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Science editors, says Jonathan Wood, need to be able "to spot a good story and find the right way of getting it across."

Often as not, resilience ends up being the difference between success and failure.

Doing a Ph.D. on visual interfaces and usability is particularly useful, he believes, because it allows him to understand what the consumers would like to use and to guess whether a new product would succeed or fail.

As in blackjack, learning a basic strategy is the first step toward shifting the odds in your favor.

"The focus isn’t because this is cheap. In fact logistically, it’s quite a challenge to do this. Whether you’re AstraZeneca, or Roche, or Novartis, you have to pay quite a bit to have that presence. Our focus is to have a presence in China, for China, and for the rest of Asia." --John Ramsey, AstraZeneca

Once hired, a chemist’s opportunities are limited only by his or her career ambitions and the company’s needs.

During the first several years of their (independent) professional lives, scientists move past the uncomfortable transition into a stable and solid permanent position.

"Business success is often defined by comfort with ambiguity and risk--personal, organizational, and financial." --Don Haut

Van Roon's experience at DSM has been "rewarding, because we started an entirely new group; we are learning and making progress."

Companies are usually looking for an indication that candidates have an affinity for both industrial mathematics and teamwork.

E-mail your questions for Dr. Clemmons to
msnadvice@aaas.org.

Put your real energy--your main effort--into getting your work done and doing it well.

"Now I understand why Microsoft Office products have all those collaboration features that I never found useful in the academic lab. My general impression is that academic labs are into producing soloists. Industry, however, wants orchestra players."

"Research methods are fundamental to my work, in everything I do." --Keith Lipman

It may not be a hot new industry in which even mediocre scientists can write their own tickets, but the chemical industry is big, solid, diverse, and offers great opportunities for scientists who prepare themselves well in a marketable field and take the job search seriously.

Guillaume Bourtourault's enduring interest in environmental matters, his drive to pursue a career even when it was marginalised, and his vision for sustainable development are what made it all possible.

The field is rife with opportunities to improve human health and to take part in the inevitable health-care revolution.

It's an atmosphere of mutual interest you need to fuel and maintain.