Monthly Challenges

Participate in each monthly challenge to learn new skills and expand your knowledge. Explore the current challenge below, share your accomplishments on social media with the monthly hashtag, and check back soon for next month's challenge.

#JulyJobTour

Do you know what you want to be after you graduate? Whether you do or don’t, take the #JulyJobTour challenge and explore chemistry-related careers. Tag @ACSundergrad with 4 careers that appeal to you. Bonus points if you connect with someone in the field this month!

Career Ideas

Check databases, career sites, job boards, and even ask your friends to see what kinds of positions are available. Look at job responsibilities, work environments, and locations to see what types of careers match your interests. Also, talk to a mentor or trusted friend to help you hone your interests and point you in the direction of jobs you may not have considered. 

Learn about careers

• Careers & the Chemical Sciences
  Browse over 40 careers by interest, sector, and even individual profiles
• inChemistry career articles
  Read profiles of chemists in a variety of careers and get tips on preparing for and landing your first job with the ACS student member magazine
• Grad & Postdoc Chemist career path articles
  Check out all the different directions an advanced degree can take you with the ACS graduate student and postdoctoral chemist magazine.
• C&EN’s Career Ladder
  See how careers can take you to unexpected places in this C&EN series
• ACS Scholars profiles
  Need more ideas? See what the amazing ACS Scholars have done with their chemistry and chemical engineering degrees
• Industry Matters early career chemists
  Get quick snapshots of industry-based careers from this newsletter
• LinkedIn
  See what types of careers your network contacts are pursuing

See what's available

• C&EN job board
  Job postings from Chemical & Engineering News
• Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster
  Search these or other job boards to see what jobs require chemistry degrees

Identify the Right Career for You

Your ideal career is one that combines your skills and interest with what employers are willing to hire someone to do.

• If you have interest and skill in something, but no one will pay for it, that’s a hobby.
• If you have a lot of skill in something that employers want, but you find it boring, it’s a job.
• If you are interested in a job that employers hire for, but you don’t have any skills, then you are just a fan.

Even if your career isn’t in your sweet spot, you can use your interests and develop new skills to grow into a career that fits you.

Need help identifying your ideal career?

Take an assessment

An objective assessment can help you identify career paths that align with your interests and values.

• Be sure it’s reliable. Look for assessments that are data-driven and established, such as Myers-Briggs, Keirsey, or Jungian-based assessments.
  
• Look for inexpensive options. Make sure it’s affordable. ChemIDP and ACS Career Pathways have free assessments; your school’s career office should also have affordable options.
• Keep your options open. Career and personality assessments are meant to give you ideas, not a definitive solution

Review your previous experiences

• C&EN job board
  Job postings from Chemical & Engineering News
• Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster
  Search these or other job boards to see what jobs require chemistry degrees

Try 

Most of the time, you won’t know if you like something until you try it. Take a class, do an internship, or even job-shadow someone. You’ll get a chance to see if you like it and build your skills at the same time.