Are you a thinking about what career you are going to take? Do you know you want to become an engineer but not sure which specialist route you should take? Or do you want a career change to get into Chemical Engineering and want to find out more?
Whichever your situation, we should hopefully be able to help you make some informed decisions. Here is some info on chemical engineering and there is even more to read on our website.
So, what is chemical engineering? Chemical engineering involves working with pioneering valuable new materials and techniques, such as nanotechnology, fuel cells and bio-medical engineering. Chemical engineers would work in many industries including, for example, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, energy, food and drink etc They are mainly involved in designing and developing and operating industrial processes for all kinds of products.
As far as entry requirements go, the normal route is to have a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) which is a three year course or a Master of Engineering (Meng) which is a four year course. The preferred subjects would be in biochemistry/chemistry/engineering but other subjects that would be considered include applied chemistry, polymer science, environmental engineering, biomedical engineering and nuclear engineering. To gain chartered status, as a graduate with BEng, you would need to do a period of further study and work experience however those with Meng would only need some kind of work experience. Some employers would consider a foundation degree or HND if a degree or masters has not been obtained.
Some of the most important skills are:
- Interest in chemistry, maths and engineering;
- Excellent communication skills;
- Excellent project management skills;
- Good team working skills;
- Good leadership and management skills;
- IT skills;
- Attention to detail;
- Innovation and creativity.
As a guide, starting salaries for graduate engineers are around £28,000. Experienced chemical engineers may recieve around £53,000. High level engineers can earn over £70,000. Salaries vary depending on the sector, location, size and type of organisation. You would be expected to work a normal office based 35-40 hours per week but some over-time is likely.
Many companies offer internal training programs for graduates to make sure they get the wide range of experience to develop a career as a professional engineer. IChemE benchmark many of these schemes, known as accredited Company training schemes (ACTS). IChemE offer a number of training events and is the professional body for chemical engineers. You can visit their website for further information. Some employers offer on the job training and programmes that help you to work towards CEng status.
Hopefully this information has been useful to you but if you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at TipTopJob and we will endeavour to help all of our jobseekers in any way we can. Please email us marketing@tiptopjob.com.