Suzaan, a chemical engineer from South Africa, now based in Geleen, the Netherlands, tells us about how her career has evolved across two continents, her experiences as a woman in engineering, and what the culture at OCI is like.
Q: Suzaan, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
A: I’m Suzaan, I’m a young engineer and would describe myself as an introverted extrovert. When you initially meet me, I can come across as shy or reserved, but as soon as I’m comfortable I tend to talk quite a lot! I grew up in South Africa in a town close to Johannesburg and studied Chemical Engineering at Northwest University. After graduating I started working at a petrochemical company in South Africa and worked there for five and a half years before moving to the Netherlands last year.
Q: Why did you choose OCI?
A: When I moved here, I was deciding between two job offers at different companies with very similar job descriptions. The choice came down to the feeling I had during the interviews and the people I met. I got a very positive feeling from OCI and the way they approach things, even just reading on the website I saw that the company placed a lot of focus on moving towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. It was and still is really important to me that I can work for a company that has that goal in mind.
Q: What do OCI’s sustainability ambitions and strategy mean to you?
A: It’s very important for me, in terms of where the world is going – or rather, should be going. Even if the world isn’t going there yet, it’s important that we go there because ultimately we need a good, sustainable planet for our children and generations to come. Big companies like OCI do have a big role in this because we’re producers and if companies like ours take these steps to make improvements, it’s something that trickles down and helps make the world better little by little.
Q: What ways does your role contribute to that wider ambition?
A: In my role as an engineer it’s about looking for optimization opportunities. Looking for ways to make our existing plants more efficient which in turn contributes to reducing our emissions or energy consumption. It’s typically about how we can make small changes that ultimately contribute to the bigger picture.
Q: What’s the culture like at OCI?
A: It’s a very supportive culture and although it’s a big company, where I work it feels small, so you can get to know everyone. It’s a nice atmosphere where you can easily approach people and everyone’s very open to helping one another. It feels like a small community rather than a big company.
Q: Why do you think people should join OCI?
There are a lot of opportunities as an engineer to make a difference. We’re a lean company so you don’t feel like you are getting lost in a million people. OCI has the right thing in mind in terms of our future strategy, and I think that it’s very important to work for a company that’s going in the right direction.
Q: What’s your advice to women starting their careers in engineering?
It could be easy to start feeling threatened by being a woman in engineering because we are still a minority. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t and shouldn’t really matter. I think of myself as just another member of the team, doing what everyone else is doing. Going forward, I think it’s important that other young women also know that this is something they can do if they want to. I want younger people to know that if you want to make a change, you are capable of doing that if you put in the time and effort, and with the right support behind you.
Q: Finally, what career advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
A: Believe in yourself – you are capable of doing a lot more than you think and most of the time you are doing better than you think. Don’t be too hard on yourself or make yourself small.
To find out more about a career at OCI, visit our careers site: https://oci-global.com/careers/
