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

What is a junior chemist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

A chemist conducts research on chemicals and compounds. Their job is to understand compounds and create new ones. We owe some of the best synthetic materials to chemists, from drugs to synthetic fibers and even cosmetics.

Chemists can work for cosmetic manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and even universities. A day in the life of a chemist may include preparing compounds and solutions, analyzing substances to understand their composition, and writing reports based on findings.

Junior chemists assist in all these tasks and more. They may also be charged with cleaning the lab, taking care of equipment, and maintaining records of all experiments.

To become a junior chemist, you need a bachelor's degree in chemistry, even though many employers prefer advanced degrees. You may also need internship experience to become a better job candidate.

What general advice would you give to a junior chemist?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreJunior ChemistUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,002

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 19.74%

Black or African American 7.91%

Hispanic or Latino 9.41%

Unknown 4.60%

White 58.10%

Gender

female 41.82%

male 58.18%

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 junior chemist

Explore junior chemist education requirements

Most common junior chemist degrees

Bachelor's

72.9 %

Master's

16.9 %

Associate

4.8 %

Start to develop specific junior chemist skills

Skills	Percentages
Lab Equipment	16.69%
R	7.90%
HPLC	6.28%
PH Meter	5.33%
QC	5.30%

Complete relevant junior chemist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New junior 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 junior chemist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real junior chemist resumes.

Research junior chemist duties and responsibilities

Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Process laboratory data to ensure efficiency of plant operations and troubleshoot unexpect conditions to prevent an upset within the plant.
Solve the quality issues with Zithromax SDD extrusion during a systems audit of the start up process, in Vega Baja.
Provide general support to the custom mixing and extrusion departments in day-to-day operations.

Prepare your junior chemist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your junior 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 junior 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 junior chemist resume templates

Build a professional junior 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 junior chemist resume.