When you finish this course, you should be ready for your first job, or a new job as a chemistry graduate.  If you are already working in a chemistry-related position, you ought to be able to obtain a promotion, a new position, or a pay increase.  It may be in your best interest to consider changing to a new company at this time.  In either case, the next few months is a time for most of you to consider where your career in chemistry lies.  After you have decided what you want to consider, make it a campaign to seek employment.  Good jobs don't usually fall from heaven.  If you want to improve your job situation, make it into a new job itself.
Here are some tips:

• 1. Use your friends and acquaintances to locate possible employment opportunities.  This is called "networking", and it is an important part of your job search strategy.  Talk to people you know (including fellow students) about where they work, and find out if there may be opportunities for you.
• 2. Read the Post-Dispatch classified advertising, and also look at newspapers from other cities that you would consider.
• 3. Take advantage of the resources that are provided by the American Chemical Society.  You are a member (at least a Student Affiliate), aren't you?  In order to use the Professional Data Bank, you must be a member. Go to the ACS Job Spectrum, for information about job openings.  Don't be disappointed if many of the jobs described are well above your level.  National searches tend to be for higher-level openings.  You can post your resume in the Data Bank if you wish.
• 4. Use the Web to learn about and even apply for openings at the larger companies.  For example, DuPont, Proctor & Gamble, Dow, Monsanto, Solutia, Sigma-Aldrich, and many others have Web sites about their openings.  There are also national job placement companies, such as Monster.com., Vault, Hot Jobs, and Wet Feet, and ScienceJobs.com (chemistry).  Those qualified for teaching jobs (and usually having a teaching credential) can check out the Flinn Scientific Job Placement Center.  Some of the most interesting, challenging, and lucrative careers are made at small companies, however.  Most of them will not have online applications.
• 5. Temporary technical agencies can be a good way to get experience, and even as a stepping-stone to a permanent position.  KForce Scientific and Lab Support are two such agencies.
• 6. Use the facilities of  UMSL Career Services.  They arrange on-campus interviews with companies that seek to recruit UMSL students, organize Job Fairs for teachers, and will make your resume available online to potential employers.  You can find sample resumes and cover letters on their Web site, and you can complete a self-evaluation of your suitability for various kinds of jobs.  Their office is now located on the third floor of the Millennium Center.

Return to Chemistry 289
Revised 1/30/2002