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Chemistry
AGCAS editors May, 2018

Studying chemistry opens doors to a range of sectors and opportunities,

meaning your future career isn't restricted to the lab

Job options
Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Analytical chemist (/job-profiles/analytical-chemist)

• Biotechnologist (/job-profiles/biotechnologist)
• Chemical engineer (/job-profiles/chemical-engineer)
• Healthcare scientist, clinical biochemistry (/job-profiles/healthcare-scientist-clinical-bio-
chemistry)
• Forensic scientist (/job-profiles/forensic-scientist)
• Nanotechnologist (/job-profiles/nanotechnologist)
• Pharmacologist (/job-profiles/pharmacologist)
• Research scientist (physical sciences) (/job-profiles/research-scientist-physical-sciences)
• Scientific laboratory technician (/job-profiles/scientific-laboratory-technician)
• Toxicologist (/job-profiles/toxicologist)

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Civil service fast streamer (/job-profiles/civil-service-fast-streamer)

• Environmental consultant (/job-profiles/environmental-consultant)
• Higher education lecturer (/job-profiles/higher-education-lecturer)
• Management consultant (/job-profiles/management-consultant)
• Nuclear engineer (/job-profiles/nuclear-engineer)
• Patent attorney (/job-profiles/patent-attorney)
• Science writer (/job-profiles/science-writer)
• Secondary school teacher (/job-profiles/secondary-school-teacher)

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject,
so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Take a few minutes to answer the Job Match quiz and find
out what careers would suit you

Try Job Match

(https://www.prospects.ac.uk/planner-
beta)
Work experience
If you haven't done an industrial placement as part of your degree, getting some relevant work
experience is a good way of gaining an insight into your options. Finding chemistry-related ex-
perience in a lab can be difficult, so you may need to widen your search.

Research chemical companies in your local area and if they don't offer a formal scheme, try
sending a speculative CV. Even if they don't have chemistry-related opportunities, experience
in another area such as marketing or administration is still useful for showing how chemistry is
applied in the workplace.

Volunteering is another way of enhancing your CV. Although you may not find many opportuni-
ties that directly relate to your chemistry degree, there are many schemes that focus on related
areas such as the environment, sustainability, ethics and medicine. There may also be opportu-
nities at your local hospital to work in a pathology lab.

Find out more about work experience and internships (/jobs-and-work-experience/work-expe-

rience-and-internships).

Typical employers
The main employers of chemistry graduates are in the chemical and related industries, such as:

• agrochemicals
• metallurgical
• petrochemicals
• pharmaceuticals
• plastics and polymers
• toiletries.

However, you'll also find opportunities with employers in many different sectors, including the
food and drink industry, utilities and research, health and medical organisations, the govern-
ment and scientific research organisations and agencies.

You could also be employed in schools, colleges and universities, as well as by computer soft-
ware development companies, environment consultancies and water companies.

Find information on employers in science and pharmaceuticals (/jobs-and-work-experi-

ence/job-sectors/science-and-pharmaceuticals), engineering and manufacturing (/jobs-and-
work-experience/job-sectors/engineering-and-manufacturing), teaching and education (/jobs-
and-work-experience/job-sectors/teacher-training-and-education), and other job sectors
(/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors).

Employers hiring chemistry graduates now

Process Engineering Graduate Programme
Babcock

Various locations
Competitive salary

(/graduate-jobs/process-engineering-graduate-programme-2672805)

View more science and pharmaceuticals jobs (/graduate-jobs-results?

sortBy=dp&careers=183)
Skills for your CV
A chemistry degree allows you to develop excellent laboratory techniques but as it overlaps
with other degrees, it also gives you skills that are useful in the areas of biology and medicine,
physics and engineering, and geology and earth science.

Chemistry is also studied in an environmental and social context, so you can gain awareness of
its ethical implications and issues relating to environmental impact and sustainability.

As well as developing strong mathematical/numerical ability, a chemistry degree gives you

transferable skills, including:

• analysis and problem-solving

• time management and organisation
• written and oral communication
• monitoring/maintaining records and data
• team work
• research and presentation
• IT and technology.

Further study
Many chemistry graduates undertake further study at Masters or PhD level to increase their
knowledge of one of the branches studied during their degree, such as organic, inorganic,
physical or analytical chemistry.

You may also specialise in areas of applied chemistry, such as cheminformatics or biochemis-
try, or develop knowledge in an area where chemistry graduates may be in demand, for exam-
ple, forensic nanotechnology and forensic investigation.

Further study is highly valued by employers, particularly within scientific and technical fields,
as you'll develop more advanced theoretical knowledge and practical sector-specific skills.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters de-
grees (/postgraduate-study/masters-degrees) and search postgraduate courses
(https://www.prospects.ac.uk/postgraduate-courses-results?keyword=chemistry).

What do chemistry graduates do?

More than half of chemistry graduates went into employment six months after university. The
top job held by graduates working in the UK is laboratory technician. Three of the top ten jobs
are related to chemistry and include chemists, research/development chemists and analytical
chemists.

Destination Percentage

Employed 51.4

Further study 33.2

Working and studying 3.9

Unemployed 6.3

Other 5

Graduate destinations for chemistry

 Type of work Percentage

Technicians and other professionals 19.9

Science professionals 16.6

Business, HR and financial 15.8

Retail, catering and bar work 11.9

Other 35.8

Types of work entered in the UK

For a detailed breakdown of what chemistry graduates are doing six months after graduation,
see What Do Graduates Do? (https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do?
utm_source=prospects&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wcidwmd)

Graduate destinations data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

(http://agcas.org.uk/)

Written by AGCAS editors

May 2018
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