My first year at Bayer

My first year at Bayer was a tremendous success – in every respect. Research work in a leading international company is fun, and it offers ever new challenges. This is exactly what I found so fascinating about the chemist profession during my studies. In Bayer, I am glad to have found a company that shares my passion for research and at the same time is investing heavily in my career development.

Challenging tasks
During my studies, I already developed an interest in plastics chemistry – and of course I wanted to learn about their diverse practical applications as well. After completing a work experience semester in Switzerland, I spent time with a large automaker while writing my diploma thesis. In my dissertation I dealt with the development of new adhesives – and at the same time learned how exciting industrial research can be for a chemist. After successfully earning my doctorate, which involved research periods in the United States and Canada, I knew what I wanted to do for a career: become a chemist with one of the industry’s leading companies.

Bayer was of course right at the top of my list of preferred employers. After completing an online application for employment at Bayer, everything went very quickly. I was hired straight away as a laboratory manager in raw materials research for adhesives development. After just a short time, I experienced what makes work at Bayer so special: providing staff with challenges and at the same time supporting them in their daily work. Right from the beginning, I was entrusted with challenging tasks as part of ongoing projects. I was received both cordially and respectfully by my supervisors and co-workers in the department, which helped me a lot.

I had already dealt with the development of new adhesives during my studies. But what makes this task so unique at Bayer in my opinion is the extraordinarily close cooperation with experts from other parts of the company. Our marketing and product managers keep me up to date on the current market trends and price requirements, while I talk with applications engineers about the technical performance that our customers expect from our new raw materials. After all, we develop products for a wide range of applications. Then we work together with the production specialists to find the best way to manufacture a new product.

My daily routine

In view of the tremendous importance of interdisciplinary project work at Bayer, you need to have not just specialist expertise, but good management style too. I review and keep track of the results obtained in my laboratory, use them to design new test schedules, coordinate the work of the laboratory assistants and organize the collaboration between the various specialist departments. A typical day’s work for me now looks like this:

  8:00-8:30 a.m.     Laboratory meeting
  8:30-9:30 a.m.     Reviewing results Various telephone calls
                                  (e.g. with applications engineers)
  9:30-10:00 a.m.   Meeting with my colleagues over coffee
                                  (exchange information)
10:00-11:30 a.m.   Trouble-shooting, phone calls, respond to
                                  my e-mails, reply to other inquiries, prepare
                                  upcoming meetings
11:30 a.m.-12.30   p.m. Lunch
12:30-6:00 p.m.     Lab organization, planning of various tests
(open end)              Work on patents and reports
                                  Project discussion,
                                  Produce lab plans, implement ideas,
                                  Plan for the following day

Recently I was asked to help write an important research report. This was one of the highlights of my first few months at Bayer. Working on this report also made me realize what I’ve accomplished and how much progress I’ve made in a relatively short time. For example, thanks to the broad range of seminars and training courses offered at Bayer, I now know the most important points to consider in producing a patent specification. I’ve also greatly increased my knowledge of business administration. Yet luckily, I’ve never lost contact to everyday labwork.

However, training at Bayer doesn’t just take place in seminars. My colleagues are always approachable and the work atmosphere is excellent, and that has contributed just as much to my personal and professional development over the past year, if not more. That’s why the outcome of my first 12 months here is positive all round. With my career goals, Bayer was clearly the right choice.