After my training as a chemical laboratory assistant and subsequent further training as a chemical technician, I started to work as a chemical laboratory assistant in crop protection research. After a while, my group leader switched to the training department and called me six months later to ask if I wanted to become a vocational trainer, too. I didn’t really feel like it, I wanted to do chemical research. But my ex-group leader convinced me, he was able to assess my talents better than I could at that time. And so, for many years I hired and trained young colleagues and even had to recommend whose employment was to be terminated; in short, I did everything that comes with personnel responsibility. I also represented BASF at trade fairs and thus gained a strong connection to the company. After eight years, I longed for scientific input again and monitored the vacancies in our internal job portal. There I finally found a laboratory team leader position in crop protection research, which required a chemo-technical background. I had been told several times that no one could become a laboratory team leader without a university degree. This was a motivating challenge and a burden at the same time. I just applied. And I got the job, because the department head saw me as a bridge builder between laboratory personnel and lab team leaders / group leaders. Today I lead a team with nine employees, I am an industrial supervisor for two students who are working on their PhD theses in flow chemistry at Imperial College London and am a cooperation partner for KIT. I have enough freedom and responsibility in my position and at the same time always face new challenges in the technical field. That’s why I am happy with what I am doing and where I have arrived with my career journey.
