1. HELPING CHEMISTS FIND JOBS IN A TOUGH MARKET. 2. TOWARDS A QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE QUALITY OF THE CHEMISTRY JOB MARKET.
What's the job market like for chemists? Dude -- it's always bad.*
How bad is it? How the heck should I know? Quantifying the chemistry job market is what this blog is about. That, and helping chemists find jobs.
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(*For the literal-minded, this is a joke. Mostly.)
Film Studies and "music" make as much as chemists.
ReplyDeleteBoy did I choose the wrong career path...
That's pretty depressing, but on a positive note, I got a note from Glassdoor that Theranos is hiring! Apply here!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.glassdoor.com/Job/palo-alto-chemist-reagent-stability-jobs-SRCH_IL.0,9_IC1147434_KO10,35.htm?jl=1705254487&jas=Y&srs=PAID_JAN&utm_source=zipRecruiter-gdh-b&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=zipRecruiter-gdh-b-up
Wow, if I knew I could have made about as much on average with a music major...to think what might have been.
ReplyDeleteBased on the example jobs, it looks like they've limited themselves to "terminal" bachelors positions. That means no postdocs to bring the average down, but no senior investigator salaries to bring it up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, no PetE... maybe not enough respondents? They can't have dropped that far, that fast--a couple years ago, the going rate for a bachelors was around $100k.
The list of majors between Computer Science/Engineering and Chemistry is really depressing. It includes: Spanish, Social Science, History, and English.
ReplyDeleteSTEM shortage! But, it pays more to do a humanities degree than study chemistry or biology...
I agree very disheartening to see some of the majors a head of chemistry majors.
DeleteDid you note the misguided comments after the list: “If college students want to land a high-paying job after graduation, they should strongly consider majoring in science, technology, engineering, or math,” says Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor Chief Economist. “STEM majors are in demand by the technology and health industries, which offer higher paying jobs that are better protected from competition or automation.” for most part should be promoting sTEEM from this list
Phil, I would bet everything I own that the unemployment rate is much higher in spanish, social science, history, and english majors vs. STEM majors. This seems to only be accounting for base salaries for people employed in that field. As a chem grad, I could work at Fed Ex if I wanted and likely would not be able to submit a salary.
DeleteAnon @ 12:14PM
DeleteThank you for pointing out that potentially crucial detail about employment vs unemployment. If you're right about how the study was done, then it doesn't tell the whole story.
To your point about FedEx, the brief description of the study indicates otherwise:
"Through an analysis of hundreds of thousands of resumes and corresponding salary reports, Glassdoor has determined which majors pay the most during the first five years out of college."
On top of that, they list the 3 most common job titles for graduates in those majors. So, I think they were agnostic to what job you ended up taking. Working at FedEx with a chemistry degree would be counted.
Every day I wish I would have studied computer science, but here I am with a PhD in organic chemistry competing with 300 other applicants for a job that ends up offering $80K when you finally land one.
ReplyDeleteAmen brother (or sister).....it's just insane isn't it?
DeleteI'm curious of the job market for these computer science majors. I know plenty of "computer people" with no degrees who have been employed as such for decades.
DeleteI taught myself to program an jumped ship from chemistry to programming. You can too, it's never too late.
DeleteSadly, we're tied with "Music" and "Film Studies." I wonder what the McManager makes in a year, but not so much as to actually look it up.
ReplyDeleteWhy sadly? Chemists sure do have a high opinion of themselves.
DeleteMcManager make more than McChemist because the ability to not fart in public and to order lunch in an intelligible fashion has become a skill set of his own in our little world.
Delete"Wait a day and a story turns up of a chemistry graduate who went into programming."
ReplyDeleteWall Street’s Frantic Push to Hire Coders
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-28/wall-street-coders-wanted-elite-college-degrees-not-necessary