When I was little my dad and I would make rock candy. We’d heat sugary water, pour the liquid in a cup, place a pencil on top with little strings dangling down into the liquid, and wait forever (or a couple days). Excitedly each day, I’d check to see if it had crystallized yet. The best day was when my gorgeous edible rocks were ready for consumption! Making rock candy is about as close as I’ll ever come to being a Chemist– and without their knowledge I’d never have learned it was possible. Chemists search for and use new knowledge about chemicals to improve the way we live.

Chemist Career Guide Overview

1. What a chemist does
2. A typical day for a chemist
3. Salary and career ladders for a chemist
4. Best locations for a chemist
5. Pros and cons to being a chemist
6. What you need to know to be a chemist
7. Things you should do to get started as a chemist

What a Chemist Does

A chemist studies the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study and measure substance proportions, reaction rates, and other chemical properties. They use this knowledge to learn the composition and properties of unfamiliar substances, as well as to reproduce and synthesize large quantities of useful naturally occurring substances and create new artificial substances.
By doing this, they develop products, such as synthetic fibers, drugs and cosmetics, and processes, including oil refining and petrochemical processing, that reduce energy use and pollution.

Chemists may specialize in any number of subdisciplines of chemistry such as analytical, organic, inorganic, physical, theoretical, macromolecular, medical, and materials chemistry.

A Typical Day for a Chemist

A typical day for a chemist might include:

• setting up and running reactions
• writing up what you’re trying to accomplish
• doing a lot of numerical calculation about the reactions
• figuring out why what happened did happen
• meetings with other members of the research group and professors
• brainstorming about what happened during the week with projects and where you can go from there
• teaching duties

Salary and Career Ladders for a Chemist

The average chemist makes between $30,000-$69,000 each year. In 2009 chemists earned a median annual salary of $68,220. After being a chemist, you can grow into many roles including: Senior Chemist ($48,000-$108,000 on avergae per year), Analytical Chemist ($33,000-$80,000 on average per year), or Research Chemist ($34,000-$97,000 on average per year).

Best Locations for a chemist

These locations are hot spots for chemists:

• Irvine, California
• San Diego, California
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Houston, Texas
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Chicago, Illinois
• Richmond, Virginia

Chemists are often in demand in towns containing research universities, government labs, or pharmaceutical centers.

Pros and Cons to Being a Chemist

Pros

• You can work independently or in a group
• You get to learn more about the world around us
• You can pursue an idea in depth

Cons

• The number of jobs in the field growing at a lower number than other fields through 2018
• Lots of education is required

What You Need to Know to be a Chemist

To be a Chemist you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, which will involve courses in science and mathematics. You might also need a master’s degree, or increasingly even a Ph.D. Beyond that, you should be detail-oriented, curious and enjoy working with your hands, building scientific apparatus, performing laboratory experiments, and computer modeling.

Chemistry Resources

If a career as a chemist still sounds like your cup of tea, here are a few things you should do to get started.

Required Reading

• Excel for Chemists by E. Joseph Billo
• Write Like a Chemist by Marin Robinson, Fredricka Stoller, Molly Costanza-Robinson, and James K. Jones
• The Chemist’s Companion Guide to Patent Law by Chris Miller and Mark Evans
• Nontraditional Careers for Chemists by Lisa M. Balbes

Blogs and Websites

• Chemistry Blog
• Culture of Chemistry
• 25 Best Chemistry Blogs
• American Chemical Society

Networking Opportunities for a Chemist

• Medical Laboratory Scientists
• Community of Polymer Research Professionals
• Scientist Artist Collaborations

Job Search Resources for Chemists

• ChemistryJobs.com
• Pharmaceutical/Biomedical Jobs
• Genetics Jobs
• Life Science and Biotech Jobs

Careers Related to Chemistry

• Science
• Math
• Engineering
• Biology
• Physics

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Companies with Entry Level Jobs and Internships in Chemistry

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