Day in the Life: Carol Devaney Environmental Science BDM

Carol on…her background

“I started out as a Receptionist and Assistant at an environmental chemistry lab in 2001 and built my way up from there. I predominantly did customer service work and progressed to Customer Service Manager, working closely with clients across Ireland. I eventually joined SOCOTEC as there was an ambition to break into the Irish market, which I had previously done with another company.

“I don’t have any educational background in Environmental Science. Everything I know is through my experience working in various roles in labs and putting myself out there to build up my knowledge.”

Carol on…working in Environmental Science

“My favourite part of working in environmental science is the clients. I have a lot of experience working in the sales and customer service part of the industry and have relationships with some customers going back 20 years. There is never a dull day with them.

“I love all my customers, I’ve been in environmental science for a while and I’m still here because of them.”

Carol on…SOCOTEC’s presence in Ireland

“SOCOTEC didn’t really have an Environmental Science presence in Ireland when I started, we had to work hard to establish ourselves. I was able to use my experience within the industry to bring my previous customers over to SOCOTEC. Since then, we now offer the necessary suite of tests to attract customers and continue to grow as a business in Ireland.

“We’re able to offer a wide range of environmental science services in Ireland including soils, waters, air, and marine. My side is the soils and waters, predominantly working with spills customers, drilling companies and consultants, to make sure their samples aren’t hazardous. We understand customer always has a different story and may need a slightly different test than another.

“We have customers all over Ireland, in the north and south, which requires different testing capabilities. For example, WAC analysis (waste acceptance criteria) is carried out in the north of Ireland, but not necessarily in the south.”

Carol on…advice for working in this industry

“It’s important to not be too sales-y. I say that from an Irish perspective as in my experience in previous jobs, we used to have people come over from the UK trying to build a career and being very sales-y, which doesn’t feel very genuine.

“Whereas I walk in as your friend – I’m doing my job but from a customer perspective rather than sales.”