Career Profile
Rachel Evans
Analytical Chemist
I joined Dow Corning in 1998 after being made redundant from my previous employer, where I was employed in an analytical testing capacity. I live in South Wales so I already knew who Dow Corning were, and heard that they had an excellent reputation for looking after and developing their employees. As it turns out, everything I'd heard was true!
There are many facets to my role, but the majority of my time is spent leading various Six Sigma-based manufacturing improvement projects and enhancing operational excellence across the plant. The work's really interesting and there are always different things to be getting on with, not just in Barry but in other countries too - for example, I've been over to Belgium to set up test methods and visited Germany to liaise with customers. Of course, co-ordinating lots of projects simultaneously can be quite challenging at times, but for me that's all part of the fun!
Perhaps one of the best things about the role is the chance to specialize in an area that interests you, which in my case has been Spectroscopy. This has paved the way for my new position as Quality Team Leader, which will involve improving workflows and systems - a job I'm really looking forward to.
Throughout my nine years here I've had lots of support and numerous development opportunities. Moreover, I've had help in achieving further professional qualifications (the costs of which the company covered), training in everything you can think of, and I've traveled widely as well. In short it's been a fantastic experience.
If you're seriously contemplating a career at Dow Corning, I'd strongly recommend it!
