Where do Chemists work?

Question

People who graduate with a degree in chemistry?

Answer 1

Chemical companies of course for one thing.  Dow, Dupont, Johnson & Johnson to name some big names.

Or try drug companies or cosmetic companies.

My brother graduated with a degree in Chemstry and works in Environmental Control to make sure the Company he works for is in compliance with EPA regulations.  

You can also work in Crime Labs, Goverment agencies that need inspectors and investigators such as EPA, FDA or any other of those alphabet agencies that need a chemist.

The world is yours!!!!

Answer 2

well, getting an advanced degree helps to get to teaching which pays the most. Or in labs or most places where there is scientific equipment operating the production of a business not necesarilly chemisty driven but run. Basically the lab/indoors, which to some is not appealing.

Answer 3

Just to clarify a previous answer, a chemist is not a pharmacist.  You need a degree in pharmacy to become a pharmacist.  Not surprising, the curriculum includes a couple chemistry courses but this does not suggest that pharmacists are chemists (I don't consider compounding and counting pills all while wearing a pretty-white-lab-coat actual "chemistry").  If you disagree and need proof, next time you visit a pharmacist for some tasty anti-depressant ask him/her to devise a synthesis of albuterol or (S)-naproxen (showing correct stereochemistry).  They wont, because not only can they not be bothered, but they don't know.

So now to respond to the question, chemists work in two major categories.  Industry or academia.  "Industry" can include (but is not limited to): pharmacEUTICAL companies [prescription/over the counter drugs!(eg. AstraZenca, Merck, Eli Lilly, etc.)], petroleum refineries, government agencies (NASA, forensics, FBI), high-fructose corn syrup and ethanol factories for your soda and car,respectively. Chemical companies (eg. Sigma-Aldrich, Alfa-Aesar), food-industry (quality control, flavor enhancements), perfume industry, plastics (polymers), cosmetics, the list goes on and on.  Chemistry is everywhere and always in your everyday life; so its no wonder they can be found almost in every line of industry.

"Going into academia" is generally thought of becoming a professor, however I suppose teaching high school chemistry is also included.  Top chemists teach and conduct amazing research at major universities across the world.  It should be noted that chemical research is of course conducted in industry as well. A great example is Charles Pederson at DuPont, who in 1967 discovered crown-ethers.

Salary, like every other field, depends on your level of education and reputation (quality research, where you went to school, how much money/prestige you'd bring to a university, etc.).  People with BSc. degrees can go into industry and make around US$ 70,000/year.  Whereas some professors (PhD) can make stipends near a million and have their own driver (this case is the extreme).  In general, if you want to make big-money being a chemist, industry is the way to go.

Answer 4

Most chemists will do one of two things:

Either they'll get a job as a chemist working in the field of sciece to develop new products, perfrom quality testing using qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses, and conduct research through experiments. (Pharmacists, Agricultural Engineers, Scientific Researchers and Developers, ect.)

Or, they'll get a job as a teacher/proffesor.

In response to an answer below mine, yes pharmacists are often chemsists. I am not talking about an over the counter pharmacist who simply hands you a perscription and calls it good, but rather the chemists who pursue a career in the  pharmaceutical industry by developing and researching new medicines.

To quote wiki, "Pharmacists are trained in pharmacology, pharmacognosy, CHEMISTRY, pharmaceutical CHEMISTRY, microbiology, pharmacy practice, pharmaceutics, pharmacy law, physiology, anatomy, bioCHEMISTRY, kinetics, nephrology, hepatology, and compounding medications."