Chloe O’Mahony is an Instrumentation & Controls (I&C) Technician and works as part of the LotusWorks team on a large-scale client semiconductor facility. Chloe joined the team in November 2020 having graduated from a course in Physics & Instrumentation at GMIT.
Talking about her career choice and working life to date, Chloe discusses her passion for STEM subjects and why she would have no hesitation in recommending a career in instrumentation to females.
“I’ve always loved the STEM subjects, especially science and maths. When I went to college, I went to study biology. In GMIT, you study general science for a year, and that is when I fell in love with the physics modules. I always thought physics was strictly theory-based but when I got into the area of instrumentation I learned it’s a mixture of hands-on and book learning. This instantly appealed to me. The course was challenging, but I loved it.
I first heard of LotusWorks when I was in my third year in college. I was speaking to a Mechanical Technician who worked with LotusWorks at a career fair. I didn’t realize the opportunities that would be available to me when I finished my degree or that I would be able to work for a global company like LotusWorks. In my final year, I did more research and an opportunity came up in LotusWorks, which I jumped at.
Leaving college to work with a multinational company is a great opportunity. Working on a multinational large-scale facility is a dream come true. It’s challenging, some days are hard but the team in LotusWorks is so helpful. Coming straight out of college, I was worried about my knowledge and ability to keep pace and learn on the job. You have to believe in yourself, you have to accept that you are going to make mistakes, but people are going to always support you as you continuously learn and develop.
One notable statistic about my college course was the percentage of males to females. Generally, for the course I studied 90% of the students are male, my class was 75% female which was very unusual. I was worried that the working world was going to be male dominated, on my placement there was only one other woman on the team. It didn’t deter me at all from pursuing my career. In fact, it drives you on further”.
Asked about advice she would give to females considering a technical career in a male dominated sector, Chloe said:
“Go for it if you enjoy it. You’re going to make lots of friends on the way. Of course, it can be intimidating but I have learned that I’m not a ‘woman’ on the job, I’m a technician in a room with other technicians.”