Process Support Chemist Review

My role as a process support chemist involves attending daily production meetings with the production teams to learn about any product quality issues that they are experiencing. It is then my job to go back to the laboratory and investigate these issues, by carrying out a scaled down version of the process on plant, and then reporting my findings back to the plant advising what to do.

I have definitely improved my communication skills by attending these production meetings, having to talk to multiple people, and communicate my findings back to them. I have also developed Microsoft Excel skills, as I am required to conduct various analysis on either plant data, or data acquired in the laboratory.

I am thoroughly enjoying my degree apprenticeship as I am constantly learning new things both on the job and through the training provider. Everyone is really friendly and everyone is supporting me in what ever way they can through my apprenticeship. I am definitely glad that I chose this apprenticeship.

I feel that my apprenticeship is set out well and well organised. I am provided with 20% of my time (one day a week out of 5 working days) to complete my university work. There are 2 other apprentices doing the same course as me in the workplace. Us 3 apprentices will rotate around job roles, so that we all have the same opportunity to develop knowledge and skill set.

In my workplace I have a mentor that has done a very similar course to myself so I know I can turn to this person and they are happy to provide me with support. I also have an "apprenticeship coordinator" with which I have regular meetings with to check my progress and see how I'm getting on.

I receive lots of support from my training provider through the means of live weekly webinars on each unit that we are learning about. The tutors are very communicative with us and provide reminders of things like deadlines to ensure that we don't miss them. Lectures that were taught to full time students are also provided to us to facilitate our learning.

I feel that because I am constantly learning new subjects through the university this is constantly helping me learn new things in the workplace. As well as learning academic subjects, we also learn vocational subjects such as writing, communication and lab skills, which help massively when applied in the workplace.

At my workplace there is something set up called "Sports and Social Club". Through this there are many events offered each year, such as trips out to the races, or theatres, or themed nights at restaurants. These are offered to everybody, but offered at a cheaper price to those who are members of the club, which costs £2 a month.

Yes

Solenis has provided me with support from the very start of my apprenticeship, when I was studying a level 3 BTEC. The offered me the opportunity to be enrolled onto a level 6 degree apprenticeship. There is definitely opportunity for development for anybody wanting a career in either the manufacturing sector or the sciences.

Before you apply you should research the business and have some knowledge about what sort of products the business makes, and who the target market is. It is always good to know about the business before applying. This allows good questions to be asked to any interviewers and provides a sense of willingness.