Sandra Inauen
Working at CHT – it runs in the family. When I was looking for an apprenticeship in 2008, my brother and my uncle were already employed here and only had positive things to say about working at CHT. But that wasn’t the only factor I considered, but rather that I was actually quite interested in completing my diploma as a laboratory technician in the textiles industry because it’s a unique but dynamic and creative career in natural sciences. In Switzerland an average of just 5 apprentices complete their diploma in this field and since CHT Switzerland AG was closeby and looking for applicants it was a golden opportunity. In short there were a lot of reasons why I chose to start my career here. Now I’ve been with the company for 11 years and have had a wealth of opportunities to develop as a professional and continue building on my expertise.
Career start with the best prospects
After completing my diploma as a laboratory technician I worked in that role in the quality control department for two years. In 2014 – so two years later – I stepped into the role of team lead for the BU textile auxiliaries in quality control. In 2016 I transferred internally to the technical service textile auxiliaries team in the role of applications engineer and was able to take on the position as team lead and coordindator after three years. Since August 2020, CHT has also enabled me to work part-time as a specialist teacher for students pursuing the Textile Laboratory Technician Diploma, where I pass the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years on to the next generation of young talents.
What are your core responsibilities?
In my team, we don't develop products, but provide the service and analysis required for laboratory work for various technical areas such as finishing, coating, analytics, microscopy, pretreatment or PET recycling. We also provide comprehensive consulting and training services for our teammates, customers or even schools. This means that our team has to have very broad knowledge and a lot of experience to perform our tasks effectively. It fills me with pride when I see how much expertise I've been able to acquire in all these different areas. My concrete tasks are very diverse and include, among other things, ensuring that laboratory work in the above-mentioned areas is carried out and delivered on time and with the correct content, such as technical formulations and process recommendations, claim clarifications or the submission of technical recommendations to our international customers, ASM (Area Sales Managers, such as HR-Ambassador Daniel Castillo) and RSM (Regional Sales Managers). If necessary, together with other application engineers, I support our local customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by providing technical assistance during operational trials. Furthermore, I am responsible for the management of 3 employees as well as 1-3 apprentices in the lab technician pool.
What makes working at CHT so special?
CHT is a forward-thinking employer that gives young people a chance to take on responsibility early and that supports and promotes an independent, entrepreneurial way of working. I really appreciate the open style of communication we have here and the way we work together as one big team. We’re like a family at CHT, internally and throughout the business group. Work and private life often blur together – but of course only if you want that. A lot of people have found friends for life here. And another great thing is that you’re really respected as an individual here – all my tattoos and piercings have never been a big deal here. What’s more I have access to labs with cutting edge technology with plenty of space, two big wintergardens with breathtaking views, a gym, two canteens, our gardens and a lot of cool events like our Oktoberfest… And I also have a great view of the countryside from my office!
Describe the team spirit of your team at CHT.
The word diversity is actually the first thing that comes to mind when I think of my team of 14 people. Our department is quite a colorful bunch of women and men of different ages and with a broad range of different interests. What I value most in our department is that we are constantly in the process of shaping and growing what we refer to as our knowledge culture in order to move forward together. For example, (under normal conditions before the pandemic) we hold so-called specialist training sessions together about once a month, in which we all jointly acquire knowledge about specific topics, new products, new trends or current cases. In addition, we have a regular team meeting where we all openly discuss whatever’s on our hearts or minds – we give each other feedback, communicate our wishes, changes we might desire, share our ideas... in our team we have – in my personal opinion – an exemplary sense of team spirit and an open communication culture that make it really fun to work together so successfully and effectively.
