What is your greatest strength? 

Challenge drives me.

I am motivated by an opportunity that provides a challenge and warrants success. I am highly tolerant for ambiguity and effective at approaching known problems with unknown solutions. I possess the technical engineering background and skills that inspire my creative, out-of-the-box nature to advise new and critically effective solutions to complex and abrupt issues.

What is your greatest weakness? 

Being a very detail-oriented person, I may deem more details important than necessary, potentially contributing to a slower solution, but with an ultimate goal of thorough and effective results.

Clear and direct instruction will alleviate this, but I have also worked to make progress on this weakness by creating an elimination process to only consider less relevant details to impact the final decision in moderation.

What do you look for in a job? 

Having a diverse education of chemistry and chemical engineering knowledge, I seek an opportunity consisting of similarly experienced professional individuals that will serve as a well-qualified team to tackle prestigious accomplishments in the face of adversity. 

How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm? 

One month to contribution is my track record per previous experiences. I break it down into two weeks of indoctrination and adjustment, a third week of  training muscle and mental memory, and a fourth week of honing my skills. Once a month has passed, I am in good shape to provide significant contributions as someone bringing new and creative ideas to the table.

How long would you stay with us?

Intending to build a stable career in a competitive market, I am aiming to find an establishment to plant my roots and maintain.

Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified or too experienced for this position. What's your opinion? 

If the position requires a lesser degree than Master's, I reason that I am still a suitable fit because I have not yet gained industrial work experience. I do possess practical experience in chemistry and chemical engineering, but it was obtained during my time at the universities. 

I am willing to consider positions with lesser education requirements and less compensation so that I may begin obtaining work experience and familiarizing myself with the position and company. My higher education would allow me to progress in the company. The company is especially desirable to me if it offers opportunities relevant to my Master's that I may work up to even if I may not start work in a position at that level.

In your last position, what features did you like the most? The least? 

As an Process Engineer at Acuity Polymers, I have enjoyed the ability to assume responsibility in creating order in a chaotic manufacturing environment. It has provided me with the opportunity to seek out problems on my own and suggest, then implement changes rather than my contributions be limited to some boundary. Coordinating multi-site and with suppliers to tackle cooperative challenges served as valuable insight on creating smooth working conditions.

The chaotic environment grew less favorable and motivated me to inquire about opportunities in more ordered environments.

What pay range are you expecting to make with your current background?

$75,000 - 90,000 (negotiable)

This is compared to the average NYS chemical engineer salary with a Master's degree of $87,651 as of 2/20/2024 which ranges from $79,506 - $96,645.

What are your long-range goals? 

Striving to find success in independent and team-coordinated projects, I aim to lead a managerial position as a principal chemical engineer later in my career and lead my own projects or contribute to more significant visual successes at the place of work. This may include reduction of waste and increased efficiency of manufacturing and production or development and innovation of small-scale research to be fitted for large-scale production. 

I aim to be part of the creation of something, whether it be standard operation procedures or new patents and publications for products.

How successful do you think you've been so far? 

Four years after graduating high school I completed my BS in chemistry which is a typical time for completion. I enrolled in my MS program the following fall and completed my MS in chemical engineering after only three semesters- one semester faster than normal. I have gained three years of experience as an automotive technician which is a skill I extend to personal use at home to enable self-sufficiency by servicing vehicles of myself, family, and friends. By the age of 23, I am in a position to initiate a stable career that will allow me to live comfortably through retirement by having earned a degree level that no more than approximately 13% of Americans obtain at ages 25 or older, and I am capable of learning new trades to self-sustain myself and save money. 

I believe my success thus far is above average and I am content with my level of success, but I am not satisfied. I am eager to continue working hard and improving my life and well-roundedness.

What is an example of how you solved a problem in the past (work)?

As an Automotive Service Technician at Walmart, it was required that cars getting oil services be complete within 30 minutes and this was challenging depending on what other services the cars were getting. Acknowledging that a time waste was present, I modified the sequence of the service to reduce the total service time by about 10%. 

Originally, once the drain plug was removed during the lower bay process of the service, the oil would have to drain for two to three minutes before being sealed again. This was used as idle waiting time because during draining, the service cannot progress any further including the addition of the new oil. 

To increase the efficiency of this process, I began using these two to three minutes to measure out the required new oil, service the tires, and prepare the paperwork for the following step. In turn, this saved two to three minutes of work, or about 10% of the total time, that was originally spent inactively waiting for the oil to finish draining.

What is an example of how you solved a problem in the past (education)?

During my catalysis research experiments with gold nanoparticles at SUNY Geneseo, I actively dealt with troubleshooting of my own experiments on multiple occasions.

On one occasion, the reduction reaction I was performing would not occur and I had to consider every impacting factor. The reaction required to be purged of all oxygen, so it was nitrogenated in a sealed environment, but the reaction would not occur even after this step. I eventually discovered that despite the protective rubber septum, inserting a needle into the flask for injection allowed just a very miniscule amount of oxygen to enter and contaminate the reaction. I solved this problem by using parafilm as a secondary layer of protection to prevent the intrusion of oxygen to the flask and was able to successfully continue with the experiment.

Similarly, I would sometimes obtain unsuccessful results of the catalysis portion of the reaction after radiating the sample in a quartz cuvette in a fluorescence spectrophotometer. I again needed to consider every impacting factor and discovered that, once irradiated, the overhead lights in the room interfered with the absorption of the sample causing the catalysis of the reduction to fail. I solved this problem by covering the sample in tin foil any time it was not in the fluorescence or UV/Vis spectrophotometers, where it was safely shielded by a lid.

Once I was able to pin down these issues, I was able to consistently obtain successful results.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years, I expect to be leading a stable, professional career as an active principal chemical engineer leading projects and being a proficient resource for guidance of coworkers where my work serves as a basis of success.