Craig Excited by Career Opportunities at DTG

Latest News

29 July, 2021

Graduate recruitment process goes from strength to strength…

Joining DTG as a Digital Consultant just over nine months ago, graduate Craig Smith has been thriving in post-University life, enjoying the trust bestowed upon him in his new role and excited about his potential future career prospects within the company.

Having studied a Master’s in Chemical Engineering at Strathclyde University, which he finished off in Madrid at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Craig was unaware of the many opportunities in digital and how well his degree would suit such a role.

Craig said, “I was fortunate enough to be approached by Kirstie Cowan, who told me about the position and since then I have immersed myself into understanding the drive for new technologies and digital solutions when it comes to process automation and manufacturing.

“I have always seen myself as someone who wanted to be involved with other people and move around, so the idea of consulting different pharmaceutical and processing plants across the world sounded ideal to me.”

DTG’s mission is to help businesses and organisations transform their manufacturing productivity through an enhanced digitalisation strategy.

Craig is the third graduate to join in the space of 12 months as the company continues to build a vibrant team through a successful graduate recruitment programme.

Reflecting further on his first nine months in the role, we asked Craig a bit more about how he was finding life at DTG.

What are your main responsibilities?

“I was immersed from the get-go and joined the team designing and developing the visual front end of our Cyber Assessment Tool (CAsT) – our own app which helps quantify cyber risk for pharmaceutical companies based on their operational technology. This involved me learning how to create and code visual dashboards using a visualisation software called PowerBI, and manipulating data taken from an SQL server – a database tool I had not used prior. To enhance the value of CAsT, I also worked closely with the software developer, who gave me an incredible insight into the world of app development which I had little experience of.

“I am now more heavily involved in our baselining activities, which involves site visits and devising roadmaps and recommendations to the companies we consult. The baselining activities help me to combine a lot of the knowledge I acquired in Chemical Engineering but also has given me an insight into digital architecture models aiming to modernise process manufacturing sectors.”

How easy has it been moving from student life to full time employment?

“The transition was very straightforward, and I was very much ready to get stuck in. I was welcomed by recent graduates Kirstie and Ross, and this made settling in easy as we all get on really well and share a lot of interests. My Manager and the Directors are always up for a laugh, and we make sure to have a social night every month, so the environment compared to student life is not too dissimilar. Everyone is incredibly friendly, with your best interests at heart and because it is a small company there is a close-knit atmosphere. We even take turns making lunch for everyone and our MD actually put on a BBQ for us the other day so we could eat outside – not sure how we will top that!”

What has been your biggest achievement, learning, and surprise about working at DTG?

“My biggest achievement would be developing the PowerBI tool for CAsT, then helping to facilitate a working model which we trialled at a major blue chip pharmaceutical company earlier in the year. I have also learned how to work well in a very small team and how vital it is for everyone to share a common company vision, having open discussions about where the business is going. The most surprising thing has been the amount of responsibility I have been trusted with which has given me a great insight into the inner workings of a successful start-up.”

How easy do you feel it will be to develop your career at DTG?

“There are no doubts that the experience I have and will gain at DTG will be invaluable to my career progression wherever the path takes me. The breadth of opportunities and variety of projects at DTG means I have many options going forward, which management have always been very open about. The amount I have learned working alongside those who have been instrumental in major pharmaceutical and life science industries is something I am very appreciative of at such an early stage in my career.

“Since joining in November, DTG has continued to expand and grown its visibility massively within the pharma space and I am really excited about DTG’s potential as it continues to grow, and I hope that I continue to be a valuable part of this journey.”