I just ran in to this topic accidentally, searching for chemistry career advice and reading it, gave me a panic attack. I am a student, graduating in chemistry this year, and I was wondering what area of chemistry to go to, but now it just seems to me like there is no point… I feel like all the time in university has been a complete waste of time…
I have a relatively high GPA, and I’m definitely planning on going to graduate school, I just don’t know what area to go in to. I was wondering if anyone here could give me some advice that would help in avoiding this whole jobless, frustrated situation. Is there any area in chemistry, of the many available, that does offer good prospects for employment?
I was considering physical chemistry, but everybody seems to think nobody is hiring physical chemists, and the only available jobs are academic, and there are way too many people that want to get their hands on those jobs (I read on another forum that physical chemists are considered overqualified for chemistry jobs and under qualified for physics jobs and they’re not engineers, so…)… I was also considering organic chemistry, but it turns out the industry’s interest in organic chemists has declined… I was also interested in biochemistry, but everyone is saying that there are too many biochemists, and many more are graduating every year… I have NO interest in polymers, gels, colloids and that sort of surface stuff… I find it absolutely boring… analytical and inorganic chemistry… I don’t like it either, especially not analytical chemistry…
My greatest interest is in molecular structures, reaction mechanisms etc… nonequilibrium thermodynamics, computational chemistry... I generally like maths and physics. I like physical chemistry, I like theoretical work, research... but now I’m starting to think I should drop all that and start thinking more practically… But what options do I have with a degree in chemistry? To which other professions can I turn now? As much as I like science and satisfying my curiosity, most of all I want to make a descent living and have a family… And my boyfriend has a degree in geography and he hasn’t been able to find a single job in the past four years that’s even remotely related to his degree, just some volunteer environment stuff… So I'm guessing its the same with all science degrees.
So, anyway, my question is, what are my options?
And by the way, it seems logical to me that chemists would be needed everywhere in the industry, i don't get it... how can there not be enough good jobs? If the industry isn't hiring chemists, who is being hired in their place to do their jobs?