浪花直播

I am one hundred percent sure my RSciTech will benefit me throughout my career as I can forever use those postnominals after my name. As it鈥檚 a professional qualification, it鈥檚 recognised by every scientific institution around the country and even globally.

鈥淚 really enjoyed chemistry at school and was going to study it at university, but took a gap year after my A-levels,鈥� says Katty. 鈥淒uring that time, I started working and found I really enjoyed the routine of it, as well as the aspect of controlling your own finances and adult life.

鈥淚 started to wonder if there was a way I could continue working while studying 鈥� my school hadn鈥檛 told us about apprenticeships so I had no idea of the possibilities. It wasn鈥檛 until I was bored one day looking on the government website that I came across apprenticeships and realised they combine working and studying, so it was the perfect match for me.鈥�

Katty applied for an apprenticeship at Thames Water where she now resides as a laboratory analyst.

"I remember in the interview they told me that working there probably wouldn鈥檛 be what I was expecting, but I had no idea what to expect because I鈥檇 never worked in a professional laboratory before. It鈥檚 both similar and different to what I thought it would be 鈥� it鈥檚 a professional lab, but not what you expect from watching TV!"

Katty鈥檚 role is based in the laboratory, testing both drinking and untreated water from reservoirs and rivers to make sure that it鈥檚 safe to drink, safe to use and safe to put back into the environment. Day to day she follows a routine, which usually consists of using various methods and instruments to test and analyse samples before sending out the results to customers.

鈥淚 really enjoy working with instruments as it鈥檚 one of the more challenging aspects of my role. When you鈥檙e using instruments, things can go wrong in different ways each time and you have to pull from your experience to fix them. If you really aren鈥檛 sure what to do, we have a technical specialist who has a mine of information that you can pull from, which is really helpful. I love being able to learn from the knowledge of the experienced people around me 鈥� it鈥檚 another great aspect of the job!鈥�

Thoroughly enjoying her apprenticeship at Thames Water, Katty regularly recommends apprenticeships to others and often promotes them at outreach events.

鈥淥ur 浪花直播 contact at Thames Water introduced me to various people who invited me to speak at youth events representing the company and encouraging younger people to consider apprenticeships. I think it鈥檚 so important to spread the word about them and get students to see them as an option 鈥� it can be wonderful for those looking to get straight into work and get a degree debt-free while gaining experience.

鈥淩eally, an apprenticeship is just about getting experience while learning. The whole point is that your education ties in with your workplace learning, and in my experience, it does that very well. Some of my university modules are related to the quality aspects and instrumentation side of work. I love that you get the theory and the practical side of learning together and feel it really benefits you to have experience with what you鈥檙e learning about. A few of the lecturers have actually asked me to explain to other students what things are like in a real-life situation, which is cool!鈥�

Since joining the RSC in 2017, Katty has gained her Registered Science Technician (RSciTech) award and is currently working towards Registered Scientist (RSci) status.

鈥淚鈥檝e had quite a lot of interactions with the RSC through Thames Water which has given me opportunities that I wouldn鈥檛 have seen otherwise. They鈥檝e been very supportive of my decision to work through the professional registers as they want to see you go further in your career and push you to be as good as you can be.

鈥淚 completed my RSciTech through Thames Water in 2018. I was able to choose a mentor to help me go through the process, so I chose my team leader. She was great at helping me to understand what the competencies were asking for and how to apply them to my work. I think the process helped to show I understand what I鈥檓 doing and what my role is, and because the application process made me reflect on what I was actually doing I now understand my role even better.

"I am one hundred percent sure my RSciTech will benefit me throughout my career as I can forever use those postnominals after my name. As it鈥檚 a professional qualification, it鈥檚 recognised by every scientific institution around the country and even globally.

鈥淚 know if I was to change jobs, an employer would see those letters and already know what skills I have and what competencies I can relate my work too, which I think gives you an advantage over other candidates because they already have a vague understanding of what you can do.鈥�

On top of receiving her RSciTech, Katty was the recipient of the RSC鈥檚 Chemical Sciences Apprentice of the Year award 2020.

鈥淚 received the award for my commitment to my role, which was a surprise and I鈥檓 so glad for the opportunities that have come from it. I鈥檝e been able to do interviews with the RSC where I have again been able to encourage other people to look at apprenticeships, which is something I am really passionate about. They gave me a very generous prize too and I鈥檓 hoping to be able to celebrate with my department soon!鈥�

Katty is very appreciative of many aspects of membership but thinks that its networking and resources are the most valuable.

鈥淚 love receiving the newsletters and I regularly flip through my colleague鈥檚 浪花直播 World magazine. I鈥檝e read some really interesting articles and I鈥檝e used things from them in a few university assignments and coursework, which has been great.

鈥淢embership is key to unlocking all the opportunities within chemistry. It can be great for networking 鈥� especially as an early career chemist 鈥� and the career support on the website is invaluable. I鈥檓 looking forward to progressing through the membership categories to experience the different benefits that get unlocked at each stage.

鈥淭his summer I鈥檓 hoping to attend webinars and learn things about chemistry that are outside of my usual scope. Having membership there and open to you to use at any time is great, and it鈥檚 definitely helpful in terms of networking, looking into future careers in chemistry and seeing what鈥檚 on offer to you.鈥�