Options and Carreer Opportunities

 There are lots of career options for someone with a degree in chemistry. A chemist can work in almost all industries and government agencies. This is because chemistry covers every aspect of life.
Careers in chemistry can be grouped into four categories: industrial chemistry, academics, government, and careers in related fields.
 
Careers in Industrial Chemistry

The chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, food processing, breweries, and other industries are areas where most chemists usually seek for employment after completing their studies. There are wide varieties of careers for chemists there, including working in the business side of the firm, such as sales and customer support departments. Here are some of them.

• Research and Development Chemist: Research and development chemists help their companies to research and discover ways to improve their products to provide more and better value for the customer and thereby remain competitive in the market. They also discover new marketable products, which brings more revenue to their companies. For instance, chemists in the cosmetics industry use their knowledge of chemistry to research and develop new fragrances, skin treatment solutions, dyes, and other formulations that the company can market. Research and development chemists usually have PhD in chemistry fields; however, there are still numerous opportunities for BS or MS degree holders to work in the research and development department as technicians performing research under the supervision of the chemist.
• Quality Control Chemist: Quality control chemists in the industry help to check that the quality of their company’s products is up to the desired standard before they are released into the market. 
• Production Chemist: Production chemists translate the new products developed by the research chemists into something that a manufacturing process can mass-produce. In performing their job, production chemists work closely with plant engineers in coming up with the right design of plant equipment to use for better productivity and costs. Production chemists supervise production and make sure the production process complies with environmental protection policies. They also check quality control.
• Food Chemist: In the food processing industry, food chemists use their knowledge of chemistry to create foods with desirable qualities, such as better taste, longer shelf life, improved nutrition, and health and safety. 
• Chemical Sales Career: Chemists can pursue sales careers in the chemical industry. Chemical manufacturing companies need people with a chemistry background to sell their products directly to target customers. Chemists are able to work with customers and to determine the type of products that would best enable the customer to realize their goal. This job involves one-on-one dealings with customers and so requires a great degree of interpersonal relationship skills.
• Chemical Marketing Career: Chemists can also be involved in the marketing of chemical products. In addition to their chemistry background, chemists who wish to pursue a career in marketing will need to take some training in marketing. As a marketing professional, you will be involved in all processes that adequately publicize and compel target customers to buy your products. The job entails identifying and understanding your target customers and designing effective marketing strategies to reach and make them buy from you. It also involves studying sales and trends to predict the future.
• Technical Service Career: The technical service professional’s job involves helping customers solve problems related to the product's workability and troubleshooting for customers with problems, questions, or challenges. It also involves generating new applications for the products and creating instructional manuals to guide customers on how to use them.

 
Chemistry Careers in Schools

Schools offer the second largest places after the industries where chemistry graduates can work. Chemistry teachers are needed to impart chemistry knowledge to students in high school, community college, college or university.

• High School Teacher: All high schools need chemistry teachers. To teach in a public school, you will also be required to have an additional qualification in education. Private schools may not, however, demand education qualifications; with a B.S. degree in chemistry, you can be hired directly.
• Community College Teacher: Graduates with an MS or PhD in chemistry are qualified to teach general and organic chemistry in community colleges. 
• Undergraduate College or University Teacher: To be a faculty member in a primarily undergraduate institution, you will almost need a PhD in chemistry. Your work will include teaching classes and labs and directing students’ research projects. 
• Teacher at Research Universities: You will need to have a PhD, and some years of post-doctoral experience may be required to be faculty in research universities which offer BS, MS, and PhD degree programs. You will be involved in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, and directing research projects for groups of undergraduate and graduate students. 
• Careers in Support Positions: With a background in chemistry, you can work in some support positions that require a technical background in colleges and universities. These positions include lab technician and staff scientist, safety officer, and stockroom manager. The lab technician and staff scientist operate research equipment and perform support duties for teaching and research. The safety officer is responsible for handling and disposing of harmful waste and ensuring that all safety guidelines, including EPA, are enforced. The storeroom manager is responsible for ordering and maintaining inventories of chemicals and supplies to support the school's research and teaching programs.

 
Chemistry Careers in Government
Graduates of chemistry have various job opportunities in all levels of government—federal, state, and local. For instance, the federal government runs national research laboratories across the country, which employ BS, MS, and PhD graduates, including those with chemistry degrees, to research on a wide range of issues.

Other places where chemistry graduates can find employment with the government are in government regulatory agencies, such as the ATF, EPA, FBI, and FDA. These agencies employ chemists to carry out research and analysis to be able to effectively perform their role.
In addition, chemists can build careers in forensic science and work with local, state, or national forensic science laboratories. This is because forensic science is based mainly on analytical chemistry and biochemistry.
 
Careers in Related Fields
Chemistry graduates can also build careers in non-core chemistry fields based on their training, which makes them suitable for such jobs. Some of these areas include:
Biotechnology: Chemistry and biochemistry graduates are qualified to pursue further training and a career in biotechnology if they so desire.
Toxicology: This is where chemists can get further training and build a career. Toxicologists study toxic substances to find out how they produce their effects and so create solutions for dealing with them. Some industries, including manufacturers of therapeutic drugs, cosmetics, food additives, and agriculture chemicals, are often required by federal laws to perform thorough testing on their products before they are released into the market.
Therefore, these industries are compelled to employ toxicologists to perform the required tests and confirm the safety of their products.

• Environmental Science: This area is open to chemistry graduates to make a career. This is because chemistry is central to the study of the environment. As environmental scientists, you can work in industries, with government, with not-for-profit organizations, and in colleges. 
• Dietary Science: With a chemistry background, you can build a career in dietary science after taking some courses to integrate you into the profession properly. Dietary science is the study of how what we eat affects our health and well-being. 
• Career in the Medical Professions: If you are interested in pursuing medical careers such as medical doctor, pharmacist, dentist, veterinarian, or nurse, your degree in chemistry can qualify you to be admitted into the training program for that particular course. 
• Medical Laboratory: A chemistry background can enable you to work as a laboratory technician in medical offices and hospitals. Medical lab technicians analyse patient samples so that doctors can diagnose diseases effectively. They may also be required to prepare drugs and other materials used in treating patients. 
• Technical Writing: If you have writing skills and are interested in combining them with your chemical training, technical or scientific writing is a good career path you can take. There are opportunities for technical writers to work for trade magazines and technical journals. You can also work as a writer in the industries to produce product manuals and other informational materials that enable the company to inform its customers about its products in a way that they will understand. A course in English and/or Journalism would help to succeed in this profession. 
• Scientific Libraries: With a background in chemistry and some training in library science, you can work in science libraries. If you did a graduate study in library science, you could work as a research librarian with government and university research libraries. You could also work with large companies as a research librarian. 
• Museums: A background in chemistry combined with training in information technology can qualify you to work in museums. Your work may involve researching and producing materials for exhibits, making presentations, and procuring materials for the museum. 
• Patent Agency: A degree in chemistry can enable you to work as a patent agent with the federal government. The job involves analysing patent applications to confirm if they are novel and worthy to be awarded a patent. The analytical skill you gain from studying chemistry makes you suitable for the job. 
• Patent Law: You can become a patent lawyer by going to law school after you get your chemistry degree. The job of patent lawyers includes helping scientists prepare legally enforceable patents, helping their clients or employers to ensure that their patent rights are not infringed on, and going after those who infringe on their client's or employers' patents.