Getting disappointed in my major

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Ive actually wondered about this. Is it reasonable for a Chem E undergrad to go into pharmacy and does it work the same way as pre-med?</p>

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<p>But you don’t necessarily have to work as a Chemical Engineer, right? What other options the OP have, besides the obvious ones like going to med/law school or working at Burger King?</p>

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<p>Can’t ChemE majors work as Environmental, Materials or Petroleum engineers as well? I’ve also come across some job postings for MEs asking for ChemEs to apply. You could try to go into the pharmacological industry… like on the TV show Breaking Bad. JK ;P</p>

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<p>This is Homer’s advice on the law school forum. So, Homer, do you advise the students on that board to go into engineering? </p>

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<p>Yes, I’ve been applying for Environmental and Material engineering positions. Many companies do NOT appreciate my MS degree in chemical engineering as majority of my work done in grad school is not relevant to what they are doing. The disturbing truth is that ME can work as ChemE but ChemE can NOT work as ME(autoCad or other stuffs), not to mention there are always more ME than ChemE in the job market. Other options? environmental engineers have a hard time to find jobs themselves (not sure MaterialEng) from what I’ve heard. Pharmaceutical industry? yeah. they actually prefer bio, biotech, biochem, molecular bio, chem, pharmacology, pharmaceutical science majors or any med/pharm school dropouts than engineering majors.</p>

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<p>[Leaping</a> To New Opportunities | Employment | Chemical & Engineering News](<a href=“http://pubs.acs.org/cen/employment/88/8839employment.html?featured=1]Leaping”>http://pubs.acs.org/cen/employment/88/8839employment.html?featured=1)</p>

<p>Pharma industry isn’t doing so hot either according to this article, though I’m not sure if it’s fore Chemists only</p>

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<p>“This is Homer’s advice on the law school forum. So, Homer, do you advise the students on that board to go into engineering?”</p>

<p>Most of the horror stories I posted on the law school forums come from those who went to toilet law schools. But going to Harvard, Yale, or Stanford law is ALWAYS a good idea. In no way shape or form am I advising people to go to unranked law schools.</p>

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<p>Someone with a chemical engiener undergrad is already going to have many of the pre-requs done for pharmacy so it would not be hard to enter a PharmD program.</p>

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<p>…you only applied to fourteen jobs?</p>

<p>In my job search after I got my MS, I sent out… I think it was over 100 resumes. I got something like five interviews from that, and got offers at all the places I interviewed. Had my pick, but you have to put in some significant elbow grease to be able to have your pick of job offers. That was in 2006, before the recession hit and after all the 9/11 economic fallout.</p>

<p>(I don’t understand people who apply to a dozen jobs and are baffled that they didn’t get an offer… This isn’t college; they don’t accept a thousand applicants every year…)</p>

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<p>@Homer “Just go to business skool lolz!” </p>

<p>You cannot go to a top business school without previous experience, specifically management experience.</p>

31

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<p>MBA’s are not as valuable today as they were 5 years ago even. HBS certainly opens doors but it is not always the best decision. Many of the top consulting and banking firms hire undergrads these days and are doing thier own training. This is an old article (<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/yourmoney/11harvard.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/yourmoney/11harvard.html&lt;/a&gt;) but still, even elite MBAs don’t hold the value they traditionally did. More and more, today’s MBA is rougly equivalent to a B.A. degree 20 years ago.</p>

<p>Engineering along with medicine and top-10 law are still the most stable career paths today. Getting an engineerng job is hard but it is much easier than getting a good job as an English or Philosophy major. 2% job loss is bad but it is better than the average.</p>

32

<p>I sent out 271 resumes. Got a handful of responses. Two interviews with job offers after both. This was back in the “good old days,” when we had it so much easier, lol!</p>

33

<p>I’m not sure I would put medicine in the same boat as engineering for stable careers. Doctors have it a lot better since there is much less competititon mainly due to the fact that it takes MUCH longer to become a doctor than an engineer. </p>

<p>Google “unemployed doctors.” The first article is about England. All the other articles are about unemployment insurance, not unemployed doctors. </p>

<p>Google “unemployed engineers” and such articles like “Engineer unemployment rate spikes” and “Electrical Engineers Uenmployment Rates are Sky High” appear.</p>

34

<p>Oh. Well, that clinches it. If there are more Google hits on a career and a reference to unemployment, then it is clearly not a field one should pursue.</p>

<p>I’m going to stop engineering right now and go home. It’s hopeless. Maybe my company will be kind enough to mail my books and personal effects back to me when my husband and I move to a van down by the river.</p>

35

<p>Did you not read the recent NY Times article on this very issue?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>lol at van down by the river. You are dating yourself, that skit is as old as many of these posters.</p>

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<p>Surprisingly, I didn’t, as I was too busy being an engineer.</p>

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<p>You kids! Get off my lawn!</p>

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<p>Not to mention having a life outside of sitting at the computer searching for “doomsday” articles.</p>

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<p>On the side note, I’ve applied to 40 internships (across the U.S.) and I still haven’t gotten a call (most of the ChemE’s in my school even with 4.0s haven’t gotten a call either). Anyone know if the market is that bad or what?</p>

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<p>[disappearing-jobs:</a> Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110958/disappearing-jobs?mod=career-worklife_balance]disappearing-jobs:”>http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110958/disappearing-jobs?mod=career-worklife_balance)
[From</a> Engineering Major To Cater Waiter: Grads Enter The Job Market](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>From Engineering Major To Cater Waiter: Grads Enter The Job Market | HuffPost College)</p>

<p>ChemE jobs are disappearing. idk if they will ever come back or not.</p>