Product Development Scientist Review

I work as a formulation scientist. As a part of my day to day work I investigate new ingredients and subsequent formulation of those ingredients to create new haircare products and formats. My role consists firstly of proposing and making new formulations, and then testing them with a variety of characterization methods and consumer trials to understand consumer perception of the new products throughout the wash cycle.

Towards the beginning half it was mostly focused on learning techniques and understanding, mostly other people came up with the experiments and ideas that I did. However, it was my responsibility to schedule testing and carry everything out. I now have a lot more responsibility in the second half of my placement, where I propose experiment ideas, contact people for feasibility and then carry it out.

I learned new skills relating to formulation and grew many transferrable skills. I've had to pitch many new experiment ideas and results to teams improving my communication skills. I've learned many many new technical skills and measures such as rheology and DSC which I did not learn at all on my course and are typically very industry specific.

I received a lot of support and training during my placement, especially toward the beginning. It was a lot of training and focusing on learning techniques and understanding. Now I feel I have more guidance on soft skills, as I've become more experienced in the technical measures and understanding formulative experimental design.

The culture here is very laid back. There are really no deadlines for anything, you can work from home whenever you see fit and there is a lot of flexibility around the work that you do/timing as long as it's related to your project. Mostly everyone is very nice and willing to have a chat, and there are a lot of activities to encourage having fun in your workplace. :)

I'm really enjoying my placement. It's in an area that I've always wanted to work in and I'm learning a lot about the industry I want to be in when I graduate. I've met and connected with so many great people and have received a lot of guidance about my professional development.

Yes