Career Resources

AIChE at UCI, through developing relationships with various companies, provides opportunities for all members to both learn and network with industry representatives from various sectors. Some companies that AIChE has hosted in recent years are Chevron, Henkel, and Rivian. AIChE also aims to promote the interdepartmental relationships between professors, graduate students, and undergraduate students by hosting picnics, panels, and mixers to give chemical engineers at various places in their journey a chance to build relationships and develop connections. 

AIChE hosts a quarterly event to promote career readiness, whether it be through our Industry Networking Nights (INN), where we bring in companies from across Orange County and Southern California to give students a chance to learn about the companies, ask questions. and connect one-on-one with the industry representatives, or Research Mixers, where AIChE brings in professors and grad students from across chemical engineering, material science, chemistry, and bioengineering to give students a chance to discover what research is done in the labs and how they can get involved. AIChE also hosts information sessions throughout the quarter to educate students on specific companies and industries, highlighting different opportunities for chemical engineers like working in consultant agencies or working in a refinery. Panels are also organized to give light to various experiences that undergraduate students and graduate students have gone through to demonstrate what students can expect and get a feel for what may interest them. A few that have been hosted are our Internship Panel, where we pulled together undergraduate students from ChemE to talk  about their summer internship experiences, and the Graduate Student Panel, where they discussed why and how they ended up in UCI's Master's or PhD program as well as specifications on the research that they were working on.

AIChE strives to keep the door open for all students by publishing opportunities as we find them, hosting a variety of styles of events to meet everyone's individual needs and aspirations, and keeping an open mind to what the student body we represent is looking for or needs at any given time. 

Industry:

Generally requiring only a Bachelor's degree as an entry requirement, industry jobs can vary in position, technical skills, and salaries. Some classic examples would be process engineer, consultant, technician, or managerial positions (usually requiring either numerous years of experience or a graduate degree).  There are many different career paths one can take when working in industry, and the possibilities are truly endless. Industry also does not necessarily require you to stick within one field of engineering or development (say like bio or energy), many industry workers are able to move within the respective fields allowing them a chance to gain a broad range or experience and knowledge. 

To determine if industry is the right path for you, it would be a good idea to try and get an internship at a company before graduating to get a feel for the different environments, positions, and opportunities possible!

Academia:

Entering academia is usually prefaced by obtaining a doctorate degree and then choosing to continue to work in the universities. Academics often find themselves devoting their careers to the field due to a love of research or teaching. If you choose to look at employment at a research institution (like UCI!), your work will often include straddling both personal research and managing a lab as well as helping to develop the future generation of engineers. While being a professor is not the only way to be involved in academia, post grad positions are always possible, it is usually the long-term path that one is set up on when they enter academia. 

Academia must be accompanied by a love or research! So if you're interested in pursuing this as a career opportunity, it would be best to do undergraduate research with one of the many esteemed professors here at UCI. 

Research: 

Research is not only an option in academia. Research positions are also available in industry companies or through the national labs. However, just like academia, these positions generally involve dedicating your skills into becoming an expert in your field. The positions can be highly adaptive as your career develops, possibilities ranging from staying in the lab your entire career to moving towards administrative and managerial positions as you develop more expertise and recognition within your field of study. These fields can also include copious amounts of travel as you move across the world to meet with other experts, attend conferences, and develop more concrete skills as a researcher. Being a researcher generally requires a doctorate degree, as employers wish to see that you have a clear understanding and experience with research work and all that it can entail. 

Just like with academia, it would be best to try out research as an undergraduate before dedicating your career to the field!

Would it be cheesy to say anything? Practically every industry you could think of (energy, food, cosmetics, medical, biology) needs chemical engineers to get it running. While you may think you are limited to the oil industry and refining, there is so much more possible. Every industry has a chemical process that needs to be sized up or down, meaning that chemical engineers are needed in every industry imaginable! The UCI chemical engineering program allows you to specialize in one of three fields (Energy & Sustainablility, Biomolecular, and Marcromolecular) truly demonstrating the wide breadth of careers and industries that a chemical engineer can find themselves in.

Furthermore, with a chemical engineering degree, recognized by many employers as academically rigorous, you are also recognized as a tenacious, persistent, and accomplished person. Don't be scared to branch out of the "typical" chemical engineering paths and find a career that fits your goals for the future. If you can do mass transfer, you can do anything! 

Also see the Prospective Students page with why different students chose to major in chemical engineering for more information.

1. Personalize. Personalize. Personalize.

With the development and use of automated technology to sift through the thousands of applications, it is easier for companies to search for key words and skills in your resume. This means that you should always read the job description and skills they are looking for in order to better your chances of getting that first interview! While it is a time consuming process, it is better to send out fewer personalized and specific resumes and applications than multitudes of generic ones that blend in with all the other candidates. Also don't neglect the importance of a cover letter in demonstrating your interest in the job, as well as a way to show that you have done preliminary research instead of just sticking your resume into a portal!

2. Put yourself out there!

You miss 100% of the chances that you don't make. Even if you may not have all of the qualifications listed, even just one or two key experiences can be enough to get you in the door. Especially when you are just exiting your undergraduate education, employers aren't expecting you to know everything, but having one or two key skills (like knowing a particular coding language or how to run a specific machine) can really push you over the edge, especially if you demonstrate a readiness and willingness to learn once you are in the field! Don't be afraid to put yourself out there for career opportunities that you are genuinely interested in, even when you feel you aren't developed enough. Employers aren't looking for robots that can check every box on their list, they're looking for people who show genuine interest and desire in working and developing with the company.

3. Don't be afraid to ask questions!

Questions can help demonstrate genuine interest in the company and position. Always try to prepare questions in advance to any interview. They can also be a great way to determine what the working culture at a company is like to see if it would be the right fit for you. Some example questions could be:

1. What is the work/life balance like here?

2. How do you best support employees looking to pursue higher education?

3. What can you predict about the trajectory of the company? What are some of the major goals or missions they hope to accomplish?

4. What opportunities are there for employees to develop more technical skills (like learning to code, advancing knowledge in a specific field, or giving room for leadership development)?