One excellent website to begin your job search for a chemist job in a lab or a chemistry job in a related institution is www.PharmaceuticalCrossing.com. This website lists some of the top pharmaceutical job openings at research institutions from Fortune 500 to Fortune 1000 companies. It posts jobs from every job board in the United States giving you access to job opportunities in the field of chemistry.
As you begin your job search for chemist jobs or other chemistry jobs in related fields like biochemistry or organic chemistry, you should be aware of the qualifications and requirements that many of the opportunities are looking for. Organic chemistry (the field of organic chemists) is a specialization field within chemistry that involves the study of compounds mainly composed of carbon and hydrogen elements. Many of these jobs are in the pharmaceutical industry. Chemist jobs in the field of organic chemistry require at least a Bachelor's Degree and very often a Master's Degree or PhD in organic chemistry. Often these job opportunities are at commercial labs at large pharmaceutical companies.
Many of the job descriptions for organic chemists or other related chemistry jobs require that in addition to your technical knowledge in the field of chemistry, you also have good communication skills, computer skills, and can work in a team environment as well as working as an individual. When you think about it, the field of chemical research with other chemists does require that you be able to communicate well with them and share ideas as a team in order to advance scientific research.
Some research positions in the field of organic chemistry are in the area of environmental science rather than the pharmaceutical field. The field of environmental science is a growing field in today's world because of global warming and its related concerns. Chemists may play a pivotal role in the future as the world looks for alternative energy sources.
In addition, it is also important as you do your job search to be aware that some chemistry jobs will require leadership skills and strong organizational skills. It is very possible that you could be applying for a job where you are the lead scientist of a team. You would be required to coordinate the research work of many scientists who are all working as a team to investigate one hypothesis or problem. You would need good organizational skills as you take all the different findings of each scientist and compile them into a report.
You might also find job descriptions that require technical leadership experience in order to head up a team of scientists who are researching a problem. You would need the technical ability to be able to communicate with them and understand the work they are doing. You must also have the ability to schedule work and meet deadlines that a pharmaceutical company might be hoping to meet.
Often troubleshooting experience is required in a job. No research project ever goes smoothly, so a company would want you to show that you have the ability to analyze a situation, make recommendations to solve a problem, and ultimately implement the solution should a problem arise. In all, you need to show that you have broad technical knowledge as well as leadership skill and organizational skills even in the field of chemistry so that you can communicate with the scientists as well as corporate management.
As a scientist, job positions will be seeking chemists with a high degree of attention to detail. The primary fields that many of these job openings are in are organic chemistry, biochemistry, and general chemistry. In addition, some of these jobs in the fields will be looking for an analytical chemist with a high degree of technical knowledge. As you can see from all this information, chemistry job openings can require a high degree of technical knowledge as well as experience in a broad range of managerial skills such as communication, leadership, scheduling, and organizational.
A scientific team is not that different from any other managerial team. It requires good communication skills and the ability to work well with others. As you begin your job search for chemistry jobs and other chemist jobs in related fields, be sure you have achieved the minimum educational requirements mentioned earlier as well as the general managerial skills that many lab companies are seeking.
The field of chemistry and its related fields of biochemistry and organic chemistry are seeking candidates with excellent qualifications all the time. The field of environmental science is exploding as companies seek ways to harness alternative energy sources. Chemistry is a dynamic field to be entering in the 21st Century for anyone who meets the challenging requirements that corporations and other labs are seeking.
