Job Responsibilities
My current position as section leader is in the general
management field of managing a plant. In other companies it would
be called a plant manager. My responsibilities entail ensuring
that the plant produces the products it should with all the
additional duties of people management, budgets and cost control,
etc. Safety is of great importance in our company as we work with
many dangerous chemicals and vessels at very extreme pressures
and temperatures so ensuring safety standards in the plant take
up a lot of time in my everyday schedule. We have dedicated
specific days in the week that we only look at safety aspects
such as the safety systems and inspections to ensure compliance.
We are also currently commissioning a new section to the plant so
50 % of my day is spent punching lines and equipment, meetings to
discuss design issues and commissioning of equipment. Production
planning meetings take up about 1 hour per day with the rest of
the day spent dealing with production problems, managing people
and doing some optimising on process issues.
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Job Requirements
o actually succeed in this environment you require a technical
background, in most cases a chemical engineering background will
be most beneficial. The plant is very technical in nature and
without the necessary knowledge you will not ba able to cope.
Some management courses or degree such as an MBA will only be to
your advantage as you are dealing with all kinds of management
isssues on a day to day basis.
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Uppers
The job is fun. There are a lot of challenges all the time. With the rapid
expansion of the factory here in Secunda we are constantly involved in new
projects and plants being built which requires solid process engineering skills
and knowledge, but at least we use what we learned at university.
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Downers
The job is very stressful as high demands are made and you have
to meet deadlines under sometimes difficult conditions. Being out
in South AFrica a lot of the technology we use is from overseas
and it is difficult to get the necessary know-how when you have a
problem. Long hours take you away from your family quite a bit so
your family does suffer a bit in the end.
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Lifestyle
Work hours are generally from 07:30 to 16:15 with 45 minutes lunch. But we
generally do not take lunch as you are normally very busy with work or in a
meeting. The factory is 5 minutes drive from town and the town is relatively
small (mainly the factory workers live there) so there is not a lot of traffic
that you have to deal with when going to work. Dress code is fairly casual. We
mostly wear jeans and shirts to work, but when you go onto the plant you are
required to wear the company issued safety clothing. The company arranges regular
social events. We just had a Mardi Gras about 2 weeks ago with some local artists
coming to entertain us. The company is also very inlvolved in sporting events and
we have marathons and cycling events here in the town a few times a year. The
company also encourages its employees to participate in national sports events.
The company also has its own health club here in town where employees can be
members at a very low monthly membership fee. It costs something like $8 per
month for the whole family.
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Compensation
At my position the salary is fairly competitive in the South
African market. In US dollar terms we are looking at around $6000
per month which includes an allownace for a car and housing. The
company then still contributes toward a medical fund and a
pension fund. From the level just above where I am now you get
stock options.
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Advice to Jobseekers
This job is a very exciting one. The company is expanding rapidly
so there are always new challenges. The are many opportunities to
travel the world as the company is expanding into many other
countries such as China, Australia, Iran and Quatar. It has
offices/businesses in USA, Europe and Asia. The field actually
originates from process engineering combined with production
management which just opens so many more doors for a person to
expand their knowledge and grow as a person.
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