tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post3165437827465913980..comments2024-03-27T21:23:40.339-04:00Comments on Chemjobber: Students have differing ideas about career paths at beginning and end of grad school? (Not surprising?)Chemjobberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-31104815567565048942012-06-01T12:23:43.935-04:002012-06-01T12:23:43.935-04:00Anon @ 6:22 here again - I think it's continui...Anon @ 6:22 here again - I think it's continuing to shrink due to China's recent rise, but a lot of the consolidation has already happened. Commoditization of formerly research-intensive products like leather, rubber, and paper played a big part too - factories that once would have required a full R&D lab can now bang out product without employing chemists, or maybe a handful of QC/troubleshooting folks instead of a serious R&D effort.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-86743039862612333542012-06-01T10:59:20.006-04:002012-06-01T10:59:20.006-04:00Does the chemical manufacturing industry continue ...Does the chemical manufacturing industry continue to contract, or has it appeared to have reached a steady state, albeit smaller and leaner than the 1970's?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-61610622680941826892012-06-01T09:22:57.855-04:002012-06-01T09:22:57.855-04:00As a non-pharma chemist, our situation is almost a...As a non-pharma chemist, our situation is almost as bad - only difference is that the chemical industry's decline was part of the collapse of American manufacturing since the 1970's, while pharma was safe until very recently. I'm lucky to be a polymer chemist and not a medicinal chemist, but I still feel like my chemistry degree is kind of like a degree in coal mining or steelmaking!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-64282221676547591902012-05-31T17:17:24.553-04:002012-05-31T17:17:24.553-04:00I think it's a matter of perspective. There ar...I think it's a matter of perspective. There are many established firms that aren't pharma, just as there are many chemists with little to no interest in working in pharma. As synthetic organic chemists, many of us have never thought about any career path other than pharma because we've been indoctrinated to think that way . But for every one of us looking for a position in pharma, there's an inorganic, physical, or materials chemist looking at the big chemical or materials manufacturing firms or even big oil and energy companies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-75832929561740960652012-05-31T16:44:06.074-04:002012-05-31T16:44:06.074-04:00Interesting... I've found quite a few friends ...Interesting... I've found quite a few friends of mine becoming disillusioned with the way academia works and moving on to pastures industrial. Perhaps it takes a special kind of lunacy to actually prefer university life. :P<br /><br />Or perhaps it's because fighting for jobs in the current climate and playing pass the postdoc until you can be considered for faculty positions is more arduous than most people consider worthwhile...Invader Xanhttp://supernovacondensate.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-30729759175725131712012-05-31T16:38:01.284-04:002012-05-31T16:38:01.284-04:00Given the small number of academic positions isn&#...Given the small number of academic positions isn't it a good thing that interest drops as a graduate student advances? What surprises me is the increase in interest for established firms. I have grown increasingly wary of big pharma just from what I've observed in the last few years - cutting benefits, perennial lay offs, questionable mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and very little in the pipe line.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com