[Closed] Chemistry as a career.

We have a few graduates where I work and have had some placement students as well. We make speciality elastomers under the chemical arm of a major oil and gas company. Maybe oil and gas is a way forward?

It's a Brexit document but has a lot of good info about the UK CI in the intro.

As an ex-chemist; I'd say it depends. If he wants to have a career in technical / R&D, honestly I'd say a masters won't cut it; there are so many PhD's from the UK and overseas that that is really entry level now. A first degree or even apprenticeship is worth almost as much as a masters and gets you started earlier in a technical or plant chemist role and then build from there.

If wanting a career in business within chemistry - I'd say a business related add on would be more useful, which could be taught or on the job / day release.

If you like chemistry and want to stay in it there are jobs, but it is becoming more and more competitive as the CN and IND companies move more from commodities into higher value specialties (and they have a flexible attitude to IP!) - what's interesting is the very large number of SME's in the area.

(an ex-chemist who had a successful career in mktg, supply, product management and GM in the industry before chucking it in for a career change earlier this year aged 50)

Well it's done me OK! More seriously, I teach Chemistry (sort of) in a university pretty similar to Brum, and Chemistry does seem to be an undergrad course which sets kids up for a wide variety of different career paths. I agree that to follow a technical career path you pretty much need a PhD these days and even there the opportunities can be pretty thin- limited opportunities in organometallic but lots in nuclear, for example.

The general advice I give is to study something that interests you. If a student isn't motivated then they'll get a mediocre degree, so it is good if they study something which gets them out of bed in the morning. Chemistry does traditionally have a high workload so, again, motivation is important.

Feel free to PM if that'll help

Chemistry is generally thought of as a broad degree - many of my peers ended up as accountants... the finance director of my company is a chemist too.
I had a wry smile reading samperry25's post. I also ended up in the rubber industry and I head the material development group of a sealing technology company. This career route means I'm a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Mineral and Mining rather than the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Most importantly does your son enjoy chemistry? If so, I would say it is a good choice! Don't study something you don't enjoy.

As an ex-chemist; I’d say it depends. If he wants to have a career in technical / R&D, honestly I’d say a masters won’t cut it; there are so many PhD’s from the UK and overseas that that is really entry level now. A first degree or even apprenticeship is worth almost as much as a masters and gets you started earlier in a technical or plant chemist role and then build from there.

If wanting a career in business within chemistry – I’d say a business related add on would be more useful, which could be taught or on the job / day release.

Real truth here.

I'm a chemist. My advice would be know what you want to do, specialise as much as possible and make sure your projects are geared towards your goal.

If he doesn't know what he wants to do then dont do the masters. It'll always be there later.

Cheers guys, some great info there.
He does enjoy chemistry but has no idea what he wants to do afterwards.

Most universities will also offer an opportunity to change from the 4 year MChem to a 3 year BSc without any quibbles, so there is some flexibility. As described above, if he enjoys chemistry a degree in it is useful for many other careers outside science.

So if he doesn’t know what he wants to do as a job, chemistry sounds like a good option.

I presume it's an undergrad run-through masters? If so then it's not as much of a commitment as you might think, as he'll be able to decide whether to do the MChem/MSci or the BSc at then end of 2nd year.

As for job prospects, it's definitely more of a door-opener than a door closer. Just thinking of the people I know who've done chemistry degrees, there are a fair few folk in chemistry and pharmaceuticals and a fair chunk in finance/management type things. I can also think of a few folk who stayed in academia, one who works in radio and another who does something 'creative' for the BBC.

Oh, and there's even teaching!

If your son likes the subject then he'll be grand.

Cool, thanks.

Started off in organic chem, did a PhD in organic colour chem (photochromics), a nice chap from MoD came and offered me a job, within 3 months I was on a board of special experts for NATO. Worked in camouflage, concealment and deception before flipping to materials and math modelling in aircraft survivability. All the folk in the group held postgrads in either chemistry or materials.
Now a chemistry teacher.
To be fair the latter MoD stuff was project management, that's why I left, who wants to spend Friday making sure everyone has charged their hours to the project correctly.

I did a chemistry MChem degree 7 years ago at a Russell Group uni. I'm now working as a team leader in synthesis lab for big pharma.

I would say if he's interested in pursuing an academic career within universities then the MChem is an OK choice and he should be able to get into PhD groups quite easily. If he'd prefer to go into an industrial role then a BSC is fine (but PhD definitely increases you starting wage/access to higher-end jobs) if he's happy to start at the bottom of the ladder. In mine and my partner's experience that first job and the 2 years or so experience (in whatever) count a lot more towards your future job prospects than your degree qualification and how many letters you have after your name.

From my compatriots I am probably the only one with a "chemistry" job, not including the ones who carried on to do PhDs.

Caveat in all this is I only got a 2.2 so couldn't apply to big pharma/PhD/etc straight away.

It really depends on what your lad likes within chemistry, synthetic/organic chemistry/inorganic/physical/computational. There are also big opportunities to move abroad as the majority of the chemical world speaks English as a first language.

We have quite a few chemistry graduates in our R&D labs (aroma chemicals business) and I would describe most of them as "steady" in the most flattering term possible. There is plenty of work in this kind of role as Britain still makes lots of specialised chemicals and needs chemists for the regulatory and compliance side of the industry as well as the analytical and compounding sides.

But we also have a couple of chemists in management roles and although they are not at the sharp end of research, their degrees are definitely key to their general understanding of the raw materials and the business of manufacturing. So it depends on the person and their ability and personality.

I sometimes wish chemistry had been taught better in school as I find it fascinating now; same as history really... and geography... and maths.... but our teachers were generally pretty lacklustre and just wanted to get us through the exams.

Meth lab

synthetic chemists can make stuff, analytical chemists can do QC.

There'll always be work.

How much of the above is applicable to a biochemistry degree? My daughter's heading into her second year (and doing well+enjoying it), I'm not too worried but would be interested to hear any opinions about what she ought to be thinking of doing careerwise.

Analytical Chemists can do vastly more than QC!

I work in Pharma and come from an R&D background. Actual Chemists are few and far between and are highly prized. Your son may find his starting salary, post-grad is nothing spectacular, but after a few years the opportunities can really open up - key for me is the combination of strong scientific acumen and an ability to explain complex problems to people who are non-technical.

If you have the confidence and ability to step out of the lab and communicate with non-chemists then the rewards are there.

Late career PhD chemist here. Worked in polymer chemistry, detergents and for the last 13 or so years in the lubricants industry which has been by far the best (and best paid) period in my career. I left the lab in my early 30s to manage other chemists and projects and frankly have never missed the hands on.

To make a career in the purely technical/academic side I'd say a PhD is necessary or you'll be a lab technician for ever however I know a lot of lab techs (and R&D chemists) who got out of the lab into the sales and business functions or manufacturing plant management and have made great careers there. I would say this is the route to take if you are ambitious rather than work in a lab all your life (unless that's what he really wants to do). I also know fellow graduates who went straight into non-chemical careers like HR and investment banking so a chemistry degree is a gateway into a wide range of non-chemical careers.

Great info, thanks all, it’s much appreciated.
YGH- Meth Lab is more of a weekend job or hobby, good idea though.

I’m not too worried but would be interested to hear any opinions about what she ought to be thinking of doing careerwise.

Whatever she wants (within reason)

A good science degree will open that path for you as well as others above have noted keeping doors open for management, accounting, even law (with a conversion course) etc.  Whereas it's harder to get a degree in law and then try to get a job in science (OK, science needs IP lawyers too, but I mean proper science)

What she should be doing is going to lots of job fairs and making use of recent graduates, open days, etc., and seeing what interests her. She'll spend a long time at work and she should find something she will enjoy doing far more than she should feel directed to a career in biochemistry because that's what her degree will be in. And definitely more than she should feel directed to a career because of the money on offer. I nearly stepped in front of a train two years ago because of a job / boss. Happiness and enjoyment is worth a million times more than a bank balance.

YGH- Meth Lab is more of a weekend job or hobby, good idea though.

Done well he could retire in 5 years. Done badly, he won't need to worry about a retirement plan. Win-win.

3 of my friends did chemistry degrees. 2 of them carried on to do PHDs as well.

One went on to become a patent attorney, now earning mega bucks.
One went on to do a medicine degree afterwards and is now a doctor.
One now works for a company that is attempting to build a fusion reactor.

I'd say it prepares you for many different lines of work!

As with any degree, so much of what happens after graduation depends on your personality and ability to step outside the lab environment, as Tallpaul writes above.

I also did a Chemistry degree. Graduated 10 years ago with a 2:2. Done a pretty wide variety of things including lecturing, working in pesticides, and medium-size pharma. My background is analytical R&D, currently a Project Manager for a pharma CDMO.

I found it's not so much the actual knowledge of the degree, but more the way of thinking and problem solving. I didn't bother with a Masters or a PhD. To be honest, I found not having a 2:1 closed a lot more doors than a Masters/PhD would have opened (caveat: in my experience), and I wish I'd spent a bit less time climbing and drinking, and more time studying.

I've never struggled for work, and have moved around a fair bit, so I'd say the employment prospects are pretty good.

I'm an industrial chemist. coming up to 11 years in September.

I also do a bit of career mentoring for the social mobility foundation. I'd be happy to answer questions so if you drop me a PM i'll get in contact.

Broadly there are plenty of jobs in chemistry. Go onto totaljobs and type in chemistry and you'll see what is out there. It is a relatively broad subject. At an industrial level I wouldn't too much about your specialism. I work with intumescent coatings. Very few people know what thye are when they start. We'll teach you that. What we want are the skills you learn. Research wise and in some jobs that are more academic you'll probably need a PhD but I'd worry about that in a few years.

I'd encourage everyone to do a year in industry. First reason is that it makes you more employable when you graduate. Second is that it will tell you if you want to be a chemist. My wife did biochemistry with an industrial placement. Thought it was interesting but couldn't see herself doing a long term career so ended up in IT.

Chemistry (especially from Bermingham) would be considered a good degree in my opinion. 4 years is a long time to study something so enjoying it is essential. People I know who struggled mainly did so because they weren't motivated. The degree was just a means to an end that they weren't engaged with. There are plenty of skills it will teach you that would be valuable to emplyers. A scientific mindset (logical, problem solving, able to understand complex problems etc.) is something generally looked for by employers. It would get you into a whole range of graduate jobs.

If you search for times top 100 graduate jobs you'll see that companies are taking people to do specific jobs even though they did a degree in something unrelated.

I studied chemistry but spent two years on a training scheme where I did production efficiency/continuous improvement, HSE and environmental management and project engineering. My wife did biochemistry and went to work for a large IT company. She now works with people of all degrees, both Arts and Science. My sister did Geography and is now a procurmeent director in pharma. My other sister english and works in Marketing.

Final point - everyone has a degree these days. When we recruit what stands out are the other things people have done. Sports to a high level, Volunteering, Helping run a club or society etc. Something that shows commitment, self motivation, perserverance, teamwork, leadership and just a level of personality that would make you a good member of a team.

I'm a Reader in Chemistry at a Russell Group University. Well done to your lad, Brum is an excellent chemistry department and a great university. He can look forward to a diverse range of topics from the mathsy physical chemistry to the pictorial world of organic chemistry. He'll have his time taken up with labs and lectures and will get value for money i terms of facilities and teaching time. With a masters he'll get to choose a research project and get a taste of that world. At the end he'll get a degree that shows he's literate, numerate, analytical and able to assemble information from different sources and solve problems.
Not all chemistry graduates go on to chemistry careers, but the range of graduate level jobs for a chemist is broad: intellectual property and patents, computers, accountancy, sales, teaching...(in no particular order) 96% of our BSc students have a job within 6 months of finishing 85% in graduate jobs. These figures aren't as good as other universities as many students want to stay in the NE.
The only reason for studying chemistry should be that you love it as a subject and you want to go deeper and broader than A-level. Of course you do get also to save the world as well with medicines, clean water, renewable energy systems, recycling etc...

I started my career 20 years ago working at a big Mass Sectrometry Manufacturers' plant in Manchester- from there I earned loads of dosh, saw the world, learnt about loads of cutting edge technology and interacted with loads and loads of really interesting people. Still do.

With a chemistry degree. I could suggest applying for a job at Waters, Shimadzu or any other of the bigh players in the field dotted around the country.