Skills
Chemistry Professor Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in chemistry professors, and how to build and show them.
What skills do chemistry professors need?
Chemistry Professors need technical skills such as chemistry expertise, lab techniques, and instrumentation, plus people skills like clear explanation and mentoring. They also use tools such as NMR and mass spectrometers and Fume hoods.
Technical (hard) skills
- Chemistry expertise
- Lab techniques
- Instrumentation
- Research design
- Lab safety
- Grant writing
People (soft) skills
- Clear explanation
- Mentoring
- Attention to detail
- Patience
Tools, equipment and technology
- NMR and mass spectrometers
- Fume hoods
- Glassware
- Learning management systems
- Chemical inventory systems
- Molecular modeling software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how chemistry professors put their skills to work:
- How to design a safe teaching lab
- How to teach reaction mechanisms
- How to lead a lab safety inspection
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Chemistry expertise” and “Lab techniques.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “clear explanation,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Ph.D. in chemistry near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our chemistry professor glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Chemistry Professor training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.