A good chemist is analytical, organized, curious, patient, persistent, attentive to detail, a problem-solver...

What will I be doing all day?

Chemists analyze the composition and properties of molecules and their behavior. While their specific area of focus depends on which branch of chemistry they specialize in, chemists’ responsibilities generally include planning research projects, conducting tests, analyzing results, recording and organizing data, and presenting research findings.

What kind of career options do I have?

Chemists can work in a variety of industries, such as health care, pharmacology, forensics, engineering, or food. Some chemists with a PhD may choose to go into academia, working and conducting research in universities.

What kind of training do I need?

While there are some lower-level employment options within the field that only require a bachelor’s degree, in order to advance within the field, a PhD in chemistry, chemical engineering, or a related field is required. Many chemists do several years of postdoctoral work as well.

Do I have the personality for it?

A good chemist is analytical, organized, curious, patient, persistent, attentive to detail, a problem-solver, and knows how to work well in a team.

What can I expect to make?

While the national average salary is $78,000, salary varies widely by location as well as industry.

Entry-level salaries for a BA are about $50,000 to $65,000.

Starting salaries for chemists with a PhD will be over $100,000, and can double or even triple as you advance in the field.

GEORGIY TEVEROVSKIY

Minneapolis, MN

Manager, Corporate Research Digital Laboratory, 3M

Graduated From: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), PhD Organic Chemistry

Years in Field: 11

My Typical Workday

I work at 3M, a global innovation company that develops products in a wide range of industries (such as Scotch Tape, Post-It Notes, and N95 respirators).

During my first eight years at the company, I worked as a chemist in the Corporate Research Materials Lab, inventing parts for different products such as specialty bandages, highly repellent materials, and other impactful technologies. (Though I still have to pay full price for these products when I buy them at my pharmacy.)

In this role, I spent a lot of time talking to customers (in fields ranging from aerospace to consumer electronics to medical devices such as tapes) to understand their problems and pain points. Each day would consist of talking to my colleagues in other divisions that owned, produced, and managed the product portfolio.

We would figure out what we wanted our end result to look like — what properties the final article should have. For example, if we were producing a “release liner” — the part of a sticky bandage that you throw away — we might want it to be more anti-stick. We would review the data from the tests conducted on the current prototype and identify ways to improve it. I would then take that information and go to the lab to work on synthesizing new molecules to fit the desired criteria.

Sometimes I only needed to make a few dozen molecules and we’d be able to use them directly. Other times, I had to take those new materials to my colleagues in a different lab, and together we embedded them in polyester or nylon fabrics or films. Those final articles were then sent to the product owners to test the materials.

We made a lot of cool things. Sometimes the fabrics were so liquid-repellent, we could bounce water and oil on them. We even managed to get mustard to slide off one of these things.