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Step 1: Find a College Program
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Step 2: Earn Your Degree
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Step 3: Internship
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Step 4: Apply for, Take, and Pass Examination
Step 1: Find a College Program
Check out all of the chemical engineering programs within the universities in which you are most interested. You should know the strengths of the different programs you’re considering. Each program is likely to have strengths and weaknesses; one school may have an excellent record of educating chemical engineers who are ready to work in the industry compared to another university that has excellent faculty that are well known and have a lot of experience in the field.
Explore the areas of focus of each chemical engineering program, which will also vary from one school to another. Look for classes and research areas like biofilm engineering and muscle systems. Once you’re satisfied with your choice of school, you’re ready to apply to 1-3 programs and wait for your admission letter.
Step 2: Earn Your Degree
Engineering programs are notorious for being difficult. You’ll need to approach all your classes with a strong work ethic. You’ll also learn to work independently and as a part of a student group. You’ll do the same when work in chemical engineering, working with a lab full of technicians who are all working on the same problem. Do your group work, complete your part of every project and contribute everything that’s expected of you.
You may also pursue an internship while completing a degree. This is a way of gaining highly valuable work experience, which you can put on your resume. Future employers will look for internship experiences because they see work experience as something that is an imperative in your field.Make sure that you attend an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited program. This is vitally important, as it may be required for licensure in your state. This accreditation proves to future educators and employers that your education was top-quality and that it was rigorous enough to teach you everything you needed to know. Non-accredited programs are unsupervised and unproven and should be avoided when you’re going for any engineering position. At the end of it all, you’ll have earned the degree in chemical engineering that will land you the first job in the first step of your career.
Step 3: Licensure (Optional but Recommended)
In some cases, chemical engineers may choose to become licensed Professional Engineers (PE). To do this, you’ll need to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and gain several years of work experience under a licensed engineer before taking the PE exam.
Step 4: Master's and Specialization or Start Your Career
Some chemical engineers choose to pursue a master's degree or specialized certifications to focus on a specific area within chemical engineering, such as environmental, materials, or process engineering. This can provide opportunities for advancement or roles in research and development.
However, you can also choose to jump right into a role after earning your bachelor's degree and licensure, depending on your focus and whether a higher-level degree is required. Once you've finished the degree you were aiming for, you can start working in industries such as pharmaceuticals, food production, petroleum, or environmental services. Continuing education through workshops, certifications, or conferences is often necessary to stay current with technological advancements and industry trends.
Chemical Engineers Career & Salary
Where Might You Work?
As a chemical engineer-to-be, consider the industries in which you might work:
- Glass
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Electronics
- Ceramics
- Photographic Products
- Nanotechnology
- Metals
You may work to create fuel cells, batteries, hydrogen, petroleum products, power generators, adhesives, composites, metals, and catalysts. You may work in the food and beverage industry, environmental health and safety, process design, or pulp and paper.
Some of these are to be expected while others may make you shake your head. You may also work in the biotechnology field, working with living cells. Just consider the possibility that you might play a huge part in the development of artificial organs, recombinant DNA, antibiotics, interferon, and insulin.
The chemical process industry is a natural extension of your learning and work. You’ll develop, extract, isolate, combine, and use chemicals and chemical byproducts in the creation of new products, such as paints, lacquers, varnishes, inks, agricultural chemicals, industrial gases, petrochemicals, polymers, rubber and rubber products, petroleum products, detergents, soaps, fats, oils, cosmetics, and perfumes.
If you work in the electronics industry, you will work with material development and production and process control equipment design.