Zeejet

I had an 8 month project that yielded nothing and I simply called for a meeting with my advisor and presented my case for why the project direction needed to be dropped for a different approach. I then presented an alternative and defended the new approach and he gave me the green light. 6 months later, I got a paper using my approach. If what you are doing seems like waste of time in your mind/heart, you need to convince your advisor to change gears.

I sent you a PM. I also got in touch with two former lab members that got jobs with Siemens last year. Hopefully they have some good advise as well! I'm just a little freaked out about job prospects for electrochemists, especially since I don't think I am as qualified as the two former lab members I just mentioned. Also, apologies for posting this thread under 'Research' when it probably should belong in 'Jobs' after the topic's direction shifted primarily to networking and job hunting.

Thanks for the tips! I'm actually scheduled to talk at PittCon this coming week (I spoke last year as well, but did not network)

I'm a 4th year PhD candidate in Analytical Chemistry specializing in electrochemical sensor development/application and expecting to graduate before May of 2016. I'm planning to look for jobs in industry although I'm completely open to alternative careers for PhD's. No academia though; I know for a fact that I am not cut out for it and do not have the credentials/qualifications. As far as my degree has gone, I'm a solidly average student with two 1st author publications and two 2nd author publications (although the two 2nd author papers were from undergrad), a minor conference award and some experience writing grants. Grad GPA (which many consider irrelevant) is a 3.61 with mostly A, A- and B+ grades. I'm in my last year and I'm starting to get anxious about what I can realistically accomplish and when I should start hustling for a job. My current project is headed in a nearly impossible direction (there are seeming insurmountable obstacles, both scientific and fiscal, in the way of my next logical step in my particular project) and I do not want a barely finished project when I leave . Ideally, I'd like to publish one more paper before I leave and gain some more breadth to my range of skills. As of now, I'm unqualified for most R&D industry jobs simply because I've been working with e-chem sensing my whole career with little experience in more marketable analytical disciplines such as chromatography, mass spectrometry and spectroscopy. I only realized this recently upon first glances as job boards for analytical chemists. Has anyone else run into these last minute problems where you realize the need to expand you skillset? If I can't expand my skillset this late, are there jobs where I have a reasonable shot at that are willing to hire me even if my PhD work is somewhat unrelated to the job? Also, is it too early to worry about this stuff? Or am I already too late?

I'm a PhD student in Analytical Chemistry specializing in electrochemical sensors. - R&D for Industry (If the company is developing electrochemical sensors, I'm very qualified; anything else and I'll have to sell myself on my analytical skills and problem-solving talents) - Professor at a Small Liberal Arts School (Not particularly qualified; I'm a confident public speaker, but I lack the publication record and award/accolades record required for such a job) - Electrical engineer for an Audio/Electronics Company (Not qualified at all; I have no background in it although I've been teaching myself the basics as a hobby and really enjoy it. Too bad I didn't find this passion earlier since I definitely enjoy it more than Chemistry) - Software engineer for a tech company (Another dream that appeared to me too late; no background in CS or programming although I've been self-learning the basics). I guess what this tells me is that I have dug myself a hole and the only realistic option is R&D for a corporation that develops elecrochemical sensors.