Introduction
Consumer Products is big business if you have an advanced degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry or even Biology. As a scientist, you can work with products involved in home care, products that keep fabrics clean or soft, baby care such as diapers and soaps for babies, family care, such as soaps, grooming and hair products, and cosmetics or other beauty products. Most careers are in the corporate world in any one of hundreds of companies that create products for people’s lives. There are also a few government positions. It’s all about the consumer and what the consumer needs to brighten his or her life. It’s about creating practical solutions for day to day problems using your skills in chemistry, biology or biochemistry. Research and development are hot areas of employment, but there are also jobs as supervisors in the areas of production or post-production.
Career Paths in Consumer Products
When you graduate with a Master’s degree or Doctoral degree in the biochemical sciences, you have the skills necessary to work in research and development in any company that provides consumer products to the public. If you want to work in government, you will likely be hired at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You could also be hired at the base level in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. You can advance in any of these positions and, because you have an advanced degree, you will likely be hired in an advanced position from the beginning.
Careers in Consumer Products
Corporations
Proctor & Gamble: This is a huge corporation with plants throughout the U.S. and world. The company is actively going “green” and is focused on sustainability as well as reducing waste in the process of manufacturing its products. It makes cleaning products, beauty produces (including fragrances), shampoos, diapers and other paper products, among other things. The field is wide open as to areas of expertise you can go into while working for this company.
Unilever Corporation: Unilever is well known for its soaps, which are of many varieties and are used for many areas of common life. It also makes fabric softeners and other products for laundry. Food products, including Hellman’s, Bertolli and Lipton’s are good areas to start in those individuals who want to work in the area of food creation, research and development.
Clorox: Clorox is both a company and a major brand of cleaning products for household cleaning. There are scores of products out there with the Clorox brand name. There are products for bathroom cleaning and general cleaning of the home. Most products contain bleach.
Kimberly-Clark: Kimberly-Clark is a strong company that makes bathroom tissue, disinfectant wipes, and infant diapers. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It has 56,000 employees with offices and factories located in 35 countries worldwide. It also is a big supplier of facial tissues and feminine hygiene products.
Colgate-Palmolive: This Company is a large company that began as a soap and candle factory in New York City in the early 1800s. It makes toothpaste and toothbrushes. It also makes hand soap, dish soap, and pet nutrition products. There are factories for these products throughout the world, and you can work at any one of them. They have a big research and development department that works on new product development and maximizing the products they already have.
L’Oreal: This is a company that makes numerous beauty and cosmetic products. You can work in research and development or production. Located in the UK, it has factories in 130 countries and has done billions of dollars in cosmetic sales in 2009. It has 64,000 employees and filed for 674 patents in 2009 alone.
Estee Lauder: This is a company that makes cosmetic and beauty products. It specializes also in products that reduce the signs of aging. It was founded in 1946 and since then has gained a worldwide reputation for luxury and elegance. They sell products in 135 countries. They are creating new beauty products all the time and have a strong research and development division.
Avon: Avon makes beauty products, fragrances and cosmetics. The products are sold by independent salespeople throughout the world. As a postgraduate in the biochemical sciences, you would be involved in the research and development of new products for Avon.
Government Positions
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: The US FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of products produced by consumer product companies. As a post graduate, you may find work investigating product safety based on previous bad outcomes with the products or complaints from the populace about certain products. You would need to have an interest in product safety in order to work for the US FDA.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: This is a commission that makes recalls of products found to be unsafe and investigates consumer complaints. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Resources for Finding Jobs in this Area
You can apply directly through the various companies or through the government agencies for jobs. The choicest jobs are in research and development of new products, but there are jobs in production and sales as well. For government positions, you would find jobs involving investigation of consumer complaints. There is a job board at Consumer Products Central that offers positions such as new products development manager, production manager or sales representative. Several of the companies, such as Colgate, have their own job boards for you to look through.
Positions
You can find positions in research and development such as new product development supervisor or manager. There are numerous supervisor positions in production areas of these products.
Pay
In supervisor or managerial positions, you should expect pay in the range of $50,000 to $60,000 to start. As you work your way up the corporate ladder, you could become a Vice President in charge of your division and can make more than $100,000-$125,000.
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