<p>I graduated in 2010 with what could be called a general studies degree from a liberal arts college (pretty gruesome, I know). I studied a number of subjects, but none in great depth. At the time I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and was trying to figure it out as I went, which I now feel was to my detriment. I currently work in the brewing industry which I am passionate about, but the pay is pretty lousy and I would like to have options of branching out to other industries or to brewing on a much larger scale. Most of the bigger companies want applicants to have experience plus a science degree, the former which I have and the latter I do not. So, I am considering going back to school for a BS in chemical engineering (the best degree for brewing or distilling). The most common advice I have heard is that I should go for a MS rather than another Bachelor's, but unfortunately most of the MS programs I have any interest in ( all of which are science based) require a BS. So being stymied there, I feel that I have little choice but to bite the bullet and go for a 2nd bachelor's, albeit that some of my undergrad credits will carry over to soften the blow. It will be at least 3 years more I'm guessing. While I am sure I could after graduating get another brewing job easily, I am wondering how competitive it is getting an entry level engineering job, if I have a strong GPA and go to a decently ranked school? Is it worth the financial risk of taking out some hefty loans (my previous loans are paid at this point) , or is chemical engineering a pretty safe path career-wise as far as job prospects, as long as you are a intelligent, competitive person? Any insight or advice would be appreciated. </p>
<p>Chemical engineering is a degree with pretty good pay, but with more than a few downsides. It is decent as far as a career path, but it is hardly what I would call lucrative. Here’s a number of things you might want to consider before going for another BS:</p>
<p>ChemE the profession:
- Jobs that involve ChemE work are usually rather geographically concentrated because you have to go where the factories are - there is much less “small business” work for ChemEs than for EEs, MechEs, CivilEs because profitable chemical production is usually rather large scale (as opposed to say, building houses, where one company could be building only a few in a local area). There are, of course, jobs that do require localized ChemE work, but they are rather scarce - meaning you will have to work harder, have better qualifications, and accept lower pay because there are others you have to compete with for those jobs.
- Made in China, made in India, etc. A lot of chemical engineering work is done overseas now because it’s cheaper. Often, it’s cheaper to hire foreign engineers than to send expats (which can cost something like 4x their salary to endorse), and those aren’t really great places to live in (all the obvious reasons plus the fact that they tend to be very negligent on matters of hazard safety).
- The trend in traditional ChemE industries is not a particularly bright one. Pulp and paper is on the decline, manufacturing is on the decline within the US, and oil/mining have an oversupply of workers stemming from the reports of high salaries in those fields. The “new ChemE” involves biotechnology and renewable energy - judge the success of those on your own.
- You do, however, get a fair bit of training in material that could be useful in other disciplines, such as transport phenomena (mechanical engineering), and processes/process control (large-scale engineering in general). I know a lot of ChemEs with jobs in “process engineering” and roles that are traditionally held by MechEs. They are usually a notch above average though - they have to prove that they are more qualified than someone with more direct experience for a job in a related field.
- Large companies, the most significant employer of ChemEs doing ChemE work, aren’t known for loyalty to their workers. The magic number is 5-10 years experience - that’s enough to know what you’re doing, and to start without much on-the-job training. More than that, and you are liable to have a family, to need health insurance, and to have reservations about working overtime. They will throw you to the wolves without a second thought the moment the economy starts to trend downward - why pay a 50-year-old 20% more for a job that a 30-year-old with 10 years experience can do for cheap? Most of the people who I know who have survived through this kind of situation had some sort of significant skills outside of engineering (fluency in Russian, experience negotiating with the specific customers of their new company, etc) that allowed them to find a new job.</p>
<p>I think the salaries are substantially overinflated, but otherwise a good resource for basic understanding.
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/chemical-engineers.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/chemical-engineers.htm</a></p>
<p>Personal:
- Three years is a long time to leave work, or to squeeze in both full-time school and part-time work. It’s not pleasant.
- There’s a lot of less-than-pleasant aspects of ChemE that you really don’t learn until it’s too late to find something new - tedious work, dangerous chemicals, the unpredictability of hazards, etc. I know many people who knew they wanted to be chemical engineers who regretted it a little too late to leave. You don’t sound too sure about ChemE already, so this very well may be the case for you. And four years out of college, three more years is not what I would call insignificant.
- Taking more loans compounds the problem in (2). I know many, many people, in every field, who would love to leave their job and find something more pleasant, if not for the fact that they have loan bills they have to pay. Another degree means another 3-10 years of that, depending on how you fare.
- If you get a low GPA (< 3.0) you will have a hard time finding a job. It’s far from impossible to keep that, but it requires a substantial effort. Many established companies throw out low GPA resumes by policy. If things don’t work out for some reason (not really into the subject, bad luck with exams, family crisis, health troubles, many other possible reasons), your degree won’t be all that useful.
- Salary tends to cap after a few years (the 5-10 year mark). Those high salaries are impressive only in terms of starting salaries; mid-career salaries are not too impressive for engineering.</p>
<p>There are, of course, bad sides to every field (you could write something like this for every profession), but I’m sure you’d appreciate knowing what downsides there are to this one. As far as important positives to ChemE go, you do get to find a job with just a BS or MS, and the salary isn’t low. In your case specifically, I’d say it isn’t worth it - you would be better served with some other form of technical training, such as trade school or some certification programs. It doesn’t sound like you would benefit from a career change, but rather from a bit more training so that you could do more.</p>
<p>Another question, Is does your school you’re planning to attend offer ChemE major? Mine doesn’t, the closest I could get is doing a 2nd Bacc in Chem with a few ChemE courses, without relocating. Hard to answer, it can vary based on prior coursework and schools, but I believe you’re looking at least 3 years of prereqs if you go this route. My college said 4 years for Engineering, though the time frame could depend on what prior science and math courses have been completed previously. </p>
<p>B-I-L Is a chemical engineer and picked the major because it was supposedly the highest paying of the engineering disciplines. What he didn’t count on was what NEO posted. He has moved at least 6 times to follow the jobs in some of the smallest and more rural communities than he expected. He is 52 years old and he is typically one of the first to be laid off because his income is a drain on the company.<br>
A second BS degree does not qualify you for any kind of financial aid help because you’ve already completed one degree. Having a second degree doesn’t change much.</p>
<p>I get financial aid on a 2nd bachelors, which I have used towards my Chemistry B.A./B.S. in progress, granted the grants only cover about 1k of the cost. And I’ve been offered work study (which I couldn’t use because there were no WS jobs that would work around my junior college job, which has a higher hourly rate) and grant money alumni grant towards the degree. my first is a BBA Accounting, and not all schools may offer financial aid for the second degree. Few universities allow 2nd bacc. Anyway, my advice to OP is to complete the required coursework for entrance into the masters (for me it’s 24 credits in Chemistry) and then consider applying to the Masters directly. I could get a 2nd BA at 30 credits, but a BS may not be worthwhile because it would take another 3 semesters. It depends on the program sheet and how competitive the master’s admission is at the target university also, I wrote the department chair, who wants a BS degree but I may not need one to gain admission to master’s program. Because the courses are so lock-step, you might only end up being able to take a course a semester until the later parts of curriculum, which is okay, work and part-time school is tiring. But by not having a science degree, I wasn’t even interviewed for FT promotion. Best of luck in the decision. Map out the course flowchart and see how it goes. I have put more effort into chemistry than my other studies because I enjoy it a lot more. </p>