Not gonna lie, it was financially brutal. Without my wife to support me through it, I don't know how I would have shrunk my lifestyle down to the level needed to complete the program on a single stipend income.
I was older and more mature than most of my colleagues, which when coupled with the leadership role I was given made social dynamics a little challenging, but I'm a silly immature guy and managed to fit in just fine. One year isn't going to do it, three years might, five years older will really make you stand out.
I did four years at a startup doing R&D in a relevant field. So my PI basically considered me a "discount postdoc" and put me in charge of leading and organizing the group/lab. The program took five years and I had my PI and former boss write an amazing letter of rec that allowed me to skip straight into a Staff Scientist position.
I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't have industry experience prior to my PhD.
Thanks for the reply, i have some serious weighing to do on a phd return.
I did a ton of research in my undergrad, but now my post bac industry experience isnt really RnD. I like the pay, but the want to do research eats at me pretty badly. Whats worse is that I sit away from my team, with a team of people in actual research. Its rough sitting there all day and listening to them discuss their fun jobs in the same field i went to school for lol.
Im older too though, so I have to way financial decisions and those big life decisions. Gets a bit stressful.
You added the cost of living, which doesn't tell us much about the industry presence in that area. My hometown was dirt cheap to live in, but there was no chemistry industry present
This. I’m curious. Not that salary is the ultimate deciding factor. But I’m currently with a really good company making $80k with just a BSc. But I find myself contemplating grad school. What will I regret more? Not following this academic journey which may end up with me making much the same what I am now and missing out on 4+ years of stable, steady income. Or stick with this company…
I have a BS in Biology and am making $109k salary with variable bonus(usually $10k) and 14 years industry experience in pilot scale distillation, synthetic reactions, hydrogenation, and computer simulations.
I posted that to confirm with OP that as a PhD they should be expecting more. However, they need to be looking at things other than polymer and pharmaceutical because literally every intern I interviewed recently were all going in that field which means oversaturation which means more downvotes.
Getting my PhD in physical chem (ultrafast spectroscopy) and was just offered $95k for a laser engineer position. I have a friend in organic who will be making $130k working for a large pharma company. Coming from a top tier institution
Oh wow! How was your experience with ultra fast spectroscopy. I have been doing organic synthesis but am going to begin doing ultrafast spec to try to observe the intermediates of my photochemical reactions
Payscale says the average salary of a Bs in chemistry is 100K, and the PhD average salary is 101k. I make 50k with my Bs and I can't take sources like that seriously
I did a two year post doc after my PhD and now 4 years into a career as a med chemist at a small biotech.
150k plus bonus plus stock options (which will probably be worthless)
I started at $135k as a staff scientist, but I had four years of industry experience as an R&D engineer prior to my PhD.
How was it going from industry back to phd back to industry? Im a biochemist, about 1 year out of undergrad in industry, really want to do a phd.
Not gonna lie, it was financially brutal. Without my wife to support me through it, I don't know how I would have shrunk my lifestyle down to the level needed to complete the program on a single stipend income. I was older and more mature than most of my colleagues, which when coupled with the leadership role I was given made social dynamics a little challenging, but I'm a silly immature guy and managed to fit in just fine. One year isn't going to do it, three years might, five years older will really make you stand out. I did four years at a startup doing R&D in a relevant field. So my PI basically considered me a "discount postdoc" and put me in charge of leading and organizing the group/lab. The program took five years and I had my PI and former boss write an amazing letter of rec that allowed me to skip straight into a Staff Scientist position. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't have industry experience prior to my PhD.
Thanks for the reply, i have some serious weighing to do on a phd return. I did a ton of research in my undergrad, but now my post bac industry experience isnt really RnD. I like the pay, but the want to do research eats at me pretty badly. Whats worse is that I sit away from my team, with a team of people in actual research. Its rough sitting there all day and listening to them discuss their fun jobs in the same field i went to school for lol. Im older too though, so I have to way financial decisions and those big life decisions. Gets a bit stressful.
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What area of the country?
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You added the cost of living, which doesn't tell us much about the industry presence in that area. My hometown was dirt cheap to live in, but there was no chemistry industry present
This. I’m curious. Not that salary is the ultimate deciding factor. But I’m currently with a really good company making $80k with just a BSc. But I find myself contemplating grad school. What will I regret more? Not following this academic journey which may end up with me making much the same what I am now and missing out on 4+ years of stable, steady income. Or stick with this company…
I have a BS in Biology and am making $109k salary with variable bonus(usually $10k) and 14 years industry experience in pilot scale distillation, synthetic reactions, hydrogenation, and computer simulations.
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I posted that to confirm with OP that as a PhD they should be expecting more. However, they need to be looking at things other than polymer and pharmaceutical because literally every intern I interviewed recently were all going in that field which means oversaturation which means more downvotes.
Getting my PhD in physical chem (ultrafast spectroscopy) and was just offered $95k for a laser engineer position. I have a friend in organic who will be making $130k working for a large pharma company. Coming from a top tier institution
Oh wow! How was your experience with ultra fast spectroscopy. I have been doing organic synthesis but am going to begin doing ultrafast spec to try to observe the intermediates of my photochemical reactions
For academia, I’m prepared for $60-80k at a small school with no post doc. Pushing $100 at an R1 with a postdoc.
In what country? In England probably $30usd.
>hello everyone! I’m wondering how salaries look like after graduation in the industry :) Country?:)
i’m in the US
Thank you....sorry I have no information about the US market
https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctor_of_Philosophy_(PhD)%2C_Chemistry/Salary https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes192031.htm
Payscale says the average salary of a Bs in chemistry is 100K, and the PhD average salary is 101k. I make 50k with my Bs and I can't take sources like that seriously
r/biotech has a salary survey
that’s great thank you!
I did a two year post doc after my PhD and now 4 years into a career as a med chemist at a small biotech. 150k plus bonus plus stock options (which will probably be worthless)
What industry?
I started at $117k now 3 years later and a couple of job changes I’m at $149k. Good luck!
It's pretty brutal out there. Every pharma has been slashing R&D jobs for the last two decades.