Our chemical mercenary future?

An interesting trend in Susan Ainsworth's Employment Outlook article was the mention of contingent or contract workers:

Although job prospects in pharma companies are slim right now, employment opportunities are growing elsewhere as drug firms increasingly rely on outsiders to supplement their bone-lean workforces. "As a result of this shift, there is likely to be greater demand for consultants and contract workers," Saras points out. "While these positions may be less desirable than those in a drug company, they can help people keep their skills fresh and expand their networks and can lead to full-time opportunities in the future."

[snip]

Life-sciences-based firms are not the only ones relying more on contract workers, says Kelly Services' Edwards. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total contingent workforce accounts for at least one-quarter of all workers and is growing at two to three times the rate of the traditional workforce. What's more, contingent workers are expected to comprise nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce added after the recession.

This recent Vertex position is a great example of this potential trend (sent in by an astute reader):

Temp. 3 Month Contract 

A Scientist will design and develop chemistry on a synthetic project and will be involved in conducting laboratory experiments to enable the delivery of compound to support early toxicology and technical transfer.  A Scientist will physically be involved with developing new chemistry and demonstrating that chemistry by delivering bulk intermediates or API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) at expected purity for phase of development. 

While you can easily understand the motivations behind the position for each side of the table ("We need hands now!!" / "It's not a great job, but it's a job for a while"), I would argue that this is a not a good trend for the pharmaceutical industry. I cannot imagine that you can have an effective R&D workforce if it is constantly thinking about looking for a new position.

Perhaps I should grow up and embrace this potential harbinger of our brave new future. One could imagine (please forgive the mixed metaphors) a pseudo-liberal arts academia model: a few permanent staff that have lifetime employment and a vast sea of M.S./Ph.D. chemistry ronin that wander about from company to company, working 2 year contracts. "We deal in compound, friend." 

Truth in advertising

Scientist unemployment is procyclical, too.

from the Martin Prosperity Institute

In my journey to find more data about scientist unemployment, I came across the above graph comparing different classes of occupations between 1983 and 2008. I think it's interesting and certainly more evidence that chemist unemployment is basically pro-cyclical.

More tidbits:

- The jobless rate for all college graduates in September 2009 was 4.5%.
- The jobless rate for all male college graduates in September 2009 was 4.6% and 4.4% for women.
- The jobless rate for male college graduates older than 45 in 9/2009 was 4.5%.
- By comparison, if you're a male non-college graduate who is older than 45, your rate is 11.9%
- The overall measure of scientist unemployment by NSF was at 2.5% in 2006. Huh.
- The unemployment rate for electrical engineers in the first quarter of 2009 was 8.6% -- wow.

Is chemistry employment cyclical or counter-cyclical?



Original graph: C&EN, 11/1/10, 88 (44), pp 38.
Modified by Chemjobber

  Anon111010653a asks "is chemistry somewhat sheltered from economic crises, or do they underrepresent unemployed chemists?" in regards to the graph (modified by CJ) to the left from Susan Ainsworth's article in last week's issue of C&EN.

My take home from the graph is this: you can see the last three recessions (90-91, 2001, and 12/2007-) represented in red in the modified graph.* In my experience, this is evidence that modern unemployment in chemistry is at least somewhat correlated with the overall unemployment picture.

Anon's real question is "what does the gap mean?", i.e. "Why isn't the ACS unemployment rate also 10% right now?" My answer: honestly, I don't know. It's certainly not the "sheltering" hypothesis in my opinion. Whether the ACS salary survey undermeasures unemployment is, of course, a different question.

*Important to remember: unemployment is a lagging indicator of the economy.

Daily Pump Trap: 11/11/10 edition

Good morning! Between November 9 and November 10, there were 24 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 13 (54%) were academically connected.

VRTX: Once again, Vertex's development side is calling for more steam. Five new positions, all in formulation or development. Good news, I think.

USD: The Federal Reserve Board is looking for a Ph.D. scientist to work on currency counterfeiting issues. "You will be responsible for directing and leading technical activities related to the security of Federal Reserve notes..." Dude, good luck with that -- it's a pretty nice salary, even for D.C.

A2P DAS: Dow AgroSciences is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. analytical chemist to work in its active-to-product development group. "The candidate will lead research activities in the area of analytical chemistry in support of active ingredient and formulation development." As the saying goes, if you eat, you might be interested in this work.

PGN: Progress Energy is a power generation company; they are searching for a A.A./B.S. chemist (7+ years experience) to lead their analytical department at their Southport, N.C. facility. Radiochemistry and analytical instrumentation experience is required.

This is every place I've worked

see more Monday Through Friday

Ten signs that the relationship between you and your advisor is souring

1. Your dreams (nightmares?) are about his/her disapproval.
2. That postdoc that's a stand-up gal offers to be your second.
3. You go to the bathroom in another building to avoid walking by his office.
4. Your lab mates begin carrying white flags and wearing T-shirts that say "NON-COMBATANT."
5. You get nervous every time you start your junker car, and not because you're worried it won't start.
6. George Mitchell drops by and offers to start negotiations for partition of the lab.
7. Brochures for the Merchant Marine and Alaska crab fishing companies begin appearing on your desk.
8. Your lab is referred to as "the DMZ."
9. Taste testers at group lunches.
10. During group meeting in the conference room, you notice there's a red button by her chair (ff to 1:57).

Chemjobber: like Cosmo, but with slightly less photoshopping!

Charts of the week: Industrial ads and positions, September 2008 to September 2010

You may have seen a version of these charts in Susan Ainsworth's Employment Outlook article in C&EN article last week. These are my tabulated results of two years of tracking industrial ads in C&EN. I confess that I can't really find a trend, but (as I said in the article) the bottom was probably in August of 2009.

The spreadsheets are here. Enjoy!




C&EN Industrial ads (tabulated by month); all ads were counted -- duplication is possible. by Chemjobber

 



C&EN Industrial ads and positions (tabulated by month); all ads and positions were counted.
Duplication is possible. by Chemjobber

 

Ask CJ: what does it take to get a B.S. synthetic chemistry position?

A reader we'll call "W.O." writes in to ask a few questions about getting a bachelor's-level position as a synthetic chemist:
1. What kind of skills are expected of an incoming B.S. chemist? What keywords are needed on one's resume?
2. What kind of skills will make a resume float to the top of the pile?
3. Do employers look at classes that you're taking or you're going to be taking?
4. Do I have to worry about competing with more experienced and/or more educated (M.S.) chemists?

Here are my answers:

1. I would expect a B.S. synthetic chemist to be able to competently synthesize, isolate, purify and characterize organic molecules. I would also like some ability to search the literature for reaction conditions.
2. Things that I would be impressed by:
 - Publications (no matter how humble) where the student was a participating author
 - Able to plan chemistry, troubleshoot reactions or identify alternate synthetic routes
 - Able to work with others (i.e. a recommendation from a mentor in the lab.)
3. No, I don't really think employers care about coursework. But maybe I'm wrong.
4. No, I don't think new B.S. chemists have to worry about competing with more senior chemists. You're going to be expected to be somewhat competent at the bench, be able to learn and follow directions and be able to work independently just a little. That's a different skill set than I'd expect out of a more experienced chemist. Assuming that the relevant job posting desires new B.S. chemists, that's what they're looking for.

Beloved readers, collectively you've got much, much, much more wisdom and experience than I do. What would you tell "W.O."?

Daily Pump Trap: 11/9/10 edition

Good morning! Between November 4 and November 8, there were 49 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of them, 29 (59%) are academically connected.

Good news for organikers?: Eisai is searching for a M.S. chemist to be a medicinal chemist in the areas of inflammation, immune disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Oh, that's all.

Good news for inorganikers?: BASF is looking for a B.S./M.S./Ph.D. inorganic chemist (experience needed, respectively: 11, 7, 0) to work at the interface of organic and inorganic chemistry. "Preferred technical skills would include prior research in diverse areas of chemical synthesis at the juncture of organic and inorganic chemistry including experimental knowledge of optical thin films, fine particle, surface and materials science."

Stay out of my lab!: Quanta LifeSciences is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. chemist to help create emulsions; yeeeecch! Honestly, though, it sounds interesting. You'll be "design[ing] and synthesiz[ing] surfactants and related additives/stabilizers for development of water-in-oil emulsion formulations" and "generat[ing] and analyz[ing] scientific results to systematically characterize and screen for optimal candidate emulsion formulations." Experience with polymer chemistry and/or PCR techniques sounds important.

After Deepwater, they're the good guys: Chevron desires a B.S. chemist for its Richmond, CA facility. Experience with basic synthetic lab skills with skills in mass spectrometry desired.

How bad do you have it? How bad do you want it?

When I was interviewing for positions, I was lucky enough to score an on-site interview with a little start-up. During my conversations, it was beginning to become very clear as to what working at a super-tiny company would mean: lower salaries, less-than-fantastic benefits, but the chance to make a lot of money (yeah, right) and a World War II belly gunner's shot at making it all the way to Phase I without losing your job.*

It was all brought home to me when I asked about their instrumentation capabilities. Do you have a NMR? No, we use a courier service for one of the commercial NMR sites with a 12 hour turnaround. Do you have a LC/MS? No, we don't. (Seriously, a well-run, working LC/MS is worth every penny.) But, [CJ], "TLC is a very powerful technique." You know what? My interlocutor was probably right. That being said, I'd rather have an on-site NMR than not.

It seems like every start-up has a story like that. "Why, it used to be just us two and this garage", and that sort of thing. But it reminds a person about the humble beginnings of most of the large companies that we hope to work for, and the conditions and the courage it takes to work there, in the beginning.

*I hasten to note the benefits of working at a small company: independence, a lack of bureaucracy and extreme organizational flexibility. And sometimes, free Diet Coke and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. 

BREAKING: October unemployment rate stays flat at 9.6%

Good morning! Fresh electrons from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. October's official unemployment rate has stayed flat at 9.6%, compared to September's numbers. The broader (U6) unemployment rate was down 0.1% to 17.0%.

UPDATE: Not much good news, but private payrolls are increasing, they say.

Thanks, as always, to Calculated Risk for the graph.

Everyone's favorite slide

Enjoying your lunch at your interview

For the lucky few that are getting on-campus interviews this fall, one of the less-noticeable obstacles to surmount is the lunchtime meal. Usually with more than one person, it's your job (as I see it) as the candidate to help keep the conversation moving. Otherwise, there are awkward silences -- who wants that? -- and then they'll start whipping out napkins and asking you to explain the 'particle in a box' problem. Helpful topics to consider:

Cute anecdotes: Assuming that you're a good storyteller, there's never any harm in a good story (assuming it's in good taste and non-offensive.) Lab accidents, stories of you falling asleep at 3 a.m. at your columns, stories of you solving your colleagues problems are all fair game.

Asking questions: Many (most?) chemists are introverts; nevertheless, people like attention. If they're game to talk, ask them about their backgrounds, what they like about the company and their current lifestyles. Questions about the area are always helpful and conversation-producing. Treat them like the experts on their organization that they are.

A little bit of dish?: [This one may not be good advice.] If you can feel the conversation being willing to move in that direction, it's fun to ask people what they think of the management. If you get the typical enthusiasm-less enthusiasm ('oh, they're fine'), they probably don't want to talk about it. But sometimes, you get someone who's willing to tell you the truth; sometimes, even, it's a happy answer.

Good luck out there, folks!

How long is long enough at the bench?



You could share my lab bench, pardner
(Photo credit: HenrySheehan.com)

A recent conversation brought this question up: Not counting graduate school, what is the minimum amount of time required to gain 'enough' experience in the working world of chemistry? It's only a select few chemists that get to spend a lifetime working at the bench; most chemists, for one reason or another, seem to end up somewhere else (in front of a computer, usually, these days.)

One or two years is not enough, in my opinion. A year isn't enough to experience the ups and downs, the changes in procedures, the successes and failures, the "hey, we used to store that over here" and the changes in coworkers and supervisors. I expect that 20+ years identifies you as a grizzled bench veteran. Given this range, I suspect the tipping point between "bench newbie" and "bench Clint Eastwood / Sarah Connor" is somewhere between 7 and 15 years (again, not counting graduate school).

Readers, what do you think? If you're the bench equivalent of Julio Franco, when did it happen for you?

Daily Pump Trap: 11/4/10 edition

Good morning! Between November 2 and 3, there were 17 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 8 (47%) of them are academically connected and 2 (12%) are from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources.

You can't get there from heah: IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook, ME is looking for a M.S. chemist to work in their "Rare Reagent Pilot Plant", among other places. "The ideal candidate will have a background in protein purification, virus isolation, chromatography, particle coating, and biophysical characterization in a GMP environment."

The miracles of a job: DuPont desires a M.S. chemist to be a staff associate investigator in an NMR facility. Knowledge of analytical and organic chemistry is desired; you will be "conduct[ing] non-routine Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analyses in support of a wide range of CR&D and business technical programs."

Blinky, Pinky, Clyde and...: Sun Chemical is looking for a Ph.D. surface/physical chemist with experience in inks and digital dispersions. You ("a highly motivated, hands-on professional") will "develop new products and technologies related to digital dispersion technology." Good luck!

Oh, why not?: Kelly jumps into the race for neat batteries and is hiring for a Wisconsin company that desires a battery research executive.

A chemistry grad student talks about money worries

Not much time to blog today, but I enjoyed the recent interview by NPR's Planet Money of one Diogenes Placencia (what a wonderful name!). He's a chemistry doctoral student who grew up poor in the Bronx and is now ABD at the University of Arizona:

Do you worry about money?

Constantly. I worry mostly about my mother. I worry about providing for her when she gets older, and giving her some good years.

Are there any recent purchases you regret?

I really don't regret anything, because I put everything through such a rigorous process of whether I should get it or not. I do a cost-benefit analysis.

So what was the last purchase you put through this process?

It was an arm-band for my iPod. I swear it was like $15, and I looked at it for two months.

What's the next thing you're going to buy?

A pair of flip-flops.

Have you gone shopping for flip-flops?

I went around the other day and I looked at some. And I was like, "Oh, 20 bucks. That's a lot."                            

A son like that will put a smile on a mother's face.

Does research in chemistry teach you to be efficient?

I voted this morning (don't forget to vote!); what should have taken 2 minutes to confirm my identity, sign the signature page, etc took a lot longer. I walked in about 30 seconds after the polls opened, but it was quite clear that they hadn't gotten their system worked out yet -- sigh.

While academia is not really known for efficiency, I think that performing research in chemistry is one of many different ways to learn how to work quickly and effectively. You have a column to run, fractions to TLC and product to isolate; if you do this haphazardly, it will take 2 hours. If you do this efficiently, it will take 45 minutes. Which do you think is a better use of your time? I've also found that setting up a system to quickly perform a task is a great way of achieving some sense of "flow" and enjoying one's self in the lab.

Of course, not all of chemistry is about 'increasing sample throughput' or turning yourself into a robot; sometimes, it's about taking 2 hours to carefully stare down all your data. But if you've got a task to do, you might as well get a system in place and just do it. Here's to taking care of business in the lab, and here's hoping those poll workers get their system in place before noon.

Daily Pump Trap: 11/2/10 edition

Good morning! Between October 28 and November 1, there were 141 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 28 (20%) were academically connected and 1 was from Kelly Scientific Resources.

Wow, temps: While Kelly was more or less dormant, a bunch of other staffing agencies were big publishers of positions this week. Prymus had 1, Aerotek had 5 and the Ropella Group weighed in with 25 new positions.

FOB labs: Ideal Innovations, Inc. apparently works with DoD to supply scientists to bases in Afghanistan. They desire (among other positions) B.S. chemists to run analytical tests on IEDs.

You'd get to try 'chicken rice': Lonza's plant in Singapore wishes a Ph.D. scientist to help run their bioreactors; interesting?

NREL: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is searching for new Ph.D. chemists for 21 postdoctoral positions in alternative energy research.

Lundbeck: Lundbeck's US branch in New Jersey is seeking experienced Ph.D. medicinal chemists.

Virtual career fair: Today, here.

Have you been shorted by chemical suppliers?

Like everyone else, I greatly enjoyed Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential"; for those not in the know, Bourdain writes very entertainingly about his twenty-some years in the restaurant business. He talks about a little escapade with one of his mentors, who he called "Bigfoot":

Once, after years of ordering frozen BeeGee shrimp from a reputable seafood purveyor, Bigfoot discovered a hastily applied label indicating net weight. When it peeled off, he realized the company had, for years, been printing their own fake labels, heat-sealing them over the actual weight printed on the box and cheating him out of a few ounces of shrimp every five pounds. Next time the company sent Bigfoot a bill, he simply send them a Polaroid photo of the incriminating box, label peeling off to reveal actual weight. And the next time, too. And for almost a year after, Bigfoot didn't pay for fish. He never discussed it with the company -- and they never said a word. They just kept sending him free fish until they figured all that retroactive skim was paid back. When Bigfoot finally stopped ordering altogether they didn't wonder why.

While nothing that dramatic has ever happened to me, I have had the opportunity to notice when a reputable chemical purveyor (all of you have ordered from them, probably) has shorted me a few percent of actual weight over a few months' of ordering. I knew it was an honest mistake (what good is lying to your customers on an issue this small? Hanlon's razor is relevant, I hope), but I found it to be a little disturbing and irritating. (It was odd how the error was always in their favor, ya know?) Phone calls were enough to fix the problem.

What say you, beloved readers? Ever been shorted by a chemical supplier?