To assist graduates in their search for academic or industrial positions, Rensselaer maintains a full-time placement service. Graduates are vigorously recruited and each year representatives of more than 60 organizations visit campus to recruit chemistry graduates.

In recent years, most graduates have elected careers in industrial or government research laboratories. Among M.S. graduates, approximately 50% joined industrial organizations, 20% took positions in state or federal laboratories, 15% went on to further study and the remainder returned to organizations from which they were on leave. Of the Ph.D. graduates, approximately 60% took industrial research positions, 25% went on to postdoctoral training, 5% obtained college level teaching positions and 10% accepted employment in government laboratories.