Work experience in unrelated field - does it help or hurt your PhD application?

[coolio]

Hi guys,

My background is chemical engineering. I did my M.Sc. right after my B.Sc., and I have been working in the industry for about 10 years since. I have had 4 jobs altogether. All of them are related to engineering, but they are not exactly relevant to what I want to do for a PhD.  For example, I have done a lot of process engineering, process simulation, equipment design and sizing, hydraulic calculations, etc., etc. These jobs all require chemical engineering as a foundation, but they don't qualify as a full-time research experience.  So I feel that the work experience is not exactly going to be relevant if I want to go after, say, monte carlo optimization as a PhD (although I know full well that I can do it). So, do you think the 10 years of work experience in a (semi-related but) irrelevant field to the research interest would be helpful to a certain degree?  If I mention in the SOP that I find the monte carlo subject to be very interesting and I have the required skills to be successful at it, would that suffice? 

And some of my jobs are less relevant to grad study, but they are not by choice. I got laid off a couple of times and had to take what was best available to me given the situation at the time. I feel that addressing this in the SOP would sound very whiny and negative. I mean, the fact that I still manage to be in my profession after all the volatile job market situation should count for something.  Or should I point that out too in the SOP to make for a more survival story?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

[Bioenchilada]

You can have relevant experience to your field of research interest via a job; however, I job is a different than research in itself. Like, working in a research lab will just enhances your criticial thinking skills and provides you with relevant techniques used in academic research, in addition to helping you present yourself in an academic setting. I would advise against making your SOP too personal, that's not what it's about. You can mention something about your personal experience briefly, but don't take up too much space. The SOP is the place to explain how has your experience (research) prepared you for a Ph.D program.

[drivingthoughts]

@coolio Really, I think it depends on how you spin it. Since I am in an very different field, none of this may be true for you; but I came from a wholly unrelated career into my graduate studies. I took the time to talk about how my seemingly unrelated work prepared me to rock in my field. What you don't want is to have dreaded gaps-that-are-open-to-interpretation in your employment history - just list what you've got and tie it strongly to where you want to be. To give you an idea, I went from being a rope-access instructor to PhD candidate in theology/ethics (*it has taken a while).

Good luck.