The scarce entry-level jobs are great if you can get them (especially at a big company), but for the rest of us, you'll have to go to work at a smaller company, perhaps not in the exact position you had in mind until you can get some experience. Don't forget to look at lower-level related jobs working, for example, for the city, county, police labs as a technician; and try to get continuing education if you have the time while working at the lower level jobs. You may have to move to where the job is to get experience. Sorry to say, but most employers want to see about 3-5 years job experience before taking a chance on a new-hire. It is considered absolutely OK in the US to take a job in the lab as a technician/researcher/worker and then transfer to another function (engineering) within the company, or even leave the company and hire on at the new place as an engineer - the next employer is just looking for some experience because he *will not have time* to train you (all the trainee jobs have been outsourced). A particularly *good idea* is to work at a chemical company in a related area (like sales or manufacturing) and *then* move to chemical engineering - the experience makes you much more valuable to the company because of what and who you know, even if it is not entry-level chemical engineering or at the same pay grade. The outlook for chemical engineers is still good, but it really helps if you've got experience in the field you're applying for, and I think if you are ambitious you need to really consider moving to where the job is rather than trying to stay in one particular location.
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