Hi Everyone, I am Charlotte and I am in my second year of the Supply Chain graduate scheme at Nestle UK. Currently, I am working in the Procurement function. Before this, I worked in the Demand and Supply Planning function; soon I will be rounding up the graduate scheme in a Logistics role.
I studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, graduating in the summer of 2021 with my Master’s degree. Before this, I studied Maths, Chemistry and Biology at college with a view to becoming a medic. After researching more about a medical career, I realised it was not for me and started looking into other disciplines that used my A Levels. I attended many open days across different STEM fields at a range of universities until I finally found one that felt like the perfect fit!
During my time at university, I worked as an ambassador on the same open days that I once attended pre-university to help inspire young people into STEM. I also worked on various summer schools to give students from many backgrounds an insight into STEM. I love seeing the glimmer in the eyes of those students who thought studying STEM was not possible until they came to a university event. This discipline opens the doors to 100s of careers which students may never have thought about before; it’s an exciting world to be in.
The skills that I learnt from my degree have been invaluable to my roles at Nestle, even though I am not currently in an engineering role. I learnt how to problem solve, work and communicate well with others. I also learnt to think strategically, proactively face any task, and an array of other soft skills. I believe without my background as a woman in STEM, I would not have succeeded to such an extent post-university. I have built resilience and the ability to think with a sustainable perspective.
I encourage any young person toying with the idea of studying STEM to go for it! It has opened up a whole world of opportunities for me and I am always thinking with my sustainability cap on – a must for the current world we live in. Thanks for reading.
