Hey Veeky Forums I was thinking about majoring in chemical engineering but I have some doubts about getting into the major. I've heard that it's incredibly difficult to find work and that the job market isn't that great right now. After looking at bls.gov, the job growth for chemical engineering looks pretty bleak.
How is employment like for chemical engineers? Is it really that hard to find work as a chemical engineer? Does the job market look like it's improving or is it best to stay away? Any chemical engineers here struggled to find internships or work after graduating? How hard is the major itself? Would a computer science degree lead to better pay & employment?
Jaxon Green
>t-Zn-H2O trans-Zinc monohydrate?
Tyler Lopez
Doing any STEM subject right now is pretty hit and miss whether you'll be employed directly in that field.
Chase Carter
here in Mexico it's one of the best major to study
Ethan Ramirez
Why? Because of oil?
Levi Cooper
>Why? Because the US is shipping jobs abroad.
Isaiah Robinson
because there are national and internationals companies interested in our Chemical Engineers and (in my university) real Engineers teach us
Jeremiah Phillips
also, most of our Chemical Engineers know a lot about Organic Chemistry, beer industry, Dyes, plastics, they control almost every field
Jackson Gonzalez
I doubt high skilled jobs are being shipped overseas... right?
Caleb Bell
No. But we're talking about engineering.
Thomas Moore
We're talking about engineering, high skilled jobs.
Granted, it's much easier to ship engineering jobs overseas then mathemetician jobs as their jobs require them to interact with customers. Can't order fries without then.
Camden Gutierrez
Just do it fag. You will do fine.
Owen Davis
Bump
Juan Sullivan
>Al-Cl-H2-Cl
Caleb Stewart
>Would a computer science degree lead to better pay & employment?
Absolutely not. You can get any CompSci job with any STEM degree.
Elijah Campbell
I have doubts on that, especially since you'd be competing against people who studied programming and I doubt they'd think highly of self taught people. CS is a much easier major so if i wanted to get a software job it feels pointless studying a more difficult major and then never using the skills I learned in that class.
To make my situation easier to understand, I got accepted to my local uni for ChemE but not for my prefered major CS. I'd rather not be in community college much longer so now I'm debating wheter I should major in it or not. Its a hard choice especially since employment for ChemE looks pretty bleak compared to CS majors.
Juan Hernandez
>I doubt they'd think highly of self taught people
Try speaking to some actual programmers. CS majors are at the bottom of the totem pole for desirability.
Asher Myers
Do you work as a programmer? Maybe you're right regarding self taught people, but given this boards irrational hate for CS I highly doubt CS is at the bottom of the totem pole for programming jobs. If anything, it's at the top. Especially seeing as how recruiters are constantly looking for CS majors. It's what they study and it does put them at an advantage over other majors for programming jobs.
So given competition for programming jobs, having a ChemE degree seems like it would put me at a disadvantage if I wanted to get a programming job. The study isn't very programming/computer focused. Even with a good github the CS major would always seem as someone with a much deeper understanding over the subject.
Joshua Brown
Its tough right now because ChemEs were typically either always manufacturing (which is still hurting) or Oil (which is hurting). The solution will be a shift towards environmental shit, possibly remediation. That will be a hard shift because CivE/EnviroE/Geology guys already are fighting for that.
Caleb Campbell
I live nowhere near oil so even if oil comes back (which I highly doubt) I wouldn't really benefit from it all. I'd have to move and to move far from home for a job that might never come seems too risky.
My best bet is manufacturing, which I also doubt will come back but even if it did it feels like by that point there would be too much competition for the jobs. It sucks really, as the study itself looks great, but seeing the job market right now, I have doubts on majoring in it. Things might change in the future but I'm forced to make a decision with what I know today. Thanks for the response.
Brayden Jenkins
>irrational hate for CS
Undergrad CS is hated because CS education (in America) barely scratches the surface of the subject. If you actually want to learn CS, you have to study it yourself.
>Especially seeing as how recruiters are constantly looking for CS majors
Because majority of people in other majors don't want to work as programmers but want to work in their field.
>CS major would always seem as someone with a much deeper understanding over the subject
99.5% of CS majors can't even code up fizzbuzz.
Nicholas Martin
>The truth about CS.png You're not actually serious with that are you? I'll take the bait for a bit. The complaints listed are mainly about the students and it could be said about the students in pretty much any major. While it may apply to some, it won't apply to all. I cannot think of a single university in my state that has a CS major with far less math then any engineering major. Maybe 1 class more/less depending on the university/major but it's pretty much the same. Would you have me believe that every engineering major is shit because it only teaches the "bare minimum in math"? CS is not a math degree, its a CS degree. CS might be related to math but the purpose of the study is completely different.
The post reads like it came from some math autist who thinks that if a major isn't 3 years of pure math then it must be shit. Also, complaints on GUI make it obvious he only took some intro classes and never even made it to simple algorithms. He clearly has no clue what CS is about. I could go on, but I'll leave it here.
>Because majority of people in other majors don't want to work as programmers but want to work in their field. I meant that the majority of recruiters looking for students are for CS. There aren't many recruiters for engineering companies at the moment. Well at least where I live.
>99.5% of CS majors can't even code up fizzbuzz So CS majors who studied programming can't code yet people who studied other majors unrelated to programming are expert programmers and thus more desirable? You can't see the flaw in your logic can you?
Your hatred is irrational. I might as well be talking to a troll. CS isn't perfect and the major does have its flaws, still, that's true of many other majors. ChemE, in my opinion, is a far better major then CS in terms of what you study and learn. But for employment, my main concern, CS is simply better. Expecting to land a software job after studying ChemE, while possible, is simply foolish.
