Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Daily Pump Trap: 1/7/14 edition

First one of the year, just trying to push something out the door. 

Los Angeles, CA: Materia (the Grubbs' catalyst folks) are hiring two process chemists: a Ph.D.-level one and a B.S./M.S.-level one. Good luck!

Boston, MA: Aramco Services is looking for a B.S.-level chemist; looks to be polymer/nanomaterials-oriented.

Spring Valley, NY: Adecco is looking for a "Sales Assistant with Inorganic Chemistry Background":
The Inorganic Chemical Sales Assistant should have a degree in Chemistry specializing in inorganic chemistry specifically and have strong analytic and mathematical skills . While this is a sales support position, the Sales Assistant will be working with technical documents and must understand and be able to communicate with the Sales Engineers and customers about details of chemical products.
40-50k; could be worse, I'm guessing.

Joy: I love how this cheminformatics position with St. Jude's wants someone with a computer science degree. I guess the chemistry isn't important.

UPDATE (010814, 11 am): A very kind e-mail from the director of the laboratory that's hiring above:
The ‘Cheminformatics Analyst’ position is in my lab. I wanted to clarify the job posting. The job description states this person ‘assists the CBT Cheminformaticist with computing resources for cheminformatics’  and will be developing software applications, hence the background in CS. Apologies if the job title is a bit ambiguous.
 He also provides some other positions that I'll be highlighting today.

Ahhhhhhh, Aldrich: Gotta love the combination of Kelly and Aldrich trolling for chemical operators:
A leading manufacturer of chemicals is in need of several Operators to join their team!  These are perfect positions for individuals with a chemistry or related degree, with a year of industry experience who is seeking a foot in the door type of position.  
As a Chemical Operator, you will be able to;
- Monitor chemical reactions using analytical and laboratory equipment
- Perform distillations, filtrations, extractions and re-crystallizations
- Record data in laboratory notebooks
- Label reactions, products, and waste with content and status related information 
An associates degree or higher, in a science field, is required.  Experience may be able to replace a degree.
Someone please tell me that this position isn't as bad as it looks. It's probably not. Right? Right? Someone with Aldrich experience, what are these positions like? 

8 comments:

  1. It's bad enough that lab technician jobs have gone from being a reward for a good plant operator to a punishment for someone with a 4-year degree, but expecting a degree for a plant operator job is going too damn far!

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  2. Well to be fair they are asking for an associates degree. This screams entry level, and might indeed be a good opportunity for someone who got their gen eds out of the way who want to start getting industry experience while pursuing a bachelor's degree. Or, similarly, for someone with a bachelors who need funding for a graduate degree. The idea being that it's a start somewhere, where either you get your experience under your belt and leave or you get a promotion. A fresh grad with 2-3 years of experience would hands down win a job over a fresh grad with no experience.

    I actually am relieved to finally be seeing things that don't require terminal degrees to do bitch-level work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're probably right. I assume that the hiring manager thinks like you and I and the HR drone/Kelly rep is the one who is flogging it for new grads.

      Delete
    2. Funding for a graduate degree? PhDs are funded by the GOV. MSs are PhD students that saw the writing on the wall and got out while the getting was good. This job clearly isn't going to fund a JD or MBA from the employee saving money nor the company paying for such degrees. So funding for what graduate degree?

      Delete
    3. You do realize that some people can't take the vow of poverty for another 4 years minimum that a PhD would entail+ the ungodly number of years as an indentured servant err postdoc, correct?

      Many, MANY people out in industry only have a masters. And many times those graduate degrees are paid for via an employee benefit called "Tuition reimbursement". Not everyone has this benefit, but it's not so uncommon out in the real world.

      Delete
  3. I do not know which building the positions are for but chemical operators are the grunts at Aldrich but not all grunts are created equal. The lab building does all glassware scale reactions. This will be 100mL to 72L glass flasks. You get a preparation that gives you a step by single step procedure and not the kind that says filter, concentrate and distill. Each process is broken up into single step operations so fewer mistakes can be made. Most procedures become 40 to 70 steps from set-up to isolation. While a process bay grunt will be working with the large kettles and you do really get to see the material. The procedures are similar but it usually does not feel like you are doing chemistry. I had one friend with a chemistry degree and 10 years of experience in R&D and after losing his job had to take a kettle operator job for 2 years before he found something more to his liking. He found the kettle operator job "mind numbing."

    I think the lab building work is great. It is like taking a lab class in college. The scale is larger and you will be running 4-6 reactions at a time but if you like to work with your hands this could be the job for you. I have seen many people start in this position, continue their education and move up in the company. Usually chemistry majors are hired as chemist, not operators but I think they may be opening things up due to the need to fill positions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also....saw this "special" opportunity, that might be of interest to some. They are looking for...read on: Production Chemist, Essential Oil Refinement (San Jose, CA)
    http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/sci/4271485112.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. thank's sharing post we are manufacturer chemicalreactionlab equipmentt exporter supplier in india

    ReplyDelete

looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20