Courtney studied food science and biotechnology before moving to Strathmerton in Victoria’s central north to work at the Bega Group as a formulations specialist. She’s a mentee in National Association of Women in Operations' (NAWO) mentoring program and her mentor Sandra, who’s Head of packaging transformation at Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, is supporting her to use her STEM skills in a highly operational role.
"When I started studying food science I always pictured myself working in a role that really heavily incorporated the theoreticals of science and then actually applying them to a realistic problem. I think manufacturing does that perfectly.
My role at Bega is formulations specialist which means I take the raw materials we have and turn them into a consistent quality end product.
"My favourite part of manufacturing is I’m never bored, there is always something going on, there is always something to learn – it’s an excellent career choice and really stable in Australia as well, so the job security is fantastic."
The NAWO mentoring program has been great for me to have another woman role model to be able to say here are some good solutions, to be able to deal with problems, to be able to deal with conflict and people because I think that’s what young women struggle with the most."
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