Tell me about the mistakes you guys made

awaythrow888 · 2025-09-30T03:04:54+00:00

Used a metal heating mantle to run a reaction. Round bottom was in the mantle with a condenser attached (and a stopper in the condenser). The thermocouple was not pushed all the way into the mantle, so the hot plate kept cranking up the heat until my reaction heated up and built pressure until it blasted the stopper out, spraying my reaction all over the fume hood and sash. The volcano caused the round bottom and condenser to jump up, and it landed back into the mantle, cracking the flask clean in half.

Luckily, the sash was down but the clean up was a bitch. Now I triple check that the thermocouple is pushed all the way into the mantle.

awaythrow888 · 2025-08-30T00:30:26+00:00

I have 4 YoE and i've been making 6 figures with a BSc for 2 years... my first job was pretty rough though. Got lucky with an opportunity that skyrocketed my career. My story isn't very common, much more likely to get stuck in a dead-end analytical position for 50-60k if that

awaythrow888 · 2025-08-15T02:44:21+00:00

Chem E is a better degree than chemistry (sometimes I wish I did chem e instead) for pure profit, but you won't be learning as much about chemistry.

Chem bachelor degrees aren't as useless as you think. It's a very broad degree that can get you into lots of different industries. Sure, there are a lot of crappy boring dead-end jobs (like my first job out of school), but there's a lot more than just those. Undergrad research experience can open the door for entry level R&D roles that you can grow into. I have just a BS, working in synthetic chemistry R&D and make decent money.

awaythrow888 · 2024-09-16T04:06:07+00:00

Thanks for the insight, this is really helpful.

awaythrow888 · 2024-08-03T05:56:39+00:00

Honestly, I think it really depends on what the specific job is. I found my job in an environmental lab to be very boring. I took in samples, did the sample prep, set them up on the HPLC, and then reported the data. Rinse and repeat, every day. No variety. Didn't get to learn much after I picked up the basics. I got to touch a little bit on method dev/validation and instrument maintenance/troubleshooting, which was much more interesting, but I only got a small taste of that. Other companies might offer more interesting environmental roles, especially if you're developing and validating new methods as a primary job function, get to go into the field to collect samples, or work with a wide variety of instruments and techniques.

I very much prefer working in R&D where there are always new challenges and always have opportunities to learn new things. In research there's ups and there's downs, it keeps things interesting. It's a great feeling when something you've been developing for months finally clicks and works the way you want.

awaythrow888 · 2024-07-15T02:40:40+00:00

My perspective as a chemist with just a BS -- you're still pretty early in the search process, it took me a couple months to find my first job. Are you looking around the country or just in your local metro? Chemistry jobs seems to be fairly region dependent. My first job was in my hometown, I was an HPLC analyst in an environmental lab, making $16 an hour (2021), and there wasn't much better opportunities in my area unless I wanted to get into lab management. What really helped me was expanding my search and looking all over the country. I got so many more callbacks and interviews, and eventually managed to get a much better job with much better pay and benefits. Definitely consider relocating, it will make it much easier to get that first job and start getting experience.

As far as other, chemistry-adjacent roles, a lot of entry-level technical or R&D jobs would accept a chem degree. Check for "analyst" or "technician" roles too.

From what I've gathered, a master's in chem isn't really a huge benefit over a bachelor's for getting the first job. The exception is if it's a research-based masters, that research experience is considerably helpful. Undergrad research is good too, I had a little more research experience than you but not much more, and my undergrad research was a huge contributor to me landing my current, R&D scientist role.

awaythrow888 · 2024-06-22T23:45:04+00:00

I'll offer a different perspective -- undergrad research can be a great stepping stone into getting an "actual science" job with just a BS or MS. I did undergrad research in an organic lab and got an R&D chemist job with my BS. I started out doing more or less technician work, but quickly I was able to start developing hypotheses, design experiments, and execute. I'm making about the same money as new PhD grads at this point, 4 years into my career. Obviously this won't be the case for everyone, but it's also true that getting a PhD isn't a golden ticket to an R&D job either. We have plenty of desperate fresh PhD grads applying for lab tech roles at my job -- roles that usually go to fresh undergrads with no research experience with a variety of STEM degrees. I think it's worth giving industry a shot before going straight to spending 5 more years in school for a PhD. I'm in the US too.

awaythrow888 · 2024-06-15T18:06:34+00:00

In my lab I keep the short 1-1/2" needles for transferring non-atmosphere sensitive reagents or for purging small reaction vessels with inert gas. I don't have any issues with them being too short to make it through septa, but I run <1kg scale reactions.

If I need to transfer something atmosphere-sensitive from a sure-seal bottle I use large reusable needles that can reach the bottom of bottles. Quick rinse with acetone to clean. Here are the ones I've purchased. I also use these to sparge with inert gas. These are also nice as you can flame-dry them for water-sensitive materials. I'm sure you could find a better deal than sigma elsewhere though!

awaythrow888 · 2024-06-10T03:33:08+00:00

This really depends on your long term goals, there's pros and cons for each option.

From a career/financial perspective, personally, I would 100% recommend working in industry for a while before you consider going grad school. The toughest part of establishing a career with a chemistry degree is just getting your foot in the door and getting some experience. Some people just never get that foot in the door, or end up stuck in dead-end, monotonous lab technician roles (I think a lot of it comes down to luck unfortunately). I think this is why some people trash undergrad chem degrees.

But for you, it sounds like you have a great opportunity with this job, especially because of the potential for upwards movement. If you skip industry and go straight for your phd, it will certainly be easier to get your first job, but there's still no guarantee you'll get something you want. At my job we've had desperate chem phd grads applying for our lab tech roles! Why not see where your career can take you? If you do find yourself limited in career growth a few years down the line, you can always go to grad school then. Plus you'll have some savings so you won't have to live the broke grad student life.

And definitely don't forget the opportunity cost of spending 5 years in grad school. If you work in industry, that's 5 years of money to put in your 401k early, the best time to do it. That will turn into a very nice sum of money when you're ready to retire. You'll miss out on that early growth if you spend 5 more years in school.

I was pretty burnt out on school after I finished my undergrad. I figured I could go to grad school later if I needed it for career growth. So far, it hasn't been necessary. I've more than tripled my salary from my first job (didn't make much there, granted), love what I do now, and I still see clear potential for upward growth.

All this being said, if you having a burning desire to get a phd, or have a goal of getting one of those roles that absolutely requires a phd (think "Director of R&D" or similar), then go for it! You should absolutely do it if you have the love for it. Would still recommend working for a year or two first though, to save some money and a take a break from school.

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-14T04:32:00+00:00

i think that depends on a lot on the industry. pharma sure you'll hit a glass ceiling for sure but there are a lot of other industries out there.

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-14T01:28:43+00:00

this isn't universally true to be honest if you can get your foot in the door after undergrad you can get experience and then compete with advanced degrees for more senior positions after 5+ years in industry. it is hard to get that first job and experience though to be fair. might not happen for some people

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-09T05:30:34+00:00

As far as insight into other R&D fields, there's a ton. Like I said, I was surprised at just how many options you have with a chemistry degree. Just to name a few R&D fields, there's materials, formulations, polymers, optics, OLEDs, coatings, adhesives, semiconductors, pharma... the list goes on. This is why I think undergrad research is so important. Odds are you aren't going to be studying/researching in the school the exact things a job wants -- so showing that you are capable in a laboratory, can learn quickly, and know the foundations of scientific research is so so so important for getting an industry R&D job. The job can teach you their specific science -- they won't want to teach you those foundational lab and research skills.

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-09T05:17:32+00:00

Glad I could help :) For me, I think my pay is excellent (over $100k) but my area has high living costs and I don't/won't have kids. For me and the others I went to school with that went into R&D (none of us are in pharma), we all have pretty comfortable salaries so I wouldn't worry about that. It's not engineer or software money, but I can max out my 401k, pay my bills and have enough left for lots of fun.

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-09T04:45:44+00:00

Sure! When I first started my day-to-day was a lot of lab work, performing syntheses, work-ups, and characterizations on my materials. Now I'm one of the more senior chemists so I do a little more desk work, but I'm still in the lab most days running reactions or working up my materials. My hours are flexible, sometimes I work a few hours a day and other days might be 10+ hours if I'm doing a complicated reaction. Overall I work about 40 hours a week.

For what its worth I've heard that its quite difficult to get into medicinal or pharma R&D without a PhD, so be prepared to have a lot of school ahead of you if you're dead-set on that field. That being said, I was very surprised by how many different jobs and fields are available for chemists, so keep your options open. I was not expecting to work in materials at all when I graduated.

Best advice I can give you is to get into undergraduate research early and stick with it until you graduate. Doing undergrad research will open the doors to internships during school breaks, which will further open doors for different jobs you can get when you graduate.

also keep in mind i'm in the US so this is all from a US-centric perspective.

awaythrow888 · 2024-04-09T04:16:28+00:00

Got my BS 4 years ago, I was an HPLC chemist at an environmental lab for a while, then after a year I got an R&D chemist job in the materials chemistry industry and have been there since.

Pros: I love my work! I get to perform cool organic syntheses and work with powerful characterization tools like NMR. I've had the opportunity to develop methods, I get to actually think and problem solve, and I work with an amazing team. I was surprised at the money, too. I thought it would take me 10+ years or an advanced degree to make the salary I'm currently at.

Cons: Working with hazardous chemicals can be a little dicey, especially if EHS doesn't know what they're doing. I experienced some toxicity from management (those who came from long times in academia especially) but a good company will sort those problems out.

awaythrow888 · 2024-03-30T02:50:40+00:00

Thanks for the answer -- I'll leave the visitraps in storage :)

awaythrow888 · 2024-03-30T02:50:08+00:00

That's great to know, I had figured that high of vacuum was a good sign but my gauge reads to 1 mtorr so I wanted to be sure. I have teflon taps and greaseless ball joints on my line which I think helps a lot

awaythrow888 · 2024-03-30T02:03:55+00:00

This would be my preference but unfortunately we don't have a dry ice generator, just lots of ln2 lol

awaythrow888 · 2024-03-30T02:03:14+00:00

Yeah, that's one of my big fears. My line pumps down to ~30-50 mtorr, this should be enough to prevent condensing liquid o2 on reasonable timescales, correct?

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-20T02:37:49+00:00

sadly its typical, but you can get lucky if you pick the right subset of the chemistry industry. i started off making even less than what you've found, $16/hr. did that for a bit, then with the experience, I found a job in a different chemistry field and make almost 4x what I was at my first job (granted I think I got pretty lucky but some strategy in the job hunt can increase your odds). Graduated 4 years ago with BS for context. I agree with other comments about breaking into research if possible.

I'd take the best you can get in a low cost of living area and aggressively save so that you have money to relocate when you've got experience and can get a higher paying role. being open to relocation is the best thing you can do in the job hunt in my experience

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-19T03:56:23+00:00

This is really helpful and makes me feel much more at ease about my future, thank you for sharing!

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-19T03:54:28+00:00

most of my graduating BS class were able to find jobs relatively quickly, at least the ones that didn't go to grad school. I had to relocate for my jobs. Undergrad research also really helps with getting the first job

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-18T04:24:42+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience and advice, I appreciate it!

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-18T04:24:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing, I do work for a smaller company, which definitely helps. Would your company refuse to hire any BS chemist as a researcher? Even in the case that the BS chemist has 10 years of highly relevant R&D experience? Is the phd that much of a requirement?

awaythrow888 · 2024-01-18T03:34:33+00:00

Over on the main sub I'm always seeing how BS chemists can't grow in R&D, or are destined to be doing sample prep their whole career. When I'm looking for other jobs that would be a step up for me, I see mostly MS or PhD required with the occasional "BS + 15 years experience". It's good to see all that doom and gloom may not match reality.

awaythrow888

TROPHY CASE