Careers in chromatography

[Technologist]

A few more months here and I'll be finishing up my program. Over the past while I've developed an interest in chromatography. I'm curious to know if anyone has any experience in the chemical industry and can offer some advice. If there is a lot of work, if its worth it to pursue chrom in the long run, in general what people are thinking. I would eventually like to work in the petrochemical industry (I live in Alberta which pays well at the moment).

[insane_alien]

chromatography is really just part of the job for chemists, pharmacicts(sp?) and anyone else who works in a chem lab. its not really a job on its own. you could maybe by some lucky chance get on a research team trying to find new techniques for cromatography but most of this is all theoretical as the processes involved are very well understood.

[RyanJ]

Isn't chromatography used in cerain aspects of blood analysis? I'm shure its used to detct the presence of small ammounts of dissolves substances in the blood.

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[Jarryd]

I think they mean like an analytical chemist in which case their are plenty of areas in which their is employment from forensic fields to enviormental areas.. it is pretty broad. Although from what ive heard looking at the forensic chemistry area it is (atleast in the areas ive researched and Australia) fairly sparce employment and highly competitive.

[insane_alien]

yeah very few people who study forensics actually get a job in the field. but i was just pointing out that there is no career only in cromatography. analytical chemist is his/her best bet.

[ecoli]

a chromatographer

[jdurg]

yeah very few people who study forensics actually get a job in the field. but i was just pointing out that there is no career only in cromatography. analytical chemist is his/her best bet.

 

Hehe. I'm living proof of that. I have a B.S. in forensic chemistry but there were ZERO jobs when I graduated, and the jobs are typically only filled by people who just graduated college, so if there's nothing around when you graduate it's hard to get a position in the field. You just need good timing which I didn't have.

[Technologist]

Hey thanks a lot guys.

 

Chromatographer … you got me there.

 

I’m aware that it’s an instrument used in labs and not necessarily a specific career designation.

 

I’m curious to know what you guys think about specializing in chromatography. My program head offered me a job out of school with a company that does various “analytical contract work” with chrom. Basically my job would be to fly out with a disassembled chrom, set it up, perform an analysis, troubleshoot, etc, and fly back home. It would be a good experience. I am hoping that becoming skilled in chromatography would lead to a good career down the road with a petrochemical company (Albertan here).

 

Sorry about the confusion.

[Technologist]

double post.

[ecoli]

Hey thanks a lot guys.

 

Chromatographer … you got me there.

 

I’m aware that it’s an instrument used in labs and not necessarily a specific career designation.

 

I’m curious to know what you guys think about specializing in chromatography. My program head offered me a job out of school with a company that does various “analytical contract work” with chrom. Basically my job would be to fly out with a disassembled chrom' date=' set it up, perform an analysis, troubleshoot, etc, and fly back home. It would be a good experience. I am hoping that becoming skilled in chromatography would lead to a good career down the road with a petrochemical company (Albertan here).

 

Sorry about the confusion.[/quote']

 

chrom. is an excellent lab technique so any experiance you get with it could never hurt you.

[scientist]

Forensic scientists use chromatography often

[scicop]

If you are a specialist in chromatography, such as HPLC, or GC/LC there are alot of places that will hire you, including:

 

1. The Cosmetic Industry (to identify/purify new fragrances/antioxidants from natural speciemens)

2. Pharmaceutical Industry (to identify/purify novel pharmacologically active agents/ or mass scale marketed medication QC/QA,or production)

3. Biotechnology Regeant Companies (purity antibodies/reagents)

4. Law enforcement (however this is more a technique, you'll get board out of your mind, very kit oriented not much room for independant thought)

5. Food Industry (indentify/purify new sweetners, flavors etc)

6. Intelligence Agencies/Military Labs (identify potential chemical/biological weapons)

 

Hope this list helps.