feedback from phd chemists

j4vier

hi

im currently doing a phd in analytical chemistry, Im a little confused however on the career path to take at this stage , first because I dont know how what im doin applies to the real world, secondly because i think i know better what i dont want , rather than what i want!

so if there are any phds chemists out there, how did it work out for u in the end? was it worth it??

KP81

Hey OP,

There is life after a PhD but it's up to you to market your research and find an angle that will appeal to an employer. I did a PhD in polymer chemistry and now work in development in the pharmaceutical industry. I work closely with analytical chemists every day and there are plenty of areas you could work in (E.g. method development, degradation analysis, validation work, raw materials testing). Your career path in industry might go something like: 1) QC analyst, 2) technical expert, 3) QA, 4) QP or regulatory affairs manager.

That said there is a high attrition rate with analysts at the lower levels as the work can be routine/very dull. We do tend to call our guys ANAL-ists as you need to be extremely picky and like triple checking data and doing tests/calibrations in triplicate. Also, do you read the USP/EP for fun as this is every analysts Bible in industry. If you can put up with this you should be fine; at least you won't be a complete automaton which an organic chem PhD turns you into .

Unfortunately until you get your industry stripes you might find it hard to get in as there is a huge gulf with academia. It is unlikely that your PhD will set you that much apart from undergraduates/masters at entry level. Where it will come into it's own is when you want to advance in your career. You will have an edge in report writing/filtering information that others won't so it will stand you in good stead. Just be flexible and learn as much as you can in whatever job you get. Don't worry about finishing that last paper or doing a postdoc (total waste of time) just start applying now.

PS: You might want to sort out your punctuation/grammer if you want to make it as an analyst. I know this is a forum but your question regards your chosen career and should therefore be typed in a professional manner. Just my two cents.

j4vier

hi KP

thanks for the feedback ,I appreciate it.
Sorry for the punctuation but I tend to write a bit faster on boards than in normal life.

I was a development analyst for more than a year before starting.. that lifestyle did not really appeal to me.
I worked in 2 companies, 1 was actually good but the other wasn't as good, so that made me question wether that route was convenient or not.
As you said , it is not an easy job and you need to be really careful at what you do; also I was highly under pressure and for what it paid, it just wasn't worth it.

When I mentioned that I knew what I didn't want , I was actually referring to either being an analyst or a postdoc :rolleyes:

What I'd be interested is in hearing if anyone is involved in consultancy jobs, patents/ intellectual property focused roles , or maybe sales or marketing aimed at the scientific world

bebes

Hi,

I finished my PhD in 2008 in Organic Chemistry and until feb just gone I was teaching. I recently got a job in a reg affairs consultancy and I can tell you I'm trying to get out of it just as quick.

I'm not sure if pharmaceutical in-house reg affairs jobs are like this but its fairly full on hours-wise and the pressure is on to get as much work done as possible so all of your working hours can be billed to customers.

I feel like if I wanted to be constantly worrying about keeping customers sweet and how much I can bill people for my time I would have done a degree in business or something similar.

Maybe it's just me but this job is definitely for people who are happy to work every hour under the sun for sh**e money and not really do anything science related!

Sorry for the pessimism but that's just my experience right now.

j4vier

hi bebes

thanks for the feedback , I am actually curious about what you said since I had the opportunity to go down the reg. affairs route as a graduate position but i turned it down.

Can I ask you if you are working in Ireland?

how bad is the pay? do you think that's be cause you don't have enough experience so it will get better after a while?

bebes

j4vier wrote: »

hi bebes

thanks for the feedback , I am actually curious about what you said since I had the opportunity to go down the reg. affairs route as a graduate position but i turned it down.

Can I ask you if you are working in Ireland?

how bad is the pay? do you think that's be cause you don't have enough experience so it will get better after a while?

Hi j4vier,

Yea I'm working in Ireland. My position deals with the likes of Biocides and Pesticides and also REACH compliance. I've heard pharmaceuticals is alot easier as the pharma companies already have a lot of the leg work done before any dossiers come the way of the consultant. Also as the type of chemicals involved in pharmaceuticals are used by most of us on a daily bases it's probably more interesting to the consultant.

On the pay question, the job I have is very low paying (I'm below the average industrial wage) and yes that is partly due to the fact that I'm lacking in experience but to be honest I think maybe it might be the company I'm with also. I've heard it will be a long time before there'll be any mention of a rise!

I've been told by plenty of people I know that reg affairs will definitely be for me but I find it extremely boring. I don't think a desk job is for me so maybe my pessimism is entirely just because of the situation I'm in at the moment. I think I'd like to try pharma reg affairs before I write it off altogether.

Honestly I'm extremely hard working, I've always been like that so I do put 150% in to my job as I love working but I think I need to move on from this position as quick as I can.

Again apologies for the negativity...you could absolutely love it, this is just my experience so far and like I say I think perhaps a lot of the negatives I've experienced might just be down to the company I'm with.

Hope this helps and hasn't scared you off doing something you could love and be really good at!

j4vier

thanks bebes

I really appreciate your feedback as this area is completely unknown to me.

I wouldn't worry about the pessimistic part, I was like that when I was working as an analyst and to be honest if the job isn't good, the line between being pessimistic and being realistic is quite thin. The worst part I'd say is probably the low wage, there is nothing worse than being paid bad money after all the work you have to put in to complete a postgrad.

Could I ask you if you took on the job because it was the first one that you got offered or did you choose among other options? did you have to wait a long time since you graduated ?

thanks again

bebes

j4vier wrote: »

thanks bebes

I really appreciate your feedback as this area is completely unknown to me.

I wouldn't worry about the pessimistic part, I was like that when I was working as an analyst and to be honest if the job isn't good, the line between being pessimistic and being realistic is quite thin. The worst part I'd say is probably the low wage, there is nothing worse than being paid bad money after all the work you have to put in to complete a postgrad.

Could I ask you if you took on the job because it was the first one that you got offered or did you choose among other options? did you have to wait a long time since you graduated ?

thanks again

Hi j4vier,

I finished my PhD in Sep '08 and pretty much the following week I started teaching so that was my first job post PhD. I also did a small stint in a lab during the summer as an undergrad. I also do some volunteer work helping pre uni students and mature students looking to go back to college. I've plenty of project management experience from my teaching with undergrads and postgrads but it seems industrial experience is all anyone wants these days.

Yea my position was the first one I was offered but it was also only the second job I applied for as I didn't want to just take any old lab job like QC and the like.

I suppose its just a tough place out there for new graduates hopefully things will get better soon. I'm thinking of just taking some office work to get me out of my place until I find something I like as I don't think I'll be able to stick it out.

Anyway I'm not sure how long you have left in your research but with any luck things will have brightened up a bit before you finish and Analytical chemistry seems to be the best area for jobs at the moment from what I can see so best of luck!

dellas1979

I'm sorry KP81, I know you are only offering the OP advice, but I couldn't help noticing that you also made some grammar/writing mistakes (incl spelling) .

j4vier

hi bebes

i have more than 2 years left so plenty of time!

thanks again for the feedback, hope it works out for you too