Career Questions and Answers
Is it bad for a chemical engineer to teach languages for a while instead working in a chemical company?
Asked by mecano64
A:
Best Answer:
Two years out of your field and you are hurting yourself, five years and you may as well forget it.
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Answered by pcpy
A:
Hi
I think you should do what you want to do. There is no good or bad. It seems like it would be interesting and culturally expanding to teach before going into the corporate world.
Answered by loandude
A:
I would say this is actually a good thing. While I'm only getting a minor in chemistry, I plan on getting into pharmacy school or at least working in a lab to continue doing some applicable work with chemistry, so I know what you mean. I'm also majoring in German and Russian and plan on teaching both of those at some point. If you are worried that a chemical company won't hire you because you've been teaching languages, I think that they would actually see how diversified you are and that you're not a complete science nut all of the time. People who are genuinely intelligent don't operate solely from the left or right halves of their brains, they try and use both- this should show potential employers that you actually have better problem solving skills just for being able to look at a problem from different angles (i.e. using different parts of your brain). I realize that may sound a bit exaggerated and vague, but they should at least see that you have the potential to teach other possible chemical coworkers after having taught language, and that you also have language skills (something highly prized in the chemical industry). I would say from your standpoint at least, you're trying to see which jobs would satisfy you the most, or what would be most enjoyable. I say try the teaching for a bit to get a contrast between the two, and then you could possibly do chemistry tutoring on the side if you wanted to keep yourself up on some of the basic chemistry. If you still want to work for the chem company, it's not like your chemical engineering degree is going to go anyway. It might take you a few monthes to get back into the habit of chemistry, but you're not going to forget it, and the company knows that.
Answered by Erik Von Fürstenberg
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