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Careers
Career Development
Demystifying European Professional Designations
by Linda Wang
October 17, 2011
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 89, Issue 42
Help For The Unemployed
Many chemists are still struggling to find jobs. The American Chemical Society offers special discounts and career assistance to its unemployed members.
National dues: Waiveda
National meeting registration: Free
Regional meeting registration: Reduced fees
ACS Leadership Development System: Reduced rateb
ACS Short Courses: 50% discount
ACS Member Insurance Program: Life insurance premiums deferred
For a full listing of benefits for unemployed members, visit www.acs.org/unemployed.
Free career-assistance tools for all ACS members:
Virtual Career Fair
ACS webinars
ACS Careers blog
Personal career consulting
Access to the ACS Network (www.acs.org/ACSnetwork)
For more information, visit www.acs.org/careers.
a Apply for a waiver by contacting ACS with your name and member number via e-mail at service@acs.org or by calling (800) 333-9511 or (614) 447-3776. Dues may be waived for up to two years for unemployed members in good standing. b Enroll in one online course for $25, get three online courses free.
CChem, CSci, EurChem … If you know any European chemists, you’ve likely seen letters like these attached to their names. These designations convey information about professional achievements beyond the academic degree. And when it comes to job searching, having such designations can be an asset.
“You’re showing a commitment to continuing professional development,” says Sarah Harrison, professional standards specialist at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). A professional designation “defines a level of expertise and competence, and more and more employers in the U.K. are beginning to value that.”
RSC started awarding the designation of CChem, which stands for Chartered Chemist, in the 1930s. In the past, members of the society were automatically awarded CChem, but applicants must now complete a two-year program and assemble a portfolio of evidence to earn this designation, Harrison says. Candidates are judged on 12 professional attributes, such as demonstrating the ability to work as part of a team and showing an understanding and appreciation of health, safety, and environmental issues. In the U.K., nearly 16,000 chemists have CChem status, as do roughly 3,000 chemists outside the U.K.
Chemists in the U.K. can also earn the designation of CSci, which stands for Chartered Scientist. This designation is awarded by the Science Council, a professional membership organization. Ireland has similar designations for its chemists.
These designations are recognized only by the country that awards them. By contrast, EurChem, or European Chemist, is the product of an effort to standardize the professional designation across Europe. The European Chemist Registration Board of the European Association for Chemical & Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) began awarding the designation in the 1990s.
The goal of the designation is to set a common standard for the recognition of professional competence in chemistry across European countries, says Pavel Drašar, chair of the European Chemist Registration Board. For example, having the designation “means that you do not need to provide any other proof of your qualifications when you move from one European state to another,” he says.
Drašar notes that EuCheMS is working to influence legislation that would require all European countries to recognize the EurChem designation. As for Drašar himself, in addition to D.Sc., which stands for Doctor of Science, he also has these letters behind his name: EurChem; CChem; CSci; and FRSC, which indicates that he is an RSC fellow.
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