How much money do people earn right after finishing up a chemistry PhD?

[tomyum]

I was talking with a friend who is finishing up her PhD and her post doc position only pays about 40 K, which is just a little more than the regular graduate student stipend which has really surprised me. I heard that is typical salary for a post doc. Is that true? After more than five years of graduate school, does your earning potential only increase by 10 K. That is really disappointing. How much do people typically earn in industry or other jobs immediately after graduating?

[Eigen]

Industry salaries vary from 50ish to well over 100, depending on the position starting out.

A postdoc is a training position, hence it doesn't pay much more than a PhD.

[3point14]

One of my dad's students just graduated and got a job in industry, and I believe his salary will be ~$60k

[tomyum]

So what kind of positions in industry pay a decent amount? something like 80 K? Before I decide on my PhD project, I just want to make sure that I will get a decent job in industry. I don't want to go into academia but seems like most people from my lab go to academia. I want to design my PhD in such a way that I will have lots of good options outside academia.

[sabomnim]

So what kind of positions in industry pay a decent amount? something like 80 K? Before I decide on my PhD project, I just want to make sure that I will get a decent job in industry. I don't want to go into academia but seems like most people from my lab go to academia. I want to design my PhD in such a way that I will have lots of good options outside academia.

do u have a general preference in the type of chemistry?

the key is really, whichever type of chemistry you like most, pursue that and learn the most techniques that you can in that field

generally analytical chem will land u a job the easiest, but not necessarily the highest paying

[tomyum]

I do quantum chemistry and a little bit of cheminformatics, so I am a bit scared that I might be stuck in academia. What kind of research in theoretical/computational chemistry has a good prospect in industry? It seems like pharmaceuticals is the easiest one to get a job in but my research group is not interested in that. I really like the research that I am doing right now but I don't want to waste my time doing research that won't be of much value to me later on.

[Eigen]

A lot of this is can be much harder once you're already in grad school and a research group.

If you really want to go into industry, it's something that you really want to consider before you join, while you're looking for schools. Similarly, you want to be as up front about it as possible with your PI, so they can help you do as much work as possible in the direction of industrial applications.

[3point14]

So what kind of positions in industry pay a decent amount? something like 80 K?

Also, for the record, your starting salary in industry is not your permanent salary. If you stay with a company and do well, you're likely to get promotions and salary increases.

[tomyum]

Most people in my lab go to either academia or finance but rarely industry. It is really strange how people can switch from chemistry to finance. How difficult is it to go into finance from chemistry? I really like my research group/ project but it is very academia oriented.

[this_isnot_here]

A) Depends on what type of chemistry

B- Depends on the size of the company (larger companies will pay more)

C) More prestigious colleges will also pay more,

D) Depends on whether you want to go into academia or industry

E) Depends on where you live (cost of living affects sal

Professorship at a liberal arts college probably will not pay a lot, but if you work your way up to tenure, it's good money-ish.

A large company like Intel/3M/Bell Labs etc. from what I've heard, starts people at 90-100K. A guy I know started at 100K straight after his phD.

Edited April 22, 2012 by this_isnot_here

[Gneiss1]

Payscale.com love it:) Includes education, experience, and geographic factors.

[Chronos]

http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/careers/salaries/chemcensus/CNBP_029043

I think these statistics speak for themselves. Also, I agree with this_isnot_here. There are a lot of factors involved...it's not really black & white.

Be smart about finding the right job, and you will be "successful" (whatever that means to you).

[tomyum]

Thanks everyone for your replies. A job that pays me about 80K is what I will be happy with after my PhD. I am a computational/theoretical chemist. Computational research is pretty big in pharmaceuticals , however my research is not related to drug design. It is more of quantum computation. Can I get a well paying non-academic job with a PhD. in quantum chemistry? What kind of companies can I take a look at?

Edited April 23, 2012 by tomyum