How To Become A Control Chemist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a control chemist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Kevin Belfield Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a control chemist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.54 an hour? That's $57,283 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 5,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a control chemist?

Kevin Belfield Ph.D.

Dean, College of Science and Liberal Arts Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science Becton Dickinson Research Professor Fellow of the ACS and AAAS, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Keep learning, and stay curious. New information and technologies are being generated at an unprecedented rate. A grad's new degree is a great foundation. It's essential to continue learning, both in your field and in others. Suppose you have a particular interest, unrelated to your degree (perhaps it's robotics, music, economics, web design, history, or science fiction, for example). It's not a bad idea to dedicate some time each week reading in or pursuing this area, as one never knows when there may be a convergence of your interests that can lead to an unexpected professional opportunity.

ScoreControl ChemistUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,283

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.25%

Asian 18.14%

Black or African American 8.02%

Hispanic or Latino 9.46%

Unknown 4.62%

White 59.52%

Gender

female 31.75%

male 68.25%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a control chemist

Explore control chemist education requirements

Most common control chemist degrees

Bachelor's

88.5 %

Master's

5.8 %

Associate

5.8 %

Start to develop specific control chemist skills

Skills	Percentages
QC	19.68%
Laboratory Analyses	14.92%
Gas Chromatography	9.13%
Analytical Methods	7.57%
Process Control	7.55%

Complete relevant control chemist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New control chemists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a control chemist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real control chemist resumes.

Research control chemist duties and responsibilities

Continue role in managing ELISA plate trials to select proper antigen coating factors for large-scale plate jobs.
Design and build production scale (multikilogram/injection) HPLC system.
Perform internal cGMP audit as a member of departmental GMP committee.
Document and release data according to LIMS specifications.

Prepare your control chemist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your control chemist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a control chemist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable control chemist resume templates

Build a professional control chemist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your control chemist resume.