Science Graduate Talent: Tests Success
Pauline joined Liverpool’s Blue Orchid Graduate Talent Programme in March 2010 having recently completed a degree in Microbiology at Liverpool University. In May 2010 she started her three month placement with Feedwater as a Research Assistant.
The placement was on a project that looked at organism survival and Pauline’s role involved the growing and testing of organisms whilst also investigating how Chlorine Dioxide can be used as a Biocide.
She found that one of her biggest barriers to employment was her lack of experience so being able to gain this within a lab was ideal for helping her take her career forward in Microbiology. Her three months at Feedwater gave her the opportunity to use more advanced equipment than at University, and also enabled her to use her initiative whereby she could work with much more autonomy and responsibility than she had previously been able to.
Upon completion of her placement at the start of August, Pauline has been applying for many positions and recently had an interview with a major PLC company as a quality control microbiologist. Following the interview she emailed Blue Orchid to say:
“Thanks a lot for the advice, all of you at Blue orchid deserve more than a standing ovation because I wouldn’t have done it without you all.”
Feedwater’s technical manager Gary Hogben also felt the programme was of real benefit to the company, stating:
“This is a well run scheme,”
and,
“Pauline produced a high quality feasibility study that allowed us to develop methodology for disinfectant testing. We are already using her work to test the efficacy of our novel disinfectant material.”
