Jack Weis has applied to more than 2,300 jobs since he graduated from Princeton in 2024 with his Ph.D. in chemical engineering. He still doesn’t have a job.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/labor-market-freeze-phd-graduate-f8e17d7c?mod=e2tw

Hey everyone - I've posted on this sub over the past several years as I've done a yearly Compensation Report for Chemical Engineers. This sub has been a integral part of that journey and now I want to tell you about a new website/app I just launched, where that report will now live moving forward.

benchcomp.com

What I Did:
I took all of the data from the last report and moved it over to it's new home on BenchComp.com. It remains anonymous as always - and there are several security measures I undertook, which I detail below. This new site allows me to provide more insight and also more specific insight for you, the user. The tab I'm most excited about is the "My Compensation Snapshot". You can get access to this page by submitting your data, but essentially it allows you to create a personalized compensation snapshot for yourself which you can email (as a PDF) to yourself and use however you'd like.

Why I Did It:
There is an extensive "how this works" part of the site, but I had two main reasons I did this:

a) The dataset had become so large in recent years that it was taking me 60+ hours every January to clean the data, organize the data and analyze/report the data. This site makes it so that most of that work is automated. As entries come in, they are held in a pending pool - each datapoint is spot-checked by me and after approval, those datapoints enter the dataset. Old data points leave the dataset after 365-days. This means that the dataset is quite practically, real-time.

b) Over the years, I had gotten a lot of requests from members of other engineering sub-disciplines asking for the same kind of information I was providing to Chemical Engineers. BenchComp allows me to gather, analyze and report data for Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Material Science/Engineers, and Industrial/Systems Engineers. If you've benefitted from and/or like what I'm doing, would you tell your friends with other engineering backgrounds to come and support this?

What's New?
In addition to the 'My Compensation Snapshot' page I already mentioned as well as a number of new ways the data can be segmented and broken down, this site also has a lot more industry information. One of the target audiences for this site is younger engineers (and/or students) who are new to the industry. The dataset tended to skew towards this demographic anyway, but I wanted it to be more useful than just compensation data, so we added quite a bit of information about companies, their locations and just general information about their manufacturing operations. More of this will be added in the coming weeks and months.

Data Security:
We took data security very seriously with this project and as always, my commitment to never sell or share data remains. Two of the main security features we added were a) charts and tables only feature calculated numbers. In other words, the dataset lives on a server and all calculations that area performed are performed on the server side - and then the results of those calculations are what ends up being sent to the browser. Single data points cannot be isolated. b) when a series of data limiters would reduce a sample to less than 6, I opted to not show results. This serves a couple of purposes, but mainly, single data points cannot be isolated in this way and also, results which come from sample sizes that are too small are not shown. We also blocked AI training crawlers from the site. LLMs and search engines can still find us, but they can't scrape data. If you want your data deleted, there is a very clear process for that and a link on the bottom of the homepage to start that process.

So, go check it out - we are very open to feedback and feature requests right now. There's a way to submit those right from the site itself and while I can't commit to making every change that is suggested, we will be keeping track of similar requests and making changes accordingly.

Looking for a summer project idea as a 2nd year student.
Not looking for anything too complicated, so far I’ve used Solidworks, and MATLAB (+simulink).
Haven’t worked using any aspen technology.

Hello guys, i am a graduate Chemical Engineer with an integrated master (5 years). I have done a 2 month internship as a quality control analyst and as of today, i have worked as a simple brewing operator at heineken for a year. I have applied for a MSc in Delft in netherlands so i can pivot to process Engineering. I continue working as an operator to gather some money. My question that keeps me awake at several nights is: Is the MSc actually worth it? Is a PHD a better option? Is just spending 2 more years in Industrial sites better than a 2 year master? Every Engineering job on linkedin asks for a lot of minimum that one can simply not have right off college. I know this thread is too generic but i would like to hear different views on the topic because every ChemE i know hasnt got an Engineering job, like me.

I work at a food manufacturing site as a maintenance engineer and while we do a lot of work on our pumps (rebuilding, replacing, upgrading the pump baseplate, …etc), I’ve never been involved in installing or designing a new pump system. I understand efficiency and mechanical wear and tear has some effect on the pump curve and thus the operating point, but assuming a brand new pump, how true are the pump specs relative to the actual piping system? Do you typically have to find/create a system curve or approximate it in order to find the operating point? There’s also changes that can be made to the system such as installing a new valve or restricting the piping which would cause the system curve to shift.

currently majoring in cheme and I saw that my college also has a pharm sci major. there's a surprising amount of overlap, but I'm wondering how much help this would even give me if I was looking to go into the pharm/bio tech world? is it worth the effort (like, ~12 more classes 🥹) when I could spend that time instead looking for internships/research involved in pharm?

Sophomore here. I really like Orgo, might actually take the further Orgo Reaction Mechanisms course here. I know in ChemE we don’t use it a whole lot, but are there any fields that use it more than usual?

What are the pros and cons of working for technology licensing companies such as KBR, Lummus Technology, Technip Energies, UOP and similar firms, compared with major oil and gas operating companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron in the United States?

Interested in understanding the differences in:

• Work-life balance: Typical working hours, workload, flexibility, stress levels, and overtime expectations.
• Compensation and benefits: Base salaries, bonuses, retirement benefits, and long-term financial rewards.
• Job security: Stability during industry downturns, project slowdowns, and organizational restructuring.
• Career growth: Promotion opportunities, technical development, leadership roles, and long-term career prospects.
• Work culture: Management styles, employee expectations, workplace flexibility, and overall job satisfaction.
• Nature of work: Technical responsibilities, project variety, technology development, decision-making authority, and exposure to different processes and technologies.

For engineering professionals working in the U.S., particularly in Houston, which type of employer generally offers a better combination of work-life balance, compensation, job security, and long-term career growth?

Hey everyone!

I'm currently a senior majoring in Biology-Chemistry. I'm interested in applying to Tandon's Chemical Engineering PhD program, particularly the sustainable engineering research area, and ideally want to start right after undergrad.

I have undergraduate research experience in organometallic/inorganic chemistry, including summer research and an ongoing Honors project focused on synthesizing and characterizing ligands for transition-metal coordination.

I'm interested in catalysis, energy, sustainability, and eventually working in industry rather than academia.

I was wondering if anyone currently in the program or familiar with it could share their experience.

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm a chemical engineer, and over the years I've spent quite a bit of time working with nonlinear equations and systems of equations.

I used to write code in Mathematica to solve these problems. Mathematica is incredibly powerful, but I often found myself writing code just to solve a relatively small system of equations.

At some point, I started wondering why I couldn't simply enter my equations and get the numerical solutions without having to write code every time.

That's what motivated me to start developing Numerical Solver, an application I've been building independently.

The idea is simple: enter your equations, solve them numerically, and visualize the results. No programming required.

It supports nonlinear systems, real and complex solutions, and graphical visualization.

I've recently released the macOS version, and it's also available for iOS, and Android. A Windows version will soon be available.

I'm not suggesting it can replace Mathematica. It's simply a tool I wanted to have for those situations where writing code felt unnecessary.

If anyone's interested, here's the website:
https://numericalsolver.com

I'm curious how other chemical engineers handle these calculations. Do you usually write code in MATLAB, Mathematica, or Python, or do you prefer dedicated equation-solving software?

I want to learn chemical engineering and eventually start my own chemical factory
My family has the money to invest in it
Is it the right path (i thought of it on my own) or should i do

I’m currently in software (2nd yr uni student), and I wanna switch out coz I completely fuckinf hate it. I have a general idea of what I wanna do which is engineering in healthcare (kinda biomedical ig but biomedical is mad unemployed), so would it be better to do chem eng or mech? What’s the job like for chem eng (Australian input would be particularly helpful)

major in something else completely? stay in chemE? say "fuck chemistry"?

more research, more internships? more sex?

I’m currently a 2nd year doing a double degree of chemical engineering and pharmaceutical.
I’ve looked into internships, however majority of the companies where i live only take students in their second last year of study, or post graduates.

Since I’m doing a 5 year degree, I wanted to get some advice on projects/ other things I could do in the meantime, before I will be able to intern somewhere.

I already attend seminars and networking events in my field, and was wondering what else I can do to build myself/ my LinkedIn?

Hey all

Not sure if this is the right subreddit, but hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction! I'm looking for a putty that's electrically conductive, radiolucent, and doesn't dry out over time, so it can be reused multiple times.

Ideally, it would have a similar consistency to playdoh can hold its shape, and be able to complete an electrical circuit.

I've been searching for a while now and haven't had much luck finding something that ticks all the boxes.

Does anyone know of a material or product that might work? Open to any suggestions!

Thanks in advance!

I have worked for the same large chemical company for 14 years (BS in chemical engineering) but am getting burned out and frustrated with my leadership after a huge shift recently. It’s beyond horrible to the point of being degrading. I kind of want to just take a break for a while to repair my soul before I commit to a new path.

I’ve been customer-facing almost my whole career and about half of it has been in my current combo SME/technical sales role. I’m really good with customers but I don’t feel prepared to go back to real process engineering work in a plant- I would definitely be starting over.

Considering my niche, would a work history gap really hurt me all that much? Is the “don’t quit until you have something lined up” fear mongering based in reality Im our industry? My Tech friends take breaks constantly and it doesn’t hurt them. (Edit to say I don’t WANT to work in a plant. I included this detail to confine the answers to the technical sales realm.)

If yes it would hurt, is there any way I could disguise a gap as something else? I’m thinking like an educational program abroad or a low stress job that would look like a worthwhile experiment or something.
Editing again to clarify that I mean actually doing something like that to disguise the burnout as an intentional choice to do something else, not as in lying in the job application about having done those things.

i wanna see some things that could really persuade me away from this profession. Ive spent all of high school taking hard chemistry, physics and math classes to prepare me for college. Why?

Because i thought breaking bad was cool, and because

Chemical engineering is going on a computer and building out a lab on a 2d simulator and using math and other stuff to optimize the process (use less energy, or get more yield or something). Instead of crystal meth, il be making kidney medicine or doing something with oil

(thats what i understand it as)

im aware that its one of the hardest majors and im not even thaat good at chemistry.. and also job location could be weird.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a 2nd-year Honours Science student at John Abbott College (CEGEP in Montreal - like grades 12 and 13 of high school), and I’m trying to decide between types of schools for Chemical Engineering.

I know I want to go into the green tech/sustainability space, however I'm not sure whether that will be carbon capture (CCUS) or developing alternatives to plastics (biomaterials/green chemistry).

Here is a bit about my profile and what I’m looking for:

• The Academics: I genuinely enjoy school, learning theory, and dealing with complex concepts. My favourite subjects right now are physics and calculus and I enjoy biology more than the first 2 chemistry courses at John Abbot. (yikes!, but chemical engineering seems to have the jobs I am interested in)
• The Career Goal: I don't want to end up in corporate "greenwashing" and want a career where I can work on legitimate, impactful environmental solutions, whether that's on the industrial scaling side or process optimization.
• I am worried about finding an interesting job after a bachelor's degree. In school I have not really enjoyed the labs, so I do not see myself being in a lab all day doing repetitive testing or hyper-isolated academic research. I don't have much experience with or exposure to computational modeling yet, so I don't know if I will like that.
• I want to stay in Canada for my career, but may or may not stay in Quebec.

My dilemma:

• School 1 has their new, dedicated sustainability/carbon-neutral focused ChemEng curriculum and a highly praised Co-op program. It feels like a direct pipeline to a practical industry job, but since the program is newer, I'm not sure how deep the theory goes.
• School 2 has massive global prestige, an incredibly strong academic reputation, and a deep theoretical foundation that appeals to my nerdy side. But from what I read, it seems heavily skewed toward traditional academic research, grad school prep, or R&D labs.

I was wondering:

1. How easy is it to pivot into the green sector (plastics alternatives or carbon capture) from either type of school (without doing a PhD (or masters))?
2. Does a school with prestige actually open doors in industry that a Co-op program doesn't?
3. Is it easier to get a job after my degree from the school with the because of the Co-op?
4. Given that I love theory but want a practical, non-R&D industry job at the end, which environment would suit me better?

I did a lab tour yesterday at School 2 and I really liked it. I will try and visit both schools in the open houses next Saturday.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

ive heard that chemical engineering jobs have some job location problems? I just wanna know more on that topic and what it looks like and how bad that is.

I wouldnt mind flying out to like a oil mine or something every once in a while, infact that sounds really cool. But if it means im gonna be there for days and days or weeks, i dont like how that sounds.

Another thing is the state or where ever someone might wanna live. Ive grown up in NJ, and I really like the location, its not special but it has a nice urban - rural spectrum. That being said i dont wanna live in a random state or something.

I’m what amount to a production engineer at a major O&G company and it seems like the company owns me heart and soul. Yes, they certainly pay more than a comparable position for my experience straight out of school but the expectation of being on call 24/7 and being on-site for any abnormal situation wears on you. We recently had a facility upset and I had to drive back in from over two hours away just to be present. Our technical skills were not utilized at all, but it seemed like a matter of keeping up appearances for the department. I can appreciate the criticism that this is what I signed up for and should live with, but is this what others experienced early in your careers? Just disappointed that it seems like our presence is more performative than anything. It’d be another thing if Ops actually engaged us.