Guess I won't apply for this job

I am not looking for a job but that doesn't mean that I don't receive an endless stream of emails from recruiters on LinkedIn [*]. A recent one came with this beautiful snippet:

"An Edisonian approach of trial & error, will not work for this role... this opportunity requires the ability to use theoretical modeling skills, fundamental / first principles knowledge, and deep understanding of polymer chemistry, in order to provide innovative solutions."

This is scary. That an employer would have such the expectation that experimentation is not needed and that computation and theory can be used to predict the properties of a polymer means that they will only be disappointed in the job performance of whatever poor soul takes that job. While there are some successes in such types of efforts to date, they are always for a single polymer genus and a very limited range of properties, such as this research relating reactor conditions for LDPE to the rheology. Not the mechanical properties of the LDPE, just the molten rheology. And again, this research is limited to LDPE.

There is no way I would ever apply for such a position.


[*] Sometimes I think that LinkedIn was start by recruiters for recruiters. Hence my low visibility there.

Previous Years

September 18, 2013 - "Dear, Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Photocatalytic?"

September 18, 2012 - Toughening Up Hydrogels