Is there a future for the chemical industry?

Chemical engineering What?

Chemical engineering is a very widely used discipline, its essence is a process industry, that is, chemical substances, biological substances, physical substances, etc. through the form of process industry into useful materials, information, decision-making for human beings.

Four subfields of chemical engineering:

Energy and fuel. Energy and fuel include gasoline, diesel, new energy and so on

Material engineering Material engineering

Biological engineering Biological engineering

System engineering involves process control and optimization, planning and scheduling, etc.

Do US chemical graduates have a hard time finding jobs?

Since Trump came to power, under a series of conventional and unconventional policies, the overall employment situation in the United States is still relatively depressed. The chemical industry is not immune to the impact, especially after the oil price crash of 2015, which saw a wave of layoffs across the industry.

Challenges and opportunities often coexist, and the shortage of professional talent in the chemical industry is also increasing with layoffs, so finding a job is not difficult. At the same time, we should understand that the chemical industry has a unique ---- the development of the global economy can not be separated from the energy science, materials science, biological materials and other traditional chemical fields, so the traditional chemical industry can be called the foundation of the global economy.

In addition, with the development of the global economy, the chemical industry has also begun to cross applications with other fields, such as the application of computer and data science to systems engineering, or the work such as process simulation and thermodynamic simulation also requires talents with chemical or mechanical engineering background. This means that more and more jobs will be created by the cross-application of chemical and other disciplines.

However, it is also important to recognize the current problems facing the chemical industry

There is a popular term for the job market in the United States: Brain-drain. At present, the chemical industry is facing the problem of Brain-drain, the composition of many chemical companies are basically just graduated graduate students and have been working for more than 10 years of old employees, and the basic fault in the middle, so the chemical industry talent training is also facing severe challenges.

Why is there a talent gap? In fact, when we look back at the chemical industry over the past few decades, we will find that whenever the United States faces a fuel crisis, many chemical companies will hold a conservative attitude, such as reducing the scale of recruitment, or even stopping hiring or laying off employees. And when oil prices go up, there's a lot of hiring.

The good news is that as early as five or six years ago, many chemical companies realized the disadvantages of doing so, so now there is basically no problem of finding a job, everyone just learn professional, after all, knowledge and skills are eternal wealth

So what can you do after graduating from chemical engineering?

As mentioned above, the chemical industry has cross-applied with many other disciplines, so for students majoring in chemical industry, there is a wide range of employment options:

Fuels and Energy. Fuels and energy

Traditional oil and gas companies, hydro power companies, traditional pneumatic companies, battery energy (such as Tesla, Apple, etc.)

Chemicals/Materials Chemicals/Materials

Public Chemicals (Dupont), Specialty Chemicals (BASF), Consumer Chemicals (Procter & Gamble), Functional Materials (Corning)

In Pharmaceutical/Biological Pharmaceutical field

Companies like GeneTech, which does genetic testing, and Bayer, which does pharmaceuticals

Process Solution, mainly in the field of systems engineering

Transportation industries, such as autonomous driving technology, catalysts for engines, and so on

Microelectronics, semiconductor companies such as Intel, IBM, etc

It is suggested that while learning majors, you can also pay more attention to the development of other cross-industry, and do a good job of knowledge reserve for your future employment and career planning!

After understanding the situation and situation of the chemical industry in the United States, many students who want to go abroad for graduate school began to wonder again.

After finishing the chemical engineering graduate school in the United States, can I really find a job smoothly?

What is the reality?

Demand determines supply, and supply meets demand

Many people often think that when the unemployment rate is high, it means that the job market is depressed and there is no need for talent. On the contrary, the lower the employment rate, the greater the talent gap. This also shows that it is relatively easy for chemical students to find jobs in the United States. In addition, foreign countries also relatively prefer Chinese science and engineering students.

Chemical industry salary

I'm afraid this is the most concerned problem of most students. Salaries in the chemical industry are among the highest in the United States. The annual salary of doctoral graduates is about 100,000 dollars or more, and the annual salary of master's graduates is about 70,000 dollars or more. The salary span of undergraduate graduates is large, mainly depending on the company and the position, which is about 50,000 to 100,000 dollars.

At this point, the most important question that everyone is most concerned about comes, that is, how to prepare for the application of chemical engineering graduate students?

First of all, you have to ask these questions:

Applying for a master's degree or a doctorate? What's the difference between a master's degree and a doctorate? Which one are you better suited to apply for?

Which school do you prefer when choosing a school? What should I focus on when choosing a school?

What is your supervisor's research direction? Do you have a specific research niche?

Do you know the cost of studying abroad and the direction of your future employment? ...

If you don't have clear ideas and concepts about these issues, it doesn't matter, what you need to do is to find a reliable study abroad institution, and a professional team of tutors will help you slowly explore your interest direction and gradually clear your future career plan.

Tutor Liam also listed the things to focus on and prepare for according to the different stages of university preparation:

Freshman: GPA! GPA! GPA! A good GPA is very important, so don't forget to study hard while enjoying your college years

Sophomore year: more understanding, contact with different subdivisions, explore their professional interests; At the same time, keep good English learning habits.

Although you may be enjoying the sweetness of college love and busy community activities at this moment, you must not waste your English

Junior year: Determine the professional direction and subdivision of the application; Start an internship or exchange program; Fix your language grades! (TOEFL/IELTS, GRE, etc.)

Senior year: check the gaps; Pull yourself together, focus on your application season, and show off your abilities and charm