What a difference a year makes. In March 2001, a survey of the American Chemical Society (ACS) revealed that about 1.5% of its members were unemployed. The results of a similar survey, released late last year, showed a jump in unemployment to 3.3%, the highest figure since the society began tracking employment more than 30 years ago.

The one ray of hope in the survey is that salaries for chemists in their first job after gaining their PhD have climbed by almost 8%. The rest of the analysis is covered in clouds, with more on the horizon. The survey notes that as chemistry employment usually leads economic indicators, rather than follows them, it might be a while before this trend reverses.

Adding further gloom to the scene, the chemical industry increasingly relies on the pharmaceutical sector for employment. But that sector has also been in the doldrums lately, with few successful new products to market, lots of lawsuits and steady consolidation. And now, with the US economy still shaky, many state-funded universities are considering making cuts to the size of their faculty (see Nature 421, 5; 200310.1038/421005a).

All of these signs point to longer job hunts. But what can you do to increase your chance of success? The ACS offers some advice. Brush up on your interviewing skills. Consider smaller biotech firms — after ensuring they are solvent. And don't completely rule out pharmaceutical companies; some skills are still in demand, but these tend to be in speciality areas such as computational or synthetic organic chemistry.

Whatever the position, persistence, patience and polishing of both scientific and job-hunting skills should eventually yield results. And, if all else fails, there's always the other p-word — a postdoc.