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YOU ARE IN » Home page > News and information main menu > Graduate Market Trends > Recruiting chemistry graduates (Summer 09)

Recruiting chemistry graduates (Summer 09)

• Recruiting chemistry graduates
• Summary
• Introduction
• General employers
• Specialist employers
• Skills for the work place
• Lack of specialist chemistry skills
• Employers disagree about standard of graduate
• Further information

Recruiting chemistry graduates

Factors Affecting the Post-University Employment of Chemistry Graduates in the UK

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Summary

In this article, Charlie Ball (HECSU), presents findings from research into the views of employers recruiting chemistry graduates. The research was carried out as part of the Chemistry For Our Future programme. Some of the key findings are that chemical science degrees are valued by specialist and generalist employers. The research found that employers particularly look for team working, communication, motivation and business awareness skills amongst their chemistry graduates. The employers tend to think that chemists have good analytical, numeracy and problem solving.

There is some concern expressed by the employers about the communication skills of the graduates, so employers often make sure these skills are demonstrated in the recruitment process. Other employers worry about business focus as well. The research highlights that some specialisms are in short supply, but not all. Furthermore, findings indicate that the use of specialist recruitment agencies to find chemistry graduates is on the increase, but not all employers who took part in the research make use them.

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Introduction

The Chemistry For Our Future project is a pilot program funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), with the aim to secure a sustainable future for chemistry in higher education. The initiative began in 2006, and has included over 30 separate projects .

This article examines a project led by the Institute of Employment Research (IER) at Warwick University, which also involved Charlie Ball of HECSU. The research examined those factors that affect the employment of chemistry graduates, including demographic information on chemistry applicants, and analysis of data from the ongoing longitudinal study, Futuretrack.

This article, however, will focus on a qualitative component of the project; an examination of the views of employers. This research comprised a total of 56 in-depth interviews with a range of employers of chemistry graduates, who had recruited (or tried to recruit) within the last 12 months. These interviews covered a range of themes; the level of qualification or specialisms required; whether candidates were appointable; hard-to-fill vacancies; the quality of applicants; and the quality of chemical science degrees over time. All interviews took place in 2008.

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General employers

The research team conducted a series of 25 interviews with general employers of graduates; organisations who did not specifically recruit chemical science graduates, but who had recruited for roles that might be suitable for chemistry graduates. These opinions should be taken as a snapshot of a group of recruiters, and not a definitive analysis of the employment market view of the employability of chemists, but can be seen as being illustrative of a range of views.

These employers represented a range of industries, including finance, management consultancy, legal, IT, government, marketing and retail. Most asked for a 2:1 or higher, few specified a subject, although some did specifically ask for a degree that required numeracy. The number of applications received ranged from 15 to 8,000, although it must be stressed that some of the recruitment rounds referred to were for multiple posts. About 3 per cent of applications overall were successful. Most of these employers received at least one chemistry applicant but most did not appoint a chemist. Chemists were quite likely to make it through to interview stage, but then to lose out after interview.

Table One shows a breakdown of skills that general employers look for from employees, those they feel are strong in chemistry graduates and those that they perceive as being weak.

This group of employers felt that chemical sciences graduates were weaker in three very important areas of interpersonal skills – teamworking and written and spoken communications skills. Conversely they felt that numeracy, problem solving and analytical skills were all good in chemists and whilst they were not considered quite as important as a whole as the social skills, they were considered harder to find amongst graduates. We can see, therefore, that chemical sciences graduates with well-developed social skills and the ability to display them, are potentially highly-prized in the employment market.

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Specialist employers

31 interviews were conducted with specialist employers – organisations that had tried to recruit for roles that specifically asked for chemical science qualifications for which which a chemistry degree was appropriate in the last 12 months.

All specifically recruited chemists, and several received applications only from chemists. For many of the specialist employers interviewed, the reason is very straightforward – the roles they recruit for require skills that are only possessed by those with chemistry qualifications or experience. 26 of the sample of 31 employers had recruited or tried to recruit into roles for which a chemical scientist would have been appropriate in the last 12 months. In 18 of these cases, the employer sought professional or technical skills only possessed by a chemical scientist or someone with significant chemical science experience.

The rest offered positions that required technical skills that could be gained from an appropriate chemical sciences degree or experience, but might also come from other disciplines, the most common being chemical engineering.

The number of applications received for positions ranged from none to 700, and about 7 per cent of applications on average were considered ‘appointable’. Almost all employers needed at least a first degree and several needed PhD (the most common specialism was organic synthesis).

The majority of specialist interviewees had experienced a vacancy within the last two years that they had found hard to fill, and for which a chemical sciences graduate would have been suited. The most common reason cited was location of business, but lack of appropriately skilled applicants was also commonly mentioned. Many interviewees were concerned that there were not enough chemistry graduates in the marketplace.

Chemical science employers are familiar with chemistry graduates and their roles usually play to their strengths. In addition, many of the interviewees were themselves chemical sciences graduates and had strong views and a great deal of experience of a wide range of graduates from the discipline. As a result, this sample had fewer issues with the workplace skills of chemical scientists than did the general employers.

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Skills for the work place

Team working and communication skills are the most commonly sought skills from chemical science graduates. Most employers have evolved quite sophisticated methods of selection to ensure that the graduates they recruit have an appropriate level of these skills. Employers were keen to stress that technical ability and chemical knowledge are of little use if candidates cannot articulate their work to others. But specialist employers generally spoke positively of the skills of chemistry graduates, feeling that they were intelligent, motivated and good analytical thinkers.

Chemists were largely seen as intelligent, highly motivated and often genuinely passionate about their subject. Chemistry was seen as a difficult subject undertaken by committed and intelligent people.

Many of the employers prized the analytical thinking of chemical science graduates. As one recruiter for a large multinational employer said, “We test for analytical thinking and creative thinking. Chemists are much stronger than other graduates for analytical thinking.”

Technical knowledge, research skills and numeracy were largely taken as read by chemical science employers as they were a necessity for the roles that they are recruited into. Problem solving was also seen as a strength for chemical scientists. A recruiter for a large business had this to say of chemistry graduates.

“If you go away and give them a problem, they’ll go away and come back with a solution for you. Non-chemists tend to have weaker problem solving.”

The popular view of chemical science graduates as poor communicators was challenged by many interviewees, who felt that, whilst there were some chemists who were weak in this area, it is a crude generalisation and did a disservice to the many chemical science graduates with good interpersonal skills. There is a clear tension between the popular view (shared by some specialist employers of chemists) and those employers who feel that the chemical sciences contain a fair share of effective communicators.

Team working also divided opinion. Some interviewees felt that laboratory practicals, done in pairs or small groups, helped to prepare chemical sciences graduates for working in teams but others, particularly those familiar with larger group practicals undertaken by chemical engineers, felt that chemical scientists had underdeveloped team working abilities and that more could be done to prepare them.

But many chemistry employers specifically look for chemical scientists with good communication skills, and may be that they are recruiting the lion’s share of those with good interpersonal skills. One interviewee explained the view of their company.

“Personal skills are the things that make international companies work. They can be very valuable for chemists”

. Chemists could be effective communicators. One employer, himself a chemical sciences graduate, praised the ability of chemists to get their point across.

“Our chemists give clear, concise answers.”

Self-motivation was also seen by some interviewees as an issue for chemical scientists. However, this was felt to be an attribute of graduates in general and not something unique to chemists, and some interviewees noted that the rigours of a chemistry degree meant that chemists were often very self-motivated.

Chemistry is felt by many to be a creative endeavour that is not well recognised by non-chemists, but there was also a feeling that creativity can be stifled by the way that chemists are taught.

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Lack of specialist chemistry skills

Some employers did feel that chemical science graduates had weaknesses in some soft skills, but more of a concern was a shortage of specialist chemistry skills. Physical chemistry, mathematics, analytical chemistry, large-scale reaction experience – especially where chemists and chemical engineers work together - the handling of hazardous material and experience of interdisciplinary work were all felt by multiple interviewees to be in short supply. There was also felt to be an issue finding graduates with sufficient chemical science knowledge to work in sales roles for technical products.

Of particular interests, were the concerns about the ability of chemical science graduates to work on larger scale chemistry. These were articulated by employers of chemical engineers, where there were important roles needing chemists and chemical engineers to work together. As one put it:

“Where British chemists are weak compared to the EU, is in the interface between chemistry and chemical engineering. British chemists are not so likely to have skills in scaling up reactions to industrial scale. As chemists might be involved in working with chemical engineers, this is an area where we lose out.”

The other employers with this concern echoed these sentiments and noted that graduates from Europe were often stronger in this area and this was a competitive concern for UK chemistry graduates. The UK has a declining number of chemical engineering graduates every year and these employers also noted how hard it was to find chemical engineers for their roles, with some remaining unfilled.

Recruitment agencies polarise opinion. There is an increasing use of specialist agencies, dealing specifically with chemists, in the sector to take the load off recruitment. At the same time, a number of interviewees were very negative about agencies, the value they represent and the quality of recruit that they offer.

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Employers disagree about standard of graduate

There was no consensus about how the standard of chemistry graduates has changed over time. Many employers felt there had been no meaningful change in standards, that chemistry graduates were broadly of good quality, and that employers were seeing enough good chemists to satisfy them that standards were being maintained.

However, nearly as many felt that standards had fallen, with several feeling that this was very recent – within the last three to five years. This group felt that literacy and numeracy of chemistry graduates had fallen, and that graduates were not getting as much practical training as previously. There was also a feeling that changes in structure of chemistry degrees aimed at attracting more people to the subject had caused students to drop traditional and vital parts of the discipline, such as physical chemistry, in favour of more popular specialisms which are less useful to industry. Many of this group felt that the issues start before higher education and stem from GCSE and A level.

Finally, there was a small group of employers who felt that standards had risen, due to an increased awareness of the needs of business and better focus on career planning.

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Further information

More information about the research can be found by contacting the Royal Society of Chemistry and will be published on their web site:

http://www.rsc.org/