Focus
Industry and the Bachelor D e g r e e Chemist • What does industry look for in applicants for laboratory positions at the bachelor degree level? • What kind of jobs are they hired for? • What are their promotional opportunities once they get inside a company? • Is continuing education promoted? • How can the undergraduate academic curriculum be improved to produce graduates with skills that are needed in the "real world"? These are some of the questions recently posed by Michigan State University biochemistry professor John F. Holland in an informal telephone survey of industries that employ chemists. Holland reported on his findings at an ACS Division of Chemical Education symposium, A Reexamination
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Industry has the impression that the undergraduate experience does not really qualify the candidate
for R&D.
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of the Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Curriculum, held in conjunction with the ACS National Meeting in late August. Holland is the first to admit that his telephone survey was not conducted according to the strictest protocols. For instance, his discussions with respondents were interactive so Holland may have affected the outcome. "I know it's not strictly scientific, but I hoped to bring out the issues that are of major concern," Holland explained. What does industry hire bachelorlevel chemists for? Quality control was the most frequent response. BS chemists will also find many opportunities in R&D, organic synthesis, production supervision, and bench-level chemical analysis. And a large number are em-
ployed in technical sales and service with chemical and instrument companies. However, Holland found that several of the major companies do not hire BS chemists at all. Others hire them only sparingly, generally for production supervision. "Once hired," said Holland, "the range of job tracks is really amazing," indicating that this is one thing that job candidates should check into closely when interviewing with a company. In some companies, BS chemists are locked into a particular track they must follow unless they continue their education. At the other extreme, all scientific staff members at one large industrial firm surveyed compete equally for promotions after a probationary period. At most companies there are definite growth limitations for the BS chemist in R&D, though some mobility is available for the employee who shows merit. "Industry has the impression that the undergraduate experience does not really qualify the candidate for R&D," Holland said. All the companies surveyed encourage part-time continuing education for their bachelor degree chemists. Many also permit employees to pursue fulltime continuing education, "but in some cases there was considerable hesitation about this," said Holland. "It became apparent that this has been a low-percentage game for them. They feel they have about a 50-50 chance of losing that person as a professional once he or she earns the PhD." What do companies look forin a job candidate? Holland found that the size of the company has a significant effect on recruiting priorities. The larger companies ask a number
1320 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 55, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1983
of questions about an applicant, such as "Will this person be able to communicate well with technicians, colleagues, and superiors?" and "Is he or she a credible representative of our organization?" Companies also look for motivation, a good academic background, and good human engineering skills—"Can the individual get along with other people?" "Perhaps 70% of large-company respondents rated problem-solving ability as the single most important thing they were looking for," said Holland. This means that an applicant should have an awareness of the overall problem-solving process, instead of focusing narrowly on the measurement process alone. What larger companies do not look for in a candidate, Holland found, are specific curriculum experiences. "Big companies are prepared and willing to train new employees on the instru-
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Perhaps 70% of large-company respondents rated problem-solving ability as the single most important thing they were looking for. £ f c Q
mentation they will be using. They really don't care if the student has had any experience with exotic instruments, such as an FT/NMR or a GC/MS. I don't know whether it's a demonstration of confidence in the basic instrumentation background provided by our educational system or if it's that manufacturers are writing better instrument instruction manuals, but all the large companies indicate they would prefer to train em(continued on p. 1325 A)
Focus
John F. Holland ployees for specific techniques." The survey found that smaller com panies, on the other hand, recruit for specific talents and experiences. In fact, this stress on needed skills often leads to hiring employees not directly out of college, but from other com panies where the person has had an opportunity to develop these skills. One skill becoming increasingly popu lar is knowledge of government regula tions.
The Brown lee M PLC" MicroPump is an innovative, low flow rate solvent delivery system capable of producing gradients with total flow rates as low as ΙΟμΙ/min and pressures to 7,000 psi. It is based on double syringe pumps, an active valve for automatic refill, and a microprocessor for control.
The clinical laboratories surveyed, like the big industrial laboratories, recommend avoiding analytical spe cialization at the undergraduate level. "The chances are that the instruments students are trained on in college are not the instruments they will use for blood urea nitrogen tests or enzyme assays in the clinical laboratory," said Holland. To prepare students for clinical ca reers, he continued, educators should stress the basics of electronics and in strumentation and should provide ex perience in maintenance and repair strategies: "The skill requirements at the clinical lab bench have consistent ly been shifting from analysis art to instrument installation, calibration, and maintenance." All employers stressed the impor tance of practical laboratory experi ences: "They loved the idea of inde pendent study, and summer employ ment was rated extremely high. A number of them said, 'If summer em ployment is on the résumé, we're interested in that person as a candidate.' "
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Precision of flow rate and solvent composition is achieved by reduction in scale, restriction of flow rate range, and advanced stepper motor drive tech nology. At a flow rate of ΙΟμΙ/min, 2.400 microsteps per minute are available tor proportioning between the two pumps. Two essen tially pulse free flows are combined in a micro-mixing system that does not dis tort the gradient profile.
MPUC
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Big companies are prepared and willing to train new employees on the instrumentation they will be using. f ~V Λ.
For capillary and super critical chromatography with single fluids, you can select pressure or flow programming with flow rates as low as ΙμΙ/min For supercritical chroma tography, the pump connects directly to the supply cylinder: a modified filling mode ensures isobanc and isothermal transfer of the liquid phase to the pump cylinder.
Microbore. Capillary. Supercritical.
Brownlee Labs CIRCLE 24 ON READER SERVICE CARD ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 55, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1983 ·
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