Professional Interview
Interview:
Could you describe the field of Chemical Engineering in general?
Well, there is a wide area of employment… Most people in my UT class went into the petrochemical industry. Tons of different areas like industrial water treatment… I’ll tell you who came to hire all the chemical engineers out of school, Frito Lay… Chemical Engineering is basically used in any type of manufacturing that uses a chemical process, so we use any chemical process and scale them up or down with the right chemical ratios.
What is your job title specifically?
I am a process manager at Calgon Inc., It’s a subsidiary of Merck Pharmaceuticals.
What are you job responsibilities?
My job is basically to scale up chemical reactions of our product and sell the required amount to other companies. We treat water... I really have to know a lot about our products and be able to scale the reaction safely.
What is your average work schedule?
I generally work from about 7AM to around 5 or 6 PM… Actually, sometimes I get called out late at night, 2 or 3 in the morning, because there is a problem with the pumps. It’s frustrating because only the Merck operators are legally allowed to touch the pumps even though I know what to fix.
Could you describe your educational background from high school onward?
Sure… I took just average classes in high school. I started in Chemical Engineering freshman year at UT, but I took 18 hrs which was too much. I went to my counselor to drop physics, but he just refused. So I decided to get my degree through the business school, which had a program to get a Chemical Engineering degree. They let you drop whatever classes you wanted so I dropped physics.. this was second semester Freshman year.Going into sophomore year I had the bright idea of switching majors again to a psychology major… Anyway, in junior year my dad and I talked and he told me that I needed to do what I originally wanted, chemical engineering. It took me five years to get out, but I finished with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.
If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?
Honestly, nothing. I’m pretty happy with how I got into environmental work and my track through industry… Maybe, worked before college, It would have given me a better appreciation for my college education.
Personal Reflection:
What surprised you most about the interview?
I was surprised by the amount of careers and opportunity in chemical engineering. The chemical engineering field seems to be similar jobs in an extremely diverse group of industries, which
surprised me.
What was the most important piece of information you learned from the interview?
I think the most important lesson I learned was to be decisive in college. It seemed like switching majors made college a lot harder for Mrs. Varozza, so I would want to avoid that by knowing what I want to do going in.
How has the interview influenced your feelings about your future career?
This interview got me excited to go to engineering school and go into the workforce. I’m definitely more interested in different types of engineering besides mechanical now.
How has this interview changed or confirmed your plans regarding your future career?
My plans are definitely confirmed that I want to be an engineer, but my opinions have changed on what types of engineering I want to do. If chemical engineering, which I didn’t know much about previously, seems this interesting, what other kinds of engineering might draw my attention?
What is the next step for you to pursue your plans? Who do you need to talk to? What information do you need next?
I need to keep exploring engineering in high school so that in college I know what I want to do. I definitely need to talk to my brother about college engineering courses to prepare myself, and in general I need to stay focused on being successful.
Could you describe the field of Chemical Engineering in general?
Well, there is a wide area of employment… Most people in my UT class went into the petrochemical industry. Tons of different areas like industrial water treatment… I’ll tell you who came to hire all the chemical engineers out of school, Frito Lay… Chemical Engineering is basically used in any type of manufacturing that uses a chemical process, so we use any chemical process and scale them up or down with the right chemical ratios.
What is your job title specifically?
I am a process manager at Calgon Inc., It’s a subsidiary of Merck Pharmaceuticals.
What are you job responsibilities?
My job is basically to scale up chemical reactions of our product and sell the required amount to other companies. We treat water... I really have to know a lot about our products and be able to scale the reaction safely.
What is your average work schedule?
I generally work from about 7AM to around 5 or 6 PM… Actually, sometimes I get called out late at night, 2 or 3 in the morning, because there is a problem with the pumps. It’s frustrating because only the Merck operators are legally allowed to touch the pumps even though I know what to fix.
Could you describe your educational background from high school onward?
Sure… I took just average classes in high school. I started in Chemical Engineering freshman year at UT, but I took 18 hrs which was too much. I went to my counselor to drop physics, but he just refused. So I decided to get my degree through the business school, which had a program to get a Chemical Engineering degree. They let you drop whatever classes you wanted so I dropped physics.. this was second semester Freshman year.Going into sophomore year I had the bright idea of switching majors again to a psychology major… Anyway, in junior year my dad and I talked and he told me that I needed to do what I originally wanted, chemical engineering. It took me five years to get out, but I finished with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.
If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?
Honestly, nothing. I’m pretty happy with how I got into environmental work and my track through industry… Maybe, worked before college, It would have given me a better appreciation for my college education.
Personal Reflection:
What surprised you most about the interview?
I was surprised by the amount of careers and opportunity in chemical engineering. The chemical engineering field seems to be similar jobs in an extremely diverse group of industries, which
surprised me.
What was the most important piece of information you learned from the interview?
I think the most important lesson I learned was to be decisive in college. It seemed like switching majors made college a lot harder for Mrs. Varozza, so I would want to avoid that by knowing what I want to do going in.
How has the interview influenced your feelings about your future career?
This interview got me excited to go to engineering school and go into the workforce. I’m definitely more interested in different types of engineering besides mechanical now.
How has this interview changed or confirmed your plans regarding your future career?
My plans are definitely confirmed that I want to be an engineer, but my opinions have changed on what types of engineering I want to do. If chemical engineering, which I didn’t know much about previously, seems this interesting, what other kinds of engineering might draw my attention?
What is the next step for you to pursue your plans? Who do you need to talk to? What information do you need next?
I need to keep exploring engineering in high school so that in college I know what I want to do. I definitely need to talk to my brother about college engineering courses to prepare myself, and in general I need to stay focused on being successful.