pretty interesting idea, but it's quite a high barrier to entry (although there's nothing keeping you from sending in a paper of yours...)

ACS Career Fair Watch: 53 positions for ACS Indy, 7 for the Virtual Career Fair.