Names of companies that would hire a chemical engineer? (Tacoma: sales, rent)

[BTC2013]

Hello all,

I'm graduating this May with a B.S. in chemical engineering and am looking to create a list of companies in Washington that might employ me. I frequent sites like Indeed and EngineerJobs but could use some help in finding companies that may not be known to someone out of state (currently in Florida).

In regards to location, I would say I'd prefer the west side of WA as opposed to east, but that may be too specific to be practical.

Thank you!

[Andy]

Check with the paper companies. There are pulp mills in Camas (Portland, OR area), Longview, Tacoma and a few other places.

[StealthRabbit]

Christine (x-gov) created an entire army of environmental test labs necessary to support her previous empire with WA State.

I would say about 10 minutes with a good WA Worksource specialist would yield 90% of the firms over 2 people in the state that employ chemists. (can be done via email / online / you just need to search WA database that THEY have, your local FL Worksource probably can get WA data if you catch them on a nice day).

DON'T forget AK, terriffic opportunities, little competition, and NO INCOME tax or SALES TAX. (and long days in the summer). ID, WY, ND, MT, UT and CO should be added to your list.

Time to make a road trip in May. (I did that the yr BEFORE I graduated, and had many offers lined up). Personally showing interest REALLY says something to a hiring manager.

What is your target industry and more importantly what is your experience? Beer, Wine, Energy, soils, Food processing, electronics fab, environmental, AG... WA has all and MORE.

I trust you have been working in the industry PT to know what you like and are good at. You gotta know that, or your pleas will fall on deaf ears.

Once you get REALLY good, and LOTS of experience you can join PNNL. THAT would be an AWESOME chemist job in WA. I took a lengthy tour of their Richland facility TEAMING with Phd chemists from around the world. Fun work if you can get it. *there is another PNNL lab in Port Angeles and a couple other places in WA (including North Bonneville, VERY small there). Fisheries OMG they must employ a zillion chemists too. And Army Corp of Engineers, and Bonneville Power and....(usajobs.com). BUT do not WAIT for one of those, they take about 2 yrs to HIRE you after several interviews. (but worth taking a grunt job in your field while checking all the boxes and getting security clearances...)

How about civilian miltary jobs, LOTS of those in We_t WA, including scads of Chemists.

[StealthRabbit]

BTW: Many folks ask... How do you find all these opportunities?

DIG, and be a detective and keep your eyes and ears tuned and NETWORK (these days). Everyday, line up 40 - 50 leads. When on a road trip and you pass by a company that looks interesting you STOP and talk to folks. Might be the Maint guys, or it might be chemists working out side, or on a project, or someone that knows a chemist, and of course you look at ALL the petroleum / food processing / energy / chemist / engineering technical meetups and industry groups and you attend their monthly meetings. and show LOTS of interest / potential.

Again DIG... I can't count the number of places out in the boonies, I will stop by about lunch time and take the owner out to lunch to have him explain how he keeps a factory or business running in the boonies. Where does he find help?, what would help him improve his success,? What would help him be more profitable?, What regulations and issues occupy his time that he would rather devote to his product ...?

You learn a LOT from sharing these thoughts with a business person. It is nice to also bring them some solutions... They will come along in due time.

I spend VERY little on my survey trips, mostly buying meals for 'new friends'. (I get $89 fares and rent cars from Priceline ($10/day) and stay in guest homes $10/day and eat via grocery stores (talk to their produce guy in early morning and get FREE stuff). MUCH cheaper for me to travel than stay in my WA home ($40/ day property taxes). for a home I built from scratch for under $100k.

(You're still young !!! Consider AK . I was well under age 30 when I immigrated to WA from the over-run paradise of Colorado). Many friend in chemist jobs there, still many in nuclear industry)

[BTC2013]

@Andy
Thank you for the paper company idea. I didn't realize there were quite a few in the area.

@StealthRabbit
I haven't figured out how to contact a Worksource specialist yet, but this Employment Security Department site seems to have a large list of employers which I can search by various filters. Very helpful, thank you!

My co-op experience was at a coal gasification power plant. One semester was spent in the project management group on a reclaimed water treatment plant they are building, the other was in their on site laboratory conducting some daily sample analysis. Since I'm being rather picky on location in the WA or OR area I figure I shouldn't limit myself further by strict industry preferences. I'll try to be flexible.

I've been applying a lot to Intel and Boeing, but I imagine it's quite competitive. We'll see what happens.

I do plan on visiting WA for about 2 weeks towards the end of May. Really looking forward to it. Will spend some of it hunting for career opportunities.

[BTC2013]

Very good advice and much appreciated. I like the idea of stopping and talking to people in the business. Hopefully it's not too disruptive to whatever work they're doing.

I've been fairly involved with the local central Florida chapter of the AIChE here. It's a little less helpful with the decision to move. I'll need to look into the local chapter up in WA.

[cocaseco]

Check in with Chempoint in Bellevue. Unless you simply want to be a practicing CE, the degree is useful for many positions. Simply having the analytical approach to problems, comfort with math and commitment to a difficult degree are all applicable to many positions you would never imagine.