Chromatography Forum

Just curious about other people's career paths and what kinds of responsibilities they've had.

I've been industry for about 6 years now. My B.S. and M.S. were in biochemistry, where I did some site-directed mutagenesis and protein purifications. My first job was as a synthetic/medicinal chemist, totally unrelated to my masters research. The job I have now brought me into HPLC and LC-MS, and I've also had to be in charge of a cGMP process on the kg scale purifying a natural product at our plant in Costa Rica (we're based in Texas). At this small company I've helped develop the process, edited the batch record, manufactured the product, developed the assays to test its quality, purity and ADME, and soon I'll have to validate them (hopefully I can just write the protocol and make some poor newbie do all the work )

I've heard when you work for a large company you have a set of responsibilities that you do all the time, be it process development, method development or QC, whereas at small startups you have to do a little (or a lot) of everything.

I've been told I should've gotten, or should still get a PhD, but I think I've enjoyed what I've done so far without it. Maybe I will when we get gobbled up by big pharma and my stock options pay off so I can an independently wealthy grad student

Well that's my professional story...anyone else?

Hardest hat I've had to wear is that of "domestic engineer"!
A hard hat would have been very useful at times...

Office lackey
Foundry worker
Trainee draughtsman
electronics wireman
electronics qc
Transformer engineer
factory muppet
construction labourer
worthless layabout and drunk
Submarine research scientist
Slum Lord
QC chemist
Metrology chemist
Metrology supervisor

In that order.

haha...I was close to starting a slum lord career as well, and still am an occasional drunk

warehouseman
delivery driver
printer
farmworker (including tractor driving, which was fun)
student
lab tech
process chemist
senior process chemist
research scientist
development analyst
analytical team leader

Surprisingly my science carreer has been with 5 different companies but all in the same building....takeovers and mergers.

VW mechanic (while in college)
Consumer Products Analytical Chemist (30 years same company, increasing levels of responsibility). Actually the first job has really helped me in this one (logical troubleshooting).

Window/Door installer (Dad's Business)
Hardware Store Clerk/Laborer (TSC Stores)
Aggregate QC Tech (LaFarge)
Lab Assistant (Fanshawe College)
Research Lab Tech -a.k.a contract-to-contract sucker (Canadian Federal Dept. of Agriculture)

My Blue-Collar roots still run strong, but I'm a science geek at heart.

Burger Flipper
Merchandise Control Monitor (overseas US military blackmarket control)
Office Clerk
Sales Associate (retail clothing...ugh)
Deli Clerk
Assembly Line Worker (radar detectors)
Lab Tech
Computer Help Desk Support
Wet Chem Analyst
Organic GC Analyst

In that order. Wow.

Aquarium store worker (2 different stores)
Freelance Aquarium maintenance
asst. Librarian for a law library
mouse/rat/snake caretaker (during college)
retail pet store (3 months)
machine shop work (2 months)
retail pet store (different one, 2 months)
college biology lab research (1st real job, benefits, chromatographs)
Service rep. for an instrument company (the month from heck)
current job (analytical chemistry/LC jockey, >15 years)

Thanks for the replies...it's been interesting to read. I guess I should redo my list, since I didn't actually put all my other jobs.

Christmas tree lot worker
Busboy/Dishwasher
Pizza cook
Telemarketer
Hotel Front Desk and Night auditor
Grad Student (Biochemistry) and Teaching Assistant (General and Organic Lab)

Organic/Medicinal Chemist (2 years)
Development Chemist (current job, 4 years)

lawn maintenance (1962)

farm worker (hay baler and loader 1965)

grocery store stocker (1967)

furniture store deliveryman (1970)

convenience store asst. manager (1971)

US Army (Vietnam era draftee 1972)

florist deliveryman (1976)

Analytical Chemist, later the Chromatography Group Leader (assay lab - Sigma Chemical TLC GC HPLC Wet Chemistry Electrophoresis 1979 )

Analytical Chemist / lab computer mgr (American Cyanamid R+D Analytical Services - TLC GC HPLC Wet Chemistry HP-1000 minicomputer 1986 )

Analytical Multidimensional GC Methods Engineer (Applied Automation - Phillips Petroleum Multidimensional GC 1989)

Analytical Chemist (Corporate Analytical Research - Mallinckrodt GC LC SFC Headspace GC 1991)

Multidimensional Chromatography Specialist (Daniel Industries Multidimensional GC 1997)

Senior R+D Scientist (Supelco Sigma-Aldrich Corp 1998 )

whitewater raft guide (many summers until I got a real job....)
kindergarten teacher's aid
dishwasher (2 days)
library worker
environmental studies dept. intern
outdoor school naturalist/teacher
van driver in ski resort area
warehouse picker (3 days)
cabinet door sander
lab tech at an aerospace contractor
temp at a pharmaceutical company
research associate at pharma. company
water/wastewater lab analyst

The items in bold I did for more than 6 months:

• Portable pylon (student worker) for State Patrol at state fair
  Taco Bell fry cook
  Toys 'R' Us janitor
  Student worker for university chemistry department
  Tutor in chemistry for scholarship athletes
  Grunt for exotic bird breeder
  Analytical tech for vet. anatomy research lab
  Temp for Bank One IT department
  QA chemist
  QA Lab Manager and Quality Manager for ISO 9000 and Spec. Gas Purchasing
  "Special projects" associate (read as: "Had a nervous breakdown")
  Temp analytical tech for biochemical research lab
  Senior Lab Associate (IT/purchasing/secretary) for university Construction Science department, while also:
  Copy-editor, reporter and columnist for student newspaper
  Quality system auditing sub-contractor
  Temp QA chemist
  QA chemist

Furniture Store Lackey
Retail at Sears
Camera Shop Retail
Wedding Photographer
Bike Mechanic
Chemistry and Math Tutor
Bike Mechanic
QC Tech in Big Pharma
Product Manager for Lab Supplies Comapny
Lab Manger for Petrochem Contract Lab
R&D analyst
New Product Development Analytical Leader in big Pharma
Analytical Technical Leader in Big Pharma

George - you never sent me my wedding photos!