Blazing a trail

Tonicha tried to find other ways she could gain experience and stumbled across the apprenticeship programme at Eurofins. “I moved from Chorley – a tiny town in the middle of nowhere – to London, just for this apprenticeship, because it was an opportunity that I had never heard of and couldn't say no to. I'd never been to London before, I didn't know anyone, I didn't really have any savings... Part of me thought it might go dreadfully wrong but three years down the line I have a job that I love that there are no limits to.”

Breaking barriers

Tonicha has been pushing boundaries from the moment she set foot in Eurofins. “I'd seen from the start that I wanted to become a forensic reporting scientist. I remember on my first day, walking through one of the laboratories and seeing a mass of scientists working on evidence. It was at that moment that I thought 'I want to be what they are'. But for that sort of role I was told you'd need a degree. It didn't matter what form of science it was, but it was the degree that was necessary.

“So from the get go I was told that it wouldn't be possible via the apprenticeship. But towards the end, I had discussions with some of the management. We were talking about how well the apprenticeship had gone and they asked me what I wanted to do.

That was when they said, ‘well we've tried to push the limits throughout the apprenticeship, so let's see if it's possible to have a Reporting Scientist who doesn't have a degree.’”

Tonicha and her managers constructed a training plan for her to follow. “It was a lot more in-depth than the normal training route that's taken. I can completely appreciate why the degree was necessary for the role, because the person that writes the report and does all of the analysis has to stand up as an individual when it comes to court. You have to show why, in court, they can rely on you, as an individual, analysing that evidence. If I were to turn up to court with a statement that says my experience and qualifications go as high as having a BTEC and an NVQ, that could be an area targeted as a weakness.

“For each area I spent twice, maybe even three times the time training, to make sure I knew everything in as much depth as I could, so that if it did come to the situation in court with the barrister focusing on my qualifications, then I could explain that I've done much more in-depth training.”

Paving the way

Tonicha’s training has been a resounding success and she hopes it will pave the way for more people with different backgrounds to become scientists. A vocal advocate for the apprenticeship pathway, Tonicha is always on the lookout for opportunities to talk to others about her experiences and has recently become a STEM ambassador. Through exploring ways to connect her experiences to the wider science community, Tonicha came across WorldSkills, which runs an international competition to celebrate and highlight the importance of skilled trades. This year, a new stream has been introduced to showcase technical skills in the sciences, and Tonicha decided to enter the UK stages of the competition.

“Something I always tell students is any opportunity that comes your way, always take it. For example with a competition, even if you don't win, you'll learn so much and you'll meet so many amazing people and you might find things out about yourself that you didn't know before. When I heard about the competition, I knew it was something I had to push myself to do.”

The qualifying round took place at Middlesex University. Alongside 10 other contestants, Tonicha was given a bench containing different equipment and apparatus, a brief description of what she should investigate and 2.5 hours to carry out a series of experiments to fulfil this.

“They gave us a sheet of paper with a few bullet points of things to think about and an overview of a couple of steps you should probably do in this order. But the details and measurements and values you had to work out by yourself. That was interesting because the industry I'm in works by standard operating procedures that tell me exactly how to carry out certain processes and methods. Being put in a scenario where you work it out for yourself was an exhilarating experience. It was quite overwhelming, but it was really interesting to see how your training allows you to respond and how you can push yourself.”

Tonicha has a dedicated mentor and training sessions to work on her technical skills as well as more general competition skills such as dealing with pressure and lateral thinking. The performance coaches running the sessions are the same people that prepare athletes for the Olympics.

Tonicha’s colleagues at Eurofins have been very supportive of her participation in the competition and Tonicha herself feels it has been incredibly beneficial to her professional and personal development.

“There are countless benefits: the science-based training, dealing with stress and pressure, how to organise yourself, time-keeping skills… they can be applied to anything that you come across.

“I know personally I've sometimes felt like maybe I've not earned this job title because of the route I took. I don't feel like I deserve the title of a scientist because I don't know as much science as other people, especially those that have done degrees. Going through this experience, doing experiments that I've never even heard of made me quite proud of myself. It's definitely helped me grow as a person; I've got a lot more faith and confidence in myself and my own knowledge now.

“A lot of people think that when it comes to science you have to be a genius. I didn't get A*s in science... I was really proud that I'd got here through an apprenticeship, but I always thought maybe I've not really earned it, I'm not particularly any more intelligent than anyone else. But I also think that there's sometimes a stigma around the word apprenticeship. People think that if you're not intelligent enough to go to university, then that's the route you take. Having the Laboratory Technician section in this competition is a way of directly addressing that: look at all these people from different backgrounds in science, and look at the amazing things they can do – that you can do too.”