Helen Marmion

There are many perks within Almac that make the job worthwhile but the most important is being able to work within a team that that is able to support and help with any queries or difficulties that you have.

What was it that made you choose Almac over other companies that interested you or with which you interviewed?

I choose to first work for Almac as a placement student back in 2010. Almac had opened a great position for a placement student to work within the data services team so I applied and got the position. I was attracted to Almac as I found the Pharmaceutical industry interesting and wanted to learn more about it. I also wanted to find out what is involved within the data services role on a daily basis. The other placement’s I applied for where mainly working for companies who wrote JavaScript and I didn’t enjoy JavaScript programming that much within my first year. Database’s were a new learning curve and there was no other roles that where similar in the market at the time I was applying for placements so it was exciting for me to do something else I knew my peers from university would not be doing. I spent 10 months working along- side my manager Jason getting to understand the working world within the IS department. After my placement was completed I went back to university to complete my degree. Once I had graduated, Jason had kept in touch with me and let me know there was going to be an opening for a graduate position so I applied to come back to Almac as enjoyed working with my team and already had the knowledge of a lot of the tasks required. I was accepted and have been working with Data services since.

What makes you want to stay?

There are many perks within Almac that make the job worthwhile but the most important is being able to work within a team that that is able to support and help with any queries or difficulties that you have. I always feel like if I need a question answered there will be someone within IS or the business who will be able to set me on the right path.

What would you tell an applicant who is applying to Almac?

If someone I knew was going to apply for a position here I would tell them that Almac is a great place to work for as our colleagues all look out for each other and help you out when they can. I would let them know about all the amazing opportunities that I have had while working within the business and how much the business has grown in the few short years that I have been working for Almac. If a person did have any queries about the application process or the business in general I would answer any questions that I could and try to find out any answers for them if I was unsure.

What great opportunities have you had in your role?

Within my role I have had many amazing opportunities to work with many different business units across the company. Working with our business users has allowed me to learn more about the business as well as the role that I can provide. Since I have joined Almac I have learned many different skills which allows me to do my job and support my team. I have been taught coding right through to database administration tasks which are all important jobs within the data services role. To further improve my skills and understanding of the role I provide to my team I have also completed a few training courses. I feel that training and always having the chance to be mentored by my peers is essential when working within an IS department as technology is constantly changing and it’s important to know the best ways to get the job done.

Can you outline your career within Almac to date?

As already stated I started my career in Almac as a IS placement student not thinking that I would go much further as I didn’t that Data services would have had an job offering when I was ready to begin my career so it was perfect timing in the end. I re-joined Almac after I finished university and completed a graduate role which then saw me become a full time employee as a Junior Data Analyst. I have worked hard to become knowledgeable on a lot of our database’s and applications so that I can support my team and department to answer question. I have also helped to provide support for a number of projects that have been implemented over the years. I have helped out in a number of projects by building database’s, working with vendors or just giving general advice. Furthermore I have worked hard to be trusted to take on the responsibilities of completing some daily tasks required to be completed by our team. This helps relieves the pressure on my other colleagues and has given me a great opportunity on working towards my next promotion.