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Career resources for chemists and chemical engineers

Last Updated: 15-Aug-2015

Resources for starting your career, with an emphasis on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

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Grace Baysinger
Head Librarian and Bibliographer of the Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library
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This book is the result of three Presidential Symposia held at the 246th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Indianapolis in September 2013. These symposia focused on: 1) Career Advancement Opportunities, 2) Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and 3) Impact of Diversity and Inclusion. The speakers at the symposia were all accomplished leaders of the global chemistry enterprise, and their talks were very well received. Subsequently, the speakers were invited to contribute chapters to this book. Most of them did, and this book is the result of their hard work.

Networking

The social networking site LinkedIn has become an increasingly popular job search tool in today’s market. View the presentation (pdf) by Stanford’s Career Development Center to learn the most effective ways to use LinkedIn to market yourself, find a job, and build and maintain a lasting professional network. See the Stanford Resources section below to learn about networking opportunities for Stanford students and alumni.

From the ACS Careers Blog, 9 Steps to Improve Your Networking To Find a New Job:

Don’t wait until after you graduate to join a professional society! Giving a talk or presenting a poster at a national or regional meeting is a wonderful way to meet people. Career services staff and interviews by employers are common at national meetings. For the American Chemical Society, the Younger Chemists Committee and the Women Chemists Committee are both great for networking. For the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, networking opportunities include the Young Professionals group or the Stanford Student Chapter. The Stanford Alchemy Society and the list of student organizations compiled by the School of Engineering provide more networking opportunities with colleagues. A wide range of professional Chemistry and Chemical Engineering organizations are available to meet your professional needs.

Stanford Resources

Career Options & Profiles

Career Books

Featured eBooks

1st ed. Amsterdam ; Boston : Elsevier, 2012.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
The book provides a comprehensive review of lifelong learning, information literacy and internships including assessment techniques for lifelong learning, teamwork and information literacy as defined by the ABET criteria. It also discusses critical thinking skills for scientists and engineers and their role in lifelong learning in the information age.
1st ed. London : Burlington, MA : Academic Press, c2008.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
This book introduces you to the differences between what is needed in school and what is needed in industry. It describes the entire process of obtaining a job including analysis of a job description, writing an application, preparation for an interview, and conduct during and after an interview. This book provides you with skills and understanding essential for success on the job. It is an ideal guide on how to succeed in both industry and academic environments.

Latest Books in Swain on Vocational Guidance

  1. edited by Peggy A. Pritchard, BA/BPHE, MLIS (University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada), Christine S. Grant, PhD (College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA). 2015

  2. Sara Frueh, rapporteur ; Committee on Career Outcomes of Female Engineering Bachelor's Degree Recipients, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Policy and Global Affairs, National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council of the National Academies. 2014

  3. Mark A. Benvenuto, editor (University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan) ; sponsored by the ACS Division of Chemical Education. 2014

  4. Frank F. Furstenberg. 2013

  5. [edited and compiled by] Emma Ideal, Rhiannon Meharchand. 2013

Career Websites

Career Guides & Statistics

Career Videos

Job Search Websites

Salaries

Data Planet
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
Provides access to statistical information produced by U.S. Federal agencies, States, private organizations, and major intergovernmental organizations.  Libguides at Data-Planet (use to see all data for a U.S. state or a foreign country).

Research Potential Employer

Learning more about an organization and the people working there provides vital background information to help you determine if a job matches your needs. Doing research about an organization before going to an interview also demonstrates you are interested in what they are doing and helps you to ask more thoughtful questions during an interview. Below are some resources to help you become more familiar with a potential employer.

Directories

Biographical information resources are a tool you can use to get an overview of people of interest. Stanford's Business Library Research Guides are also an excellent resource for finding information about a company or a financial sector.

Washington.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » Z5521 .A52 2011
DGRweb, the searchable online version of the ACS Directory of Graduate Research (DGR), is the most comprehensive source of information on chemical research and researchers at universities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. With the DGRweb you can search for faculty and institutions.
New York : R.R. Bowker, c1989- Farmington Hills, MI : Gale Group Farmington Hills, MI : Gale Cengage Learning
Green Library » Information Center » Q141 .A48 ED.33:V.17 2015
This respected resource is a biographical dictionary of the significant players in the physical, biological and related sciences. Each edition includes biographical entries on approximately 120,000 living scientists, providing birthdate; birthplace; field of specialty; education; honorary degrees; current position; professional and career information; awards; memberships; research information; and addresses for each entrant where available.
Farmington Hills, MI : Gale Group, 1999-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
The Biography Resource Center is a comprehensive database of biographical information on over 380,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Marquis Who's Who® includes every person, active, retired, or deceased, who has appeared in the 22 Marquis Who's Who® titles published from 1985 to the present that together make up Marquis Who's Who® (> one million concise biographies).
New York : American Institute of Chemical Engineers, c1999-
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » TP165 .C45 V.56 2009/2010
This comprehensive directory conveniently lists the contact information for chemical engineering faculty members, department heads, academic advisors, student organization advisors, and placement officers at over 450 Universities worldwide. The directory's easy-to-use format lists chemical engineers by university, and lists their areas of expertise.