One of my department manager duties is to review resumes sent to colleagues in other departments. HR gets them and records them and distributes them for review. Earlier in the 1st quarter we had to review a large stack of resumes from well qualified people. Perhaps 4/5 of them were from people in industry who had been let go. For the most part the applicants were chemists from the pharma field. Most had quite impressive backgrounds with lots of publications, patents, and responsibilities. More than a few could have been my boss. It was a sobering experience to see so many good professionals on the street.
I have been in such a position in the past. It is disorienting and deeply distressing to be let go. It is not unlike a death in the family. When you are a highly educated specialist, your ego is unavoidably tied into your career. Your career is who you are. No professional job, no value. No worth. Even more maddening, it is difficult to stay connected with the profession when you are unemployed. You are off the train and standing there looking at it while it rolls into the distance. And chemistry is not a field of endeavor for the unaffiliated.
I still think of my lowest point between chemistry jobs. I was working in construction and had spent the day in a dirt crawl space pulling wire for a remodel job. It was up high in the mountains in the winter and it was very cold. At the end of the day I drove down the canyon into Boulder and stopped at a pharmacy to pick up some cold medicine for my kid. I had to ask the pharmacist a question, so I stood there in dirty coveralls and muddy boots and asked about the dosing of the cold med for a 2 year old.
The pharmacist seemed exasperated for a moment, but then composed herself and spoke to me slowly while enunciating her words clearly. Her, the supermarket pharmacist, standing there on the raised platform in her white smock. Speaking slowly, so I’d understand. Simple words so I wouldn’t be confused. Me, standing there in Osh-Kosh coveralls and a filthy insulated work shirt draped over my aching body after a long day of labor in the dirt. I was a 40 year old apprentice electrician with a chemistry PhD who had hit the bottom of the ego pit. Or, so I thought.
I accepted her advice politely. I paid for the med and walked out to my pickup truck. What resonated so deeply was the realization of how it is that we judge people by their appearance. My grubby appearance had caused someone to presume that I was slow witted and in need of being patronized.
I had supposed that after this dose of humility there was no where else to go but up. But I guessed wrong. There was much more to come. When your ego has been roughed up, it can become inflamed and hypersensitive. Your sense of proportion can be lost.
Being discharged from your place of employment is one of lifes big shit sandwiches. While most people will learn and improve from it, it will always remain a sensitive spot in your psyche. You never forget the circumstances. Being called to a conference room only to find HR there with a table full of handouts and forms to sign. The metallic tang in your mouth as it dawns on you what is happening. The grim warning that your termination “package” is valid only if you agree not to sue or publically criticize your ex-employer. But you sit there with tunnel vision and listening impairment. You’re nervous system is electrically charged with panic and the instant, crushing worry about how you’re going to keep your family fed and in shelter. As you take the last drive home you’re mind is numb.
Behind most every resume I read is a story of long term success and a recent setback. For those freshly out of work, the contrast between the emotional high and low is staggering. I understand somewhat of the plight and angst they are feeling. But, like someone once said, the only way out is through. You have to be willing to start over down the pecking order to recover your career. Sometimes further down than you want. The cherished notion of seniority is one that will have to be reconsidered.
I am starting to believe that this chemical unemployment wave is different. I think that we are seeing a phase change in how the chemical industry does business. The acceptability of outsourcing R&D is the reason for my pessimistic view. It has become axiomatic in many organizations now that R&D must be outsourced to countries where the overhead rate is substantially lower. And the outsourcing of R&D can only be bad for US chemists.
Lamentations on Chemistry 
I was thinking about just changing fields once I get my Ph.D. Even thought about doing the electrician thing. Seems fun, stable and it is scientific in a way. I’ve been told repeatedly not to do chemistry, but I didn’t listen, I was way too optimistic. But now, it seems like it may be a better idea to hop off this road. I just don’t want to post-doc, be in my thirties and still be considered inexperienced by real employers. The people that truly love this field and have their ego attached to their work will prevail. But people who just want a job, well, there isn’t much room for that attitude anymore.
“But people who just want a job, well, there isn’t much room for that attitude anymore.”
The reason is that PhD chemists are expensive to have around. For the price of a PhD chemist, you pretty much have to demand a regular schedule of breakthroughs to justify the cost.
Don’t dispair about your career. Take every opportunity to meet people and make contacts. Develop your network. A postdoc can be helpful even if you’re going to industry. If you’ve chosen a mentor who has money (and you damned well better be certain of that), you will have the opportunity to do some traveling to conferences and talk about your work. That is always good. But most important, do your PhD and Postdoc with people who are doing important work. This is critical for a optimal entry to a good career.
Electrical work is interesting and valuable. But you entered chemistry for a reason, presumably. Try to make that work out before you bail. You’ll be glad you did.
I’ll definitely take this advice. I am getting more motivated to make a stab at trying to get a job after grad school. I’ve always wanted to be a scientist and don’t want to give up so easily.
I’ve seen a lot of grads and post-docs walk away empty handed in the past three years. They’ve had to change their careers completely. To any undergrads reading this, you better love this stuff, seriously. That’s the only thing that keeps people in this field. Anything less than that, you will be disappointed, guaranteed.
Smart people just looking for a steady (albeit high paying) job, would be better off with licensed professions (patent attorney, MD, PharmD, etc). If you are really smart and motivated, well, it won’t matter where you go. I’d suggest a business degree in that case, lol.
This is a really nice piece; a good reflection on a tough state of affairs.
Excellent, thought provoking post.
Gauss – what would you say to undergrads?
I would suggest that an undergrad pondering a chemistry career look for internship opportunities in the chemical industry before they graduate. But don’t wait for an internship to be posted. Contact every HR office and R&D, Analytical, and chemical sales manager you can find for a summer job.
It is important to know what kind of careers exist besides R&D. It is also important for mentors to consider having a frank talk about what can be done with a chemistry degree. But, it may be that many mentors do not have a deep appreciation for that either. Profs who have gone straight from BS to PhD to Postdoc to teaching have been esconced in the DisneyWorld of academia and may not know themselves what kind of careers are out there.
I would suggest a minor in business with some classes in economics, marketing, and finance could possibly give a chem major a sense of the market in which chemistry operates. But that may not do it. Chem students need to be helped by experienced mentors who can help them decide what the options are. Right now, college emphasizes the scholarly end of chemistry because college is populated with scholars.
Basically, students need to spend some time with people like me who are willing to pass on what they know about industrial work.
1973: An out-of-state-student Michigan State BS/Chem costs $33/credit (more than double in-state rate) for 180 credits, $6K core cost.
2009: An out-of-state-student Michigan State BS/Chem costs $925/credit for 180 credits, $166,500 core. Add $3822 in mandatory incidentals to $170,322.
http://ctlr.msu.edu/costudentaccounts/Tuition_Fees.aspx
A 7.9% interest Parent-Plus Moo U student loan covering tuition and fees paid off over ten years thereafter would require paying IRS non-deductable $25K/year – living a decade in abject penury with a minimum $80K/year job.
Take the hint: Don’t Do It. Study to be a parasite not a host.
“I was thinking about just changing fields once I get my Ph.D”
If you can say that, then don’t get a PhD. It closes more doors than it opens. 99.9% of all jobs do not require a PhD and HR managers will forever think you’ll walk out the door when ‘something better comes along”. Furthermore they will believe you will want to be paid more or given more respect, more this and a little more of that.
You’ve been warned. That PhD will be a dead weight around your neck.
PS- good article Gauss. I think you have career book in there somewhere. Title: “So you want to be a Scientist?”