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How to start a career in chemistry – New Scientist

As part of our careers advice series with New Scientist Jobs, Victoria Walker who is a specialist in recruitment in the chemical industry has given us her top tips of how to get started in a career in chemistry and to where this could potentially take you. Take a look here:

First you might ask, why would I want a career in chemistry?

The answer is because it provides so many diverse opportunities! Having a career within chemistry is not just limited to working in a lab (although there are many exciting lab-based jobs!). For example you could move into a field service role which would provide travel opportunities; you could get involved with plant based operations including scale up and process chemistry; and you could eventually use your career and knowledge in chemistry to educate, inspire and motivate a new generation.

So if you have a desire to work with polymers, coatings, fragrances, colours and more – follow these tips…

GCSEs or equivalent level qualifications

Most employers look for at least A-C grade (9-4 in new GCSE grading system) in Science and Maths as a minimum. Good maths skills are very important in landing your career in chemistry as it is necessary both to use these skills on a daily basis (such as measuring out chemicals and calculating proportionate yields) as well as having a sound understanding of maths on which to base the chemistry knowledge.

Further study

As people are now required to stay in full-time education until the age of 18 in the UK, options include 6th form or college, or alternatively starting an apprenticeship or trainee-ship.

If you opt to stay within traditional education, a chemistry A Level is the obvious choice. Supporting subjects include maths or physics. Should you wish to start an apprenticeship, try to find an opportunity with a chemical manufacturing company, or one with a company that may provide you with transferable skills.

Depending on the level of knowledge you are looking for and whether you intend to specialise, you may wish to embark on a University career in chemistry, and then perhaps a Masters or PhD. Please note these qualifications are not essential to obtain a career in chemistry; some employers do prefer a chemistry degree however a Masters and/ or PhD education is only for certain niche areas.

Work experience

Aside from having a knowledge and understanding of chemistry, work experience is going to be one of the main drivers in securing your career in your chosen field. We would highly recommend that you take any opportunity to immerse yourself in the industry, whether it’s only shadowing someone for a few days, voluntary lab experience, or paid temporary work/ a year in industry during university. While employers value a good chemistry education, more and more they are turning to experience as being the main tick in the box. Having gained voluntary experience also indicates that you are taking your career in chemistry seriously.

Chemistry

Flexibility

Ultimately, after you have achieved the above, be flexible. There are so many opportunities out there. You may have your heart set on becoming a New Product Development Chemist within water-based adhesives for the packaging industry, however please refer to our previous point – experience is everything. Appreciating that you may need to gain experience in a few other areas before being able to pursue your dream job will firstly take the pressure off, but secondly may mean that you find many other areas within chemistry that you weren’t aware of before.

If you would like more careers advice get in touch with Victoria Walker or take a look at our candidate zone.

Author: Victoria Walker

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The Pros and Cons of a 4-day Work Week

The five-day week was invented in the 19th century to suit the factory environments and needs at that time. However, a lot has changed since then and it may be time to reassess the way we work and find a solution more in line with the present.

The four-day week concept has already been implemented in various countries around the world such as New Zealand and Sweden, and has proven pretty successful. It is, however, a big change for a company to take on, and to help understand the benefits and drawbacks for employees as well as employers we have summarised the key points.

sticky notes with days of the week

The advantages of a four-day week

It helps improve overall productivity

According to a recent study, only 2 out of 5 employees currently work at full capacity in any given company. This is mainly because they are distracted and demotivated, due to exhaustion and working too hard.

The idea behind a shorter week is that employees would have the opportunity to spend time on their other commitments outside of work, and therefore would be more focused on their job when in the workplace.

Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand firm, trialed this and found that 78% of employees could more effectively balance their work and home life working a four-day week, compared to 54% prior to the experiment.

Better employee satisfaction

A three-day weekend means employees have more time to do the things they love such as spending time with their families, enjoying their hobbies or working on side projects, and are therefore happier overall. Employees who are satisfied at home tend to work better in the office.

Additionally, discontent staff tend to distract their coworkers, so keeping everyone happy will avoid creating waves in your workforce.

Fewer health issues

According to the app Mappiness, work is the second main reason people are unhappy, after ill health.

Longer weekends would mean people would have more time to spend exercising and focusing on their wellbeing. This paired up with less days at work could help prevent work-related mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

This is particularly important as according to a Mental Health at Work Report, 77% of employees have experienced symptoms of poor mental health in their lives. Creating workplace initiatives to help improve employee mental health could mean more productive staff as well as avoiding future issues.

Reduced costs

A four-day week could reduce costs for everyone. Employees could save money on commuting costs and childcare, but companies could also reduce their costs. Although wages would stay the same, staggering your workers’ day off throughout the week could mean renting smaller offices, and ultimately lower utility bills and operational costs.

Recruitment and retention

People increasingly look for flexibility at work. Offering people the option to work a four-day week will make any company a lot more desirable.

The feeling of getting a three-day weekend will keep employees motivated week-on-week, making them feel positive about their workplace. As this offering is still quite rare, it will give them an incentive to stay working for that company.

In this day and age where millennials stay, on average, 3 years in a job, having a perk which persuades employees to stay at a company longer is definitely worth it.

Disadvantages

Longer hours

As good as this all sounds, if this was implemented the reality is companies would not stick to 28-hour contracts for the same salary. Employees will most probably be expected to work the same 40-hour weeks, but in four days instead of five.

This might mean working 10-hour shifts, by starting an hour earlier and finishing an hour later.

To some people this would still be a preferable option, but it does also have its limitations.

Working longer days might have an inverse effect regarding work-related stress issues, as people will be more tired and have to endure more in a single day than previously. This in itself may have an adverse effect on productivity.

Additionally, this could cause problems in term of childcare as a 10-hour childcare solution could prove difficult for parents.

It doesn’t suit everyone

And finally, a four-day week model doesn’t suit everyone and every business. This option would only be viable to those companies who could re-adapt their whole business to function in this way.

Whether a 4-day week is the solution or not, these recent headlines have led to many questions about how best to structure the workplace to suit our way of working and living in the 21st century.

Some are going a step further and have questioned whether having a routine at all is really necessary. Technology now allows people to work when and where they want, so do we actually need set working times or a set workplace at all?

You may also like to read:

How companies are managing flexible working

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CK Group Honoured as Top Supplier by Kelly OCG® for Superior Workforce Solutions

LONDON, UK. (01 May 2018) – CK Group was recently recognised by KellyOCG®, the outsourcing and consulting group of Kelly Services®, with a Supplier Excellence Award at an event in London, United Kingdom.

The award is presented to top-performing national and global suppliers that provide superior workforce solutions, and whose service, results and strategic partnerships have made a significant impact on KellyOCG’s business.

“This award program helps to further strengthen our supplier partnerships with companies such as CK Group that offer diverse delivery models and capabilities to meet the unique talent requirements of our broad customer base,” said Thorsten Koletschka, supplier strategy and engagement lead, Global Talent Supply Chain Organization for KellyOCG. “It’s important to recognize the top performers in our supplier community and the impact our partnership with CK Group has on lives of workers.”

This year, KellyOCG recognized 31 of its top suppliers from Europe, the United States and Asia Pacific. More than half of the award recipients were diverse suppliers.

Suppliers are evaluated on three criteria:

  • Scorecard results of their performance within KellyOCG-managed programs
  • Compliance with legal and program-specific requirements
  • Engagement survey results from KellyOCG stakeholders assessing the ease of doing business with the supplier and the supplier’s partnership approach.
Kelly OCG award 2017

Operations Director Liam O’Connell and Key Account Manager Hannah Oakley of the CK Group attended the ceremony and were very pleased to receive the award.

Liam said “We are delighted to have received an award from KellyOCG for Supplier Excellence at their recent London Summit and feel that this is reward for the effort and skills of the CK Account Management team is supporting the Kelly programs throughout Europe.

The CK Group have worked on KellyOCG life science programs since 2009 and have built a strong and professional relationship with them to ensure that both clients and candidates receive the best possible recruitment experience. We look forward to further developing this working relationship for the mutual benefit of all parties over the forthcoming year”.

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Women in Industry: Mary Kenneth Keller

Mary Kenneth Keller: The first woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science in the US was also a Nun.

Continuing with our adventure into the world of science and technology pioneers, who also happen to be women, I would like to introduce to you Mary Kenneth Keller.

Mary Kenneth Keller was born in Ohio in 1913. Although not too much is known about her early life we do know that in 1932, at the age of 18, she entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and went on to take her vows as a nun in 1940. Not too many years later she earned a BSc in Mathematics from DePaul University, quickly following it up with a Masters in Mathematics & Physics. She became the first woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science in the United States.

She studied at some of the most prestigious universities in America and worked in the Computer Science Centre workshop in Dartmouth College (a male only institute at the time). During her time there she assisted in the development of the BASIC computer language.

Up until that time only mathematicians and scientists were able to write custom computer code. The creation of BASIC completely changed that and gave anyone who could learn the language the ability to program thus making computing accessible for most of the population. She went on to found the Computer Science department at Clarke College in Iowa and remained their Director for twenty years.

Mary Kenneth Keller was passionate about computing at a time when it was mostly reserved for the academic elite who were also mostly male. She envisioned a world where computers could learn on their own and considered Artificial Intelligence to be an extremely achievable goal stating “For the first time, we can now mechanically simulate the cognitive process. We can make studies in artificial intelligence.”.

More than that though she could see the potential to radically change how we educate ourselves and provide information to everyone, anywhere! She was a true pioneer.

Discover the life of Sameera Moussa

Discover the life of Hedy Lamarr

Read about ‘The Matilda Effect’

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Women in Industry: Sameera Moussa

It is widely known that women within the STEM sector are vastly under-represented, and we would like to encourage more women to consider a career in STEM. This year is also the 100th year since the first British women were given the right to vote.

This article aims to showcase the one of the most influential women in history who contributed greatly to discoveries in science, as part of our ‘Women in Engineering’ series. Some of these women you may have heard of, others are unsung heroines.

The first woman in this series is Sameera Moussa:

Sameera Moussa – Nuclear Physicist, March 3, 1917 – August 5, 1952

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive materials to help diagnose and treat a wide variety of diseases. It is quick, painless and usually performed as an outpatient procedure. It has literally saved and improved the lives of countless people, but did you know that one of the earliest pioneers of nuclear medicine was a woman named Sameera Moussa?

You may never have heard her name before, but you definitely should have. She was a contemporary of many famous scientists such as Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Watson & Crick.

Sameera’s mother died of cancer while Sameera was still very young, and this is likely one of the reasons she dedicated her life to making nuclear technology accessible for medical use. She once claimed she wanted to make nuclear treatment as cheap as Aspirin. Throughout her life she volunteered at various hospitals, helping care for cancer patients.

Sameera excelled in her primary and secondary education, eventually winning a place at Cairo University where she joined the Faculty of Sciences to study for a BSc in Radiology. She finished her degree with First Class Honours and followed up this triumph with a doctorate in Atomic Radiation. She later became a lecturer and assistant professor at the university, the first woman to hold such a post there.

She was awarded the prestigious and highly competitive Fulbright Scholarship which allowed her to travel to California and study within the modern research facilities. She was even given permission to visit secret US atomic facilities in recognition of her pioneering nuclear research, and was the first non-US born person to be granted that privilege.

Sameera came to work in the UK and whilst working there, she discovered an equation that would make nuclear bombs cheaper. However, she also set up the Atomic Energy for Peace conference because she knew that radiation was more than just a destructive force.

Sadly, her life and pioneering work were cut short as she was killed in a tragic car accident whilst in California, when the vehicle she was travelling in fell from a height of 40 feet.

Who knows what she could have accomplished if she hadn’t unfortunately died so young.

The Egyptian Army honoured her in 1953 and she was posthumously awarded the Order of Science and Arts, First Class. She has a school and laboratory named after her in the village she once lived in.

You now know who Sameera Moussa was and why she should be your new hero!

Discover the life of Hedy Lamarr

Read about ‘The Matilda Effect’

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CK win Employer of the Year Award

CK is very pleased to announce that the company won the Employer of the Year Award at the Hertfordshire Business Awards.

CK attended the glittering awards ceremony run by the Archant group on the 23rd of November at the wonderful Knebworth Barns at Knebworth Park and is absolutely delighted to have won the Employer of the Year category which is sponsored by Blue Arrow.

MD Jonathan Hart-Smith said “Winning this award this year really means a lot to us. We’ve put a lot of effort in over the past 26 years to make sure we are a fantastic company to work for, and the acknowledgement that we are Employer of the Year for 2017 in Hertfordshire really is a big tick in the box for everything we’ve done to look after our staff.”

Hertfordshire business awards 2017

CK has worked hard to create a great working environment for all staff, having recently refurbished the offices countrywide and designed a new employee reward scheme, just to name a few areas of improvement. This award is confirmation of that work.

Thank you to the Archant group and all of the judges for putting the night together and to Blue Arrow for sponsoring the award.

Find out what it’s like to work at CK

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CK Group receives AgileOne’s Platinum Award

CK Group is proud to announce that on November 9, 2017, the company received AgileOne’s Platinum Award for supplier excellence. The award was presented to Liam O’Connell at AgileOne’s annual European Supplier Excellence Summit held at the Radisson Blu in Dublin, Ireland.

“Supplier performance has a measurable impact on client satisfaction, so the Supplier Excellence Awards are a natural extension of the benchmarking we do to ensure only the very best suppliers get the opportunity to support our clients,” said Peter Carvalho, President of AgileOne. “As a trusted partner, CK Group has proven that they are up to the task of providing the world-class customer service and high-quality talent our clients have come to expect from AgileOne.”

Jaideep Majumdar, Associate Vice President of AgileOne, and the entire Global Strategic Sourcing team lead the charge to build strong partnerships with suppliers. “Our supplier management program is just one of the many ways AgileOne goes above and beyond to ensure our clients have access to the talent they need to be successful. Our commitment to connect, build, and foster our supplier partners means we take a proactive approach to their success. From mentoring to providing additional opportunities for business growth, our ‘Best of the Best’ suppliers are living proof that our unique business model is a win-win for AgileOne, our clients, and our suppliers.”

The CK Group has a fantastic relationship with Agile One and has won the Gold Award at this summit for the past two years running. CK are delighted to have improved upon this by winning the Platinum Award this year.

Owner and Operations Director of the CK Group, Liam O’Connell said, “The CK Group have worked on a number of programs for the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors since 2010, and it is an honour to be recognised with the Platinum Award for the UK. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship and to continue to support programs throughout the UK and Europe. AgileOne continues to grow from strength to strength and the CK Group look forward to working in partnership with them for the foreseeable future.”

About CK Group

Established in 1991 to specialise in scientific recruitment, CK quickly became a leading staffing organisation that now provides a full spectrum of recruitment services for the scientific, clinical, technical, IT and engineering industries.

In 2010 the CK Group was founded to be a natural home to its four highly reputable brands and one Real World Evidence CRO:

  • CK Science
  • CK Clinical
  • CK IT
  • CK Engineers
  • CK Aspire

Across the group, the REC qualified consultants are committed to providing a world-class service through their expert industry knowledge and by forming long-term relationships with clients and candidates alike.CK has built strong relationships with a client base that includes 26 of the world’s top 30 leading blue chip organisations, as well as a multitude of SMEs and everything in between

About AgileOne

AgileOne’s consultative approach solves workforce challenges for our customers by delivering cost savings, risk mitigation, vendor management, employment alternatives, industry best practices, and access to the best talent. Combining innovative talent procurement technologies with experienced professionals and a robust suite of total workforce solutions, we maximize the value of our customers’ workforce, decreasing liability and overhead associated with human capital management.

AgileOne manages the complexities of today’s global workforce by streamlining all components of contingent and direct labour.

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The future is bright for women in engineering

International Women in Engineering day happens on the 23rd of June annually. Its purpose is to celebrate the amazing women who have gone before us as well as those currently in the engineering sector and to highlight the awesome career prospects to young women who are just starting out on their career path.  For this year’s women in engineering day, I would like to celebrate two specific women. One whom you have probably heard of, and one you may not have yet.

Let’s start with Hedy Lamarr.

A photo of Hedy Lamarr

Hedy is perhaps most famous as a successful actress in the 1930’s. One of those “silver screen goddesses of MGM” types. What you might not know is that she was an accomplished engineer and inventor too. During the Second World War, she was the co-inventor of a frequency hopping device to remotely guide torpedoes. Along with her colleague George Anthiel they got the patent for their Secret Communication System on 11th August 1942. Unfortunately, the U.S. Navy weren’t interested in using inventions that came from outside the military. The patent lapsed in 1959 but, in 1962 the communication technology was installed on U.S. ships that were sent to blockade Cuba. Today, the ‘frequency hopping’ technology has been integral in creating GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Hedy and George were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

A quick look at the Women’s Engineering Society’s website shows some very sad statistics:

  • Only 9% of the engineering workforce is female
  • 6% of registered engineers and technicians are women
  • The UK has the lowest level of female engineering professionals in Europe. We are severely lagging behind countries like Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus who have around 30%

BUT:

  • A survey of 300 female engineers said the 84% were happy or extremely happy with their career choice.

Girls are taking up STEM subjects in equal numbers to boys at GCSE level so, where are they all going?

I decided to ask a current engineering student her perspective on what it’s like to be a woman studying what is clearly still a male dominated area.  

Emily Kirk, who is currently studying her 2nd year in Aerospace Engineering at the University of the West of England, kindly donated her time to come and meet me in the office to chat. Emily decided to go into engineering while completing her A Levels when she discovered she really enjoyed mathematics and physics. Always a problem solver, she didn’t let the fact that there were only four other girls in her A Level classes put her off. By the end of the A Levels, there was just one girl.

During her course, Emily noticed that her teacher sometimes made jokes or said things that made her uncomfortable and showed that he probably hadn’t really considered what it was like to be a girl study those subjects. Luckily that attitude didn’t put Emily off going to University and, it didn’t continue when she got there. Although there is still a great disparity in the amount of girls on her degree compared to boys, she said that her lecturers do not treat her differently and the other boys on her course don’t either. She was adamant that she has not experienced any sexism of any kind from anyone whilst studying in Bristol and can even say that the Head of Engineering & Mathematics is a woman. When I asked if she thought that the gender bias in engineering is changing she was very sure that it was, in a positive way and that the future is very bright for women in engineering.

So perhaps it’s all an image problem? I had a quick look at some advertising in the Engineering & Technology magazine that was specifically designed to attract more women to the sector.

I wasn’t impressed.

A quick glance showed that they were trying to sell engineering to girls using images such as tampons, broken apart dolls and in one (awful instance) a rocket shaped like a phallus. All the ads seemed very tone deaf to me and in some ways were still selling the same sexist points of view that turned off generations of women from engineering.  

As a recruiter in the engineering sector, I hardly ever see CVs from women. I am truly hoping that will change in the coming years. I don’t think we are going to do it through advertising campaigns, I think we will do it by changing the way we talk to children about engineering subjects.

Let’s stop saying things like ‘girls are bad at maths’ (yes, that was said to me when I was in primary school). Let’s tell girls, and boys, that they can do anything as long as they put the hard work in!

Find out more about engineering jobs in our job profiles

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What is a Technical Expert?

We are currently recruiting for a range of Technical Expert positions. These roles are with a leading testing laboratory who are UKAS accredited at their site in Greater Manchester.

So what does a Technical Expert do?

Firstly, a Technical Expert is a leader in their field of analysis. These people will have built up a strong skill set in their chosen field throughout their career in industry, and will most likely have an established academic background to support their industry knowledge. Most Technical Experts will be at least degree qualified and may have studied to Masters and/ or PhD level.

Secondly, a Technical Expert will hold a senior position within a company and may be responsible for assisting with training and/ or leading junior staff members. They are accountable for providing specialist expertise in the development and validation of test methods as well as designing work programmes. This could be in collaboration with the Business Development team or direct with customers, to ensure their requirements are met. Technical Experts will then translate the newly designed workloads into the lab and will assist with problem solving.

What does success look like?

The main aim of the Technical Expert will be to provide full analytical testing support for the products and/ or compounds in accordance with any required regulations (for example, cGMP, cGLP and cGCP) and may also have strict timelines and deadlines in which to successfully meet client milestones. As well as performing a variety of complex sample preparations, the Technical Expert will also perform said analysis procedures to quantitatively measure the products/ compounds in a variety of formulations. This could be for stability testing and other studies for analytical testing support. The ability to plan, schedule and carry out work for successful project completion is also required.

Skills & Experience

Typically, a successful Technical Expert will hold a number of skills and experiences relevant to their specialised analytical techniques and will be proficient in developing methods and validating the same. The positions that we are currently recruiting for have the following requirements:

  • Proven experience of devising work programmes and analytical strategies (as opposed to just implementing them)
  • Strong method development and validation experience
  • Comprehensive experience of working in a GxP regulatory laboratory
  • Degree qualified or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline
  • Considerable and demonstrable proven experience in the practical and theoretical aspects of specialised analytical technique
  • Proven experience in the supervision and coordination of analytical projects performed by junior staff in a regulatory environment
  • Good practical laboratory and problem solving skills
  • Strong communication skills, written & oral and strong attention to detail

Find out more about technical jobs with our job profiles

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Do you want to start a career in the pharmaceutical industry?

Have you been considering a career in the pharmaceutical industry?

There are many areas within this sector where there are severe skills shortages and where qualified workers are in demand. These careers offer the opportunity to contribute to medical care around the world and often offer excellent remuneration packages.

But if you are considering a career in the pharmaceutical sector, how do you get a foot in the door?

Here is a selection of some of our most useful resources to help you:

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Are you considering a career in drug discovery and development?

CK recently launched a spotlight on the drug discovery and development sector to provide support and advice to people looking to build a career in the industry. The drug discovery and development industry offer a unique career opportunity in that you will be contributing towards medical care across the world.

As part of our spotlight we have conducted extensive research with professionals in this area, employers and qualified recruitment consultants to gather a greater understanding into how young professionals can move into the industry.

Our research, in conjunction with data from the Bridging the skills gap in the biopharmaceutical industry report issued by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, indicated that there are severe skills shortages and areas where qualified people are in high demand so there has never been a better time to consider a career in this area.

A full breakdown of our results has been compiled into an infographic which aims to provide top tips on how you can best build a career in drug discovery and development.

View the infographic
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CK a finalist in the EyeforPharma Awards

CK Group is delighted to announce that CK Aspire has been named a finalist in the EyeforPharma awards, in the ‘Most Valuable Patient Initiative’ category, for their collaboration with GSK on the Salford Lung Study.

The finalists of this award are all innovative projects that have been designed to deliver tangible patient improvements, both in the long and short term. The finalists have been selected due to their ability to demonstrate real understanding of the patient requirements prior to implementation and have made an exceptionally positive impact on their intended customer.

The SLS study, was the world’s first digitally enhanced Randomised Controlled Trial and adopted some pioneering approaches to gain access too hard to reach audiences. A range of strategies were employed to ensure the data submitted included a broad and inclusive population.

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