Chemistry Major Post-Grad Update (The Job Hunt!)

I graduated from my chemistry major back in may and I wanted to give you guys a little update on where I am in my life. I want to give you perspective on some post graduation options for chem majors and how my job hunt is going as a recently graduate chem major with no experience. Id love to hear your post grad chem updates as well so be sure to comment down below what you did as a recently graduated chemistry major or what you plan to do! Hope you like the video!

[@Slimanefps]

I graduated in May 2020 (Right in the beginning of Covid). I took a temporary job working as a "QC Tech" but it was really nothing at all like that and more of a data entry position.. Luckily that job opened a door to a Research Associate position in the R&D department doing New product development. Got lucky. Have a friend who is still searching for permanent work after graduating in May 2020... It is tough out there

[@zahlazizi]

Yeah I’ve heard entry level positions can be super boring. It’s great you managed to move to a research position!

[@benjaminjones4008]

Damn I’m studying Chem in Ireland and was looking to move to America

[@jumpwer3873]

Good luck. I’m in my first year of college and really enjoying my chem classes so far. super excited for ochem and bio chem

[@zahlazizi]

Chem classes are only gonna get more interesting from there!

[@j.baldwin3012]

If possible, take Orgo when you have lighter schedules. The pre-labs and lab reports always take more time than the professors suggest, and the reactions from lectures can pile up 3/4 of the way through the semester if you don't have time to do them repeatedly.

[@rileymccoy1643]

Hey Zahl, I have been watching your videos for a couple months, and I would just like to point out how much your videos have facilitated my interest in chemistry. I am a junior in high school and have been set on chemistry after I graduate for about a year- extremely unlikely to change. Despite not knowing anything about you personally, I see you as a mentor in my academic life. It would be awesome if I could get your input on how I should play my cards after high school, after I tell you a bit about my situation. I come from a middle/upper class family with my household income being around $250,000 a year. My parents are likely to pay for a decent sum of my tuition, so money isn’t a huge issue when selecting a college, but it is definitely still relevant. I have a lot of the academic credentials and extracurriculars necessary to be a competitive student in admittance to prestigious schools or receive decent scholarships to state universities. I am interested in basically all things STEM with chemistry being the leading subject. I think receiving education in comp sci may be something I am also interested for today’s world, whether that means double majoring or just minoring idk. For a long time, I have been interested in going to a higher level university, but I don’t know what I should do anymore. I live in Iowa, so the sensible thing for someone to do for undergrad would be to go to the University of Iowa and do my undergrad there. But honestly, I don’t like the sound of going to party school; I just don’t like something about the atmosphere when I visit. One of my dream schools is UC Berkeley, especially with it’s top tier chem program.I think I can almost certainly get admitted, but idk if the cost outweighs the benefits (but remember, money isn’t a huge issue). Leaving Iowa, especially for the Bay Area, is definitely something I am interested in doing. My dream schools consist of MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, and Cal tech. Some of these are definitely reaches for me, but, with luck, possible. Again, Iowa for undergrad is definitely the most cost-efficient method, but would attending Iowa affect my chances at getting into a prestigious doctorate program- something I am 100% interested in. What are your thoughts?

[@IlIl791]

I don’t have the same level of experience as zahl, I’m a sophomore in college right now just starting ochem but I can say that the PhD students at my school come from a wide range of institutions, most of them are prestigious universities but there are some people that are from normal state schools like Iowa would be. The level of prestige associated with your university shouldn’t close any doors as long as you’re a top tier student, so don’t feel like you’d be disadvantaged going to your state college. That being said, Berkeley or some similarly tiered university would set you up better with their esteemed faculty and the research opportunities, so I’d say go to a big name school if you get admitted and cost isn’t a huge issue. Also you should definitely take some cs classes, prioritize getting acquainted with the language your school uses for their into cs sequence (most likely Java or C++) and learning a language for Data management like SQL, R, or Python. Getting a double major won’t be super necessary as cs majors require dense theoretical classes and courses that wouldn’t be needed for a chemistry job, but any level of cs proficiency will give you an edge during the job search and Can be directly applicable if you pursue something like computational chemistry. Hope my unsolicited advice helps a bit, good luck!

[@zahlazizi]

I would definitely apply to all of those schools and keep your grades up because you may get a scholarship to one of the out of state ones! That being said id look into the research opportunities you have at each school because with good research and grades in college (from any school) you can get into a good doctorate.

[@rileymccoy1643]

@@IlIl791 Advice was tremendously helpful. Best of luck to the rest of your college years.

[@michaelzessin9227]

cute!

[@jonathanqaqish8972]

I’m currently completing my honours in chemistry and honestly it’s so not worth it anymore. I enjoy the physical side of chemistry but really my school focuses on orgo and bio which I hate. I just applied for my masters in cs degree 😂🤞

[@zahlazizi]

That’s the way to make money 😂

[@Chad-Giga.]

@@zahlazizisick of rearanging equations?

[@aesthetic-kl6hk]

Is it a bit easier to get an entry level job, if I have an undergraduate industrial training experience?

[@zahlazizi]

It depends on the field but any extra experience to differentiate you is good!