Chemical/safety Engineer

[waiting4approval 2]

Did anyone immigrate to the US with a foreign bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and 2-3 years of experince as a safety engineer?!?!

How is the job market? What are the do's and dont's while looking for a job or pursuing another degree here in the US?

Please share your opinion.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I'm the USC, so I can't really speak from personal experience, but I can tell you in general what I know.

As far as your credentials go (degrees, certifications etc) if they are not international, you can pay a service which will "translate" your credentials and certify their US equivalents.

The market is tough these days. Join a website like Monster or Career Builder, and put together a resume which will list your degrees (and the associated equivalent in the US) and gives your employment history. The websites I mentioned probably have lots of articles about the best way to highlight your experience. If you've only had one job in those two years, also list your responsibilities and any further training you got which transfers over etc, like:

June 2006 - August 2009: Safety Engineer II, XYZ Company, Islamabad, Pakistan

- Responsibilities:

Audit support for ASDF national safety audit

Review and approval of new and redesigned factory infrastructure to ABC national safety standard

- Training:

Certified ABC national safety standard auditor

Handling and disposal of X, Y, Z chemicals

You'll want to highlight how your experience will help you with your job here - so especially if there are safety standards that we use here and you used there, that's good practical experience. Anything which will make you stand out, as with only 2-3 years experience, you're going to be competing with a lot of kids freshly out of college, and willing to work for less money. If you can show that you're ready to jump in and get working without any extra effort to train you on their part, you'll be ahead of the game.

I think you'll find that over here a lot of companies need to clean up their acts environmentally, and there are HS&E (Health Safety & Environment) departments. My company, for example, is paying huge fines and spending tooooonnnns of money to clean up all the ####### we've done to the ground in our manufacturing site.

Let's see. Some things which may be different than you expect: My boss found that when he was trying to fill international positions a lot of people were somewhat offended when he asked them about their college grades and their classes. With just a couple of years experience, showing how well you did in school may still count, so be prepared to provide transcripts. That sort of thing shouldn't surprise you.

Umm. You could also join a professional organization. I'm sure there's a chemical engineering one. They probably have their own job listings accessible only to members. Or while you are looking for a job, maybe see if there isn't some sort of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training that you think would be good for you. Actually, that professional organization probably does training too.

And, look look look, and apply for jobs too - looking does no good if you are so bent on finding THE PERFECT job that you never apply. If Monster or Career Builder turns up a job at one company, also go to the individual websites to see what else there is. Ask your USC spouse about what companies are in town (and neighbors, family, friends), and go directly to their websites. I applied for one job at my company in the department that I wanted to work in. I didn't get that job, but the manager passed my resume on to the guy who DID hire me.

All the best!

[rin and john 71]

I'm the USC, so I can't really speak from personal experience, but I can tell you in general what I know.

As far as your credentials go (degrees, certifications etc) if they are not international, you can pay a service which will "translate" your credentials and certify their US equivalents.

The market is tough these days. Join a website like Monster or Career Builder, and put together a resume which will list your degrees (and the associated equivalent in the US) and gives your employment history. The websites I mentioned probably have lots of articles about the best way to highlight your experience. If you've only had one job in those two years, also list your responsibilities and any further training you got which transfers over etc, like:

June 2006 - August 2009: Safety Engineer II, XYZ Company, Islamabad, Pakistan

- Responsibilities:

Audit support for ASDF national safety audit

Review and approval of new and redesigned factory infrastructure to ABC national safety standard

- Training:

Certified ABC national safety standard auditor

Handling and disposal of X, Y, Z chemicals

You'll want to highlight how your experience will help you with your job here - so especially if there are safety standards that we use here and you used there, that's good practical experience. Anything which will make you stand out, as with only 2-3 years experience, you're going to be competing with a lot of kids freshly out of college, and willing to work for less money. If you can show that you're ready to jump in and get working without any extra effort to train you on their part, you'll be ahead of the game.

I think you'll find that over here a lot of companies need to clean up their acts environmentally, and there are HS&E (Health Safety & Environment) departments. My company, for example, is paying huge fines and spending tooooonnnns of money to clean up all the ####### we've done to the ground in our manufacturing site.

Let's see. Some things which may be different than you expect: My boss found that when he was trying to fill international positions a lot of people were somewhat offended when he asked them about their college grades and their classes. With just a couple of years experience, showing how well you did in school may still count, so be prepared to provide transcripts. That sort of thing shouldn't surprise you.

Umm. You could also join a professional organization. I'm sure there's a chemical engineering one. They probably have their own job listings accessible only to members. Or while you are looking for a job, maybe see if there isn't some sort of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training that you think would be good for you. Actually, that professional organization probably does training too.

And, look look look, and apply for jobs too - looking does no good if you are so bent on finding THE PERFECT job that you never apply. If Monster or Career Builder turns up a job at one company, also go to the individual websites to see what else there is. Ask your USC spouse about what companies are in town (and neighbors, family, friends), and go directly to their websites. I applied for one job at my company in the department that I wanted to work in. I didn't get that job, but the manager passed my resume on to the guy who DID hire me.

All the best!

Good feedback. For Chemical Engineers, the organization is AICHe

http://www.aiche.org/

You may want to look at what it would take to get your P.E. license (professional engineer).

[L179 1]

waitingforapproval....my dad is a chemical engineer, though he migrated 10 years ago.....however there are good jobs out there just have to seek......

[waiting4approval 2]

oh woww Nik+Heather... thats a lot of good information. I opened this thread for my husband who will be immigrating from Pakistan with a bachelors in Chemical Engineering and 3 years of expericne as a safety engineer.. we are going to send his documets to World Education Services soon to get the degrees evaluated (just waiting to get the photo cpies attested from Pakistan)

He would like to do his Masters in Safety engineering just to give that "extra touch" on the resume but in the meanwhile he will be looking for jobs as well. I will send the link of this thread to him so it will help him understand it all better instead of me explaining this to him.. thanks alot for sharing such valuable information.

Since he has worked for an international company, which is in compliance with OSHA standards, he has lots of certificates/trainings in his resume which are pretty much international standards. Once again thanks a lot!

rin n john.. thank you so much for sharing the website.. this is just the beginning and we have so much information available.. thank you guys!

L179.. really.. great to know.. I guess hubby needs to talk to your dad once he is here regarding the job prospect and the qualifications.. did your dad go to school in Pakistan? Hubby iis a graduate from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Move to the Texas Gulf Coast....loaded with chemical plants here and the biggest employers by far...Dow Chemical, BASF, BP, Shintech, Union Carbide, Lyondell, Arkema are ones I can name off the top of my head. Probably hundreds more. With all those plants, safety is huge. Every small plant within the big complex has a safety director. Every employee attends a monthly saftey meeting and takes regular safety training (even the secretaries.) Many safety jobs are available in the plant through contractor agencies, but it's better to get on with the company for the pension schemes and insurance. The economy is not as deep in the slump here and housing is very affordable.

[gennyangel 3]

im a chemical engineer too however my working experience was a chemist in the Philippines. As you might want to know we can work as chemist too. I am now here in the US,i will try my luck in looking for that kind of job while i am adjusting my status and until i gave birth to my first baby....