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How is genetics related to chemistry?

What is a regular day at your chemistry-related job like?

  • I am majoring in chemistry, instead of just getting a list of jobs that I can maybe go for with my degree, can you talk about what a regular day at your chemistry-related job is like, a bit about yourself too?

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    I am a few months away from a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. I sit at a desk or pace around and think about optics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics. I write computer programs, run calculations, and every now and then scribble a bunch of pages of equations. Often I talk to bosses or collaborators or write them emails. Also, I spend a lot of time crafting figures and writing text for papers or my dissertation. At group meetings or when my experimental labmates have a question, I think through reactions with them and give them recommendations based on my old experiences in the lab. It's really exciting when they need me to do some wet chemistry for them. Putting on my lab coat brings a nostalgic thrill. In my next job, I'll be a software engineer in a data analysis firm, writing even more code as part of even bigger computer programs. I am excited for the new challenge and new things to learn, and I also love math and computers and working with organizations to help them run better, but chemistry will then be completely over for me. You see, I really love chemistry and I am really good at it. Not like this theoretical stuff at which I'm good enough to pull a creative idea every couple years or so, good enough to push out a Ph.D. but nothing special. When I think about chemistry, my mind is this flexible, nimble thing that races ahead about ten times faster than it should, and my memory for molecules and reactions is very strong. I can still write out the Torgov total synthesis of estrone and draw the periodic table from memory, about nine years after I learned those things. But there really aren't many good jobs in chemistry at all, and it's a little bittersweet to realize that all of these years of chasing something I really enjoy and do really well have amounted to a profoundly elaborate hobby, and not even one I can properly take home. Ultimately, it pays the bills more reliably to do something in demand at which I have OK skills and no formal training than it does to try and do chemistry. It's a tough comedown. Make sure you have a plan B.

Raman Shah at Quora Visit the source

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I have an undergrad degree in chemistry, had planned to get a PhD, and then life happened. I have been teaching chemistry (as well as physics and math) in independent high schools for 40 years.  I love it.  Early in my career  I went on to get an MS in educational administration.  Since I work in independent schools I did not need a teaching certificate.  I was also head of school and the associate head of school for a total of 10 years, and during all those years I also taught one chemistry class.  I did not want to be out of the classroom. My first year was hell, as it is for any new teacher who is conscientious.  You know the material but you don't know how to teach it.  It requires long days and lots of work.  It was easier after the first year, but it is never easy.  Every day requires reflection.  I think about what I did, what worked, and how I could improve my lessons.  But it is always enjoyable.  I love working with teenagers. I hope that I teach them a lot, but they also teach me--how to teach, things to think about, current music, and cultural literacy.  I didn't know that I would enjoy working with students until I started.  If you enjoy chemistry, you might give it a try.

Judy Levy Pordes

I have a Master's in Chemistry, and upon graduation, went out into the "real world". I have worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry and (currently) in Environmental Testing. My career has primarily been analytical: i.e., someone hands me a sample and says "Tell me what's in this, in what proportion, and how does it change over time." To that end, I have become familiar with just about every common method of laboratory analysis, from simple gravimetrics to high-end chromatography. It is occasionally repetitive, but the thrill I get from performing a complicated process well has never really gone away. I know I'm doing work that not many others can, and I love it.

Joel Ruggaber

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