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What kind of job can I get with a PhD in chemistry?

I am majoring in chemistry because I love it but I have no idea what kind of job I want or what kind of jobs there are out there that I can work toward.

Ok, I’m about to finish my Ph.D. in chemistry, so it’s something I’ve thought about a bit

Basically there are a few different types of paths:
1) doing research–this can be done in companies, which pay well, or in academia (being a professor), which pays ok but gives you a lot more freedom, or in government labs, which are about intermediate on the freedom and pay scale.
2) teaching–colleges, community colleges, high schools, fancy private boarding schools that pay more than some colleges do because they like having PhDs on the faculty, etc.
3) not doing research or teaching–there are a zillion MBAs and JDs out there, and almost none of them know anything about science. Companies always need people to advise them on everything: mergers, acquisitions, product development, etc. A law degree and a PhD in chemistry as a start into patent law pretty much guarantees you a $200K/yr base income. Similarly, large non-for-profits, government agencies, etc. all need people who understand science, again, because they don’t. Most of these types of directions can go with a master’s degree instead of PhD, thereby saving you half a decade of Your Life.

One big warning: graduate school is nothing like undergrad. In undergrad you take classes where all the answers are in the book, or the professor, or whatever. In graduate school there are no answers, you’re there to figure them out, and most of the stuff you do will fail, thus your ability to generate Your Own motivation is pretty much the rate-limiting step. If you are interested in graduate school at all I would highly recommend getting undergraduate research experience. It is much harder to get into graduate school if you don’t have any research experience than if you. If you go to school at a small place that doesn’t do research, applying to summer programs in other schools (do a google search for “NSF REU programs chemistry”). These types of experiences will give you an idea of what graduate school is like.

In the grander view, a PhD is just another obstacle to get through to get where you want to go. If you don’t know where that is it’s fine, because almost anything (except being younger) is easier to get to with a Ph.D. than without, so you don’t have to have made up your mind now, but if you have an idea of a couple of paths you might be interested in then you have a carrot to strive for when things go sour in grad school, as they always do at times.

Biggest recommendation: talk to your professors, ask them what some of the people they knew in grad school ended up doing. I think most of the people on this site are high-schoolers and undergrads, so I’m not sure this is the best place to ask.

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