"I think the personality of a coach was a very good match to my personality and the personality that you need to be a chemist. It is important to be a problem solver and creative, as in laboratories I sometimes have to change my method if I come across a problem. Being able to work with a wide range of people and being a good listener is also important as you will often be listening to or giving presentations, as well as working with teams of people, some which you might not like, to do research. Finally, being friendly, trustworthy and honest are all essential as the role of a chemist is being part of a large society that builds on these values. "

"At the moment I am an undergraduate chemist, a role which involves a lot of learning of concepts that we can then use in real life both about chemistry and maths. However the most exciting part of what I do is definitely not sitting in front of books and trying to understand mechanisms. Once a week, I work in a laboratory, for 12pm-5pm, where I carry out different experiments. Here, I get to wear a lab coat, goggles and gloves, which even now I still find exciting. I also get to use lots of different machines such as a rotary evaporator, essentially a larger stirrer that turns liquids into solids by heating them, or IR spectroscopy machines. The outcome of my work is sometimes to make different chemicals that are much more useful than the ones we started off with, or sometimes to test chemicals to see if they meet standards to make them safe for you to use. The starting salary of my job once I am completely qualified is about £24,000. "

"The first person that inspired me to continue with chemistry after my A-Levels was my chemistry teacher, who would spend countless hours helping me out, as I was never the best at chemistry when I was at school. She helped me enjoy the subject and want to explore it further. To get to where I am today, I had to do a lot of work experience so that I had all the skills that I needed for university. At first I did work experience at a construction company but felt out of place and I didn't enjoy the job. I realised I wanted to have a more practical and hands on job so over summer, I worked at a laboratory that made and tested bandages before sending them off to hospitals, where I got to travel all around the UK visiting their factories and making sure they were clean and working well. I also got to use some cool machines, some bigger than me, to test different properties of the bandages once they were made, making sure they were correct. The work experience that I did really helped me find out what jobs I loved and what jobs I hated making the choice of undergraduate chemistry much much easier. "

"In my spare time, I enjoy a game of football! I play for a local team and when I have extra time in term breaks I coach younger girls in the club. My partner is also a fisherman, so surprisingly I now enjoy heading out to the river with him when the weather is nice for a day of catching fish, something I never thought I would enjoy as I am not a patient person at all!! Aside from my hobbies, I read novels in my spare time and love a scary film every now and then. "

"My typical day currently starts at 9 am, unless its a Thursday where I spend all day in the laboratory. Most of my day at this stage of my career is either being part of meetings, listening to presentations or sitting at my laptop replying to different emails. A large part of my day is group work and research. For example, at the minute I am part of a project investigating pollution levels in Bristol, so once a week I have to go out and check that all my equipment is still in place and working. I also have to meet with my team often, to discuss if deadlines are being met and prepare presentations which we have to give to senior colleges that manage our project. The day involves a lot of maths and I often find myself spending large amounts of time analysing and problem solving. The day doesn't have a set finish time, some days I finish at 2 pm, some days I am working till 6 pm! The outcome of what I do in a day at this stage is to prepare me for working in a company so that I have all the skills I need. "

"After my GCSE's, I started my A-Levels in chemistry, physics and maths. I had no idea as to what I wanted to do as a job role at this point so I simply chose the subjects I enjoyed the most! Once I finished my A-Levels, I applied to the University of Manchester to study chemical engineering. Two weeks before I was meant to be driving down to Manchester to start, I changed my mind! That's how I ended up in Bristol as an undergraduate chemist. "