| |
|
Barrie-John
Williams (above), Chemical Engineering with Minerals
Processing Engineering, Birmingham. Joined Chemicals
Business Unit in 1995.
'When
I talked to my university friends, I realised what
a high-level I was working at from the outset. They
were sitting in offices doing small projects, whereas
I was commissioning an expanded silver nitrate plant,
working in the real commercial world, getting the best
out of people and improving the quality and throughput
of the product.
After
a year, I moved from development to production. I liked the
change in pace, as the work was continuous with challenging
targets. I was constantly doing something different: making
decisions, sorting problems and providing technical advice.
During that time Johnson Matthey supported my educational
needs - I wanted to learn Chinese, which I did at evening
classes!
This
led to a fabulous opportunity based in Hong Kong in
a commercial role providing technical and marketing
support to local sales managers across Asia. I used
my technical skills to understand customer's needs
and provide solutions - while seeing places I never
dreamed I would visit. My
journey has since continued and I now manage our US jewellery
sales team based in New York. Yet another set of challenges
to maximise sales opportunities, motivate staff and solve
problems. There are always opportunities to be grabbed.
Looking
back I can't believe what a wonderful ride it's been
and how lucky I have been. I've already experienced
a wide range of roles - both technical and commercial.
I have gained management skills and know what it takes
to run a business. I now look forward to whatever's
next! ' |
|
Paul
Williams, Materials Science, BSc, MSc, PhD, Brunel.
Joined Precious Metals in 1997.
'I
joined Johnson Matthey after completing my PhD (and after
back-packing around the world for a year as well) and spent
just over 2 years in the technical development team of our
Noble Metals business unit.
My
role evolved considerably in the time I spent there,
with direct customer contact taking an increasingly
significant proportion of my time. I transferred to
the Sales and Marketing department as a Product Specialist.
In this role I travel extensively, all over the world,
being the primary contact with our Glass Industry customers.
In this field there are no standard "off-the-shelf" solutions
- you have to be able to understand the customers problems
and come up with creative solutions, often on the spot.
It's challenging, but if you can do it, immensely satisfying. Learning
and development shouldn't stop when you get a job, quite the
opposite in fact. I've been on a number of internal Johnson
Matthey development course including the year long business
training course, as well as external courses in a number of
different fields, from sales and negotiating skills through
to computer applications training. I'm currently half way
through a part-time MBA which Johnson Matthey is encouraging
and sponsoring. '
|
|