People at Sartorius: Alice Cheng

When Alice Cheng was offered the chance to leave her familiar lab environment and start a new role in Field Service, she had to make a decision. Did she dare to step out of her comfort zone? Read about how Alice found the space to develop from a laboratory technician to a field application specialist at Sartorius and how she not only applied her existing skills but excelled at new ones. 

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Alice had been working as a lab technician in a pharmaceutical company for six years when she realized that she needed a career change: “At some point, I started asking myself how long I wanted to be doing the same tasks day in and day out. I had been doing this job with joy for a long time, but then I saw my job satisfaction declining. I wondered what I wanted to do, and I felt that I needed a place that offered me more space to grow and be ambitious,” Alice says.
 

I wondered what I wanted to do, and I felt that I needed a place that offered me more space to grow and be ambitious.

Alice Cheng, Field Application Specialist

When an acquaintance sent her a job vacancy through Sartorius’ employee referral program, Alice became interested in the position of Field Application Specialist for bioanalytical instruments. And after two interviews, she was offered the job.
 

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Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone 

Alice not only faced the challenge of a career change, but also having recently become mother: the Field Application role required a significant amount of travelling and she was still trying to balance being a mom while working. “I wasn’t sure if this would be a good idea, but the company eased my concerns by committing to reduce the frequency of business trips. I was touched that they cared so much about my concerns and by their willingness to adapt the role to my needs while still offering me the possibility to learn and grow into a completely new role," Alice says. Eventually, she accepted the offer.

 I was touched that they cared so much about my concerns and by their willingness to adapt the role to my needs while still offering me the possibility to learn and grow into a completely new role.

Alice Cheng, Field Application Specialist

When moving from a lab job to a field role, Alice was able to draw on her previous experience. “In the field, we have to understand precisely what challenges the customers struggle with and what they need to overcome them," Alice points out. “I’m good at that because my previous company was a client of Sartorius. Therefore, putting myself in the customer’s shoes was easy as I had done many experiments with Sartorius products.” However, the new role also required Alice to step outside of her comfort zone. “Unlike my previous tasks, the field application job requires much higher levels of communication and coordination to introduce products and solutions to customers and to help them solve technical issues. There was a lot I had to learn.”
 

Luckily, the team made the transition process easy: “My manager cared about how I adapt to work, technical leaders taught me the necessary know-how for our products step-by-step and colleagues were happy to share their experience with me,” she recalls. “I got on the right track in a short time thanks to their help.”
 

My manager cared about how I adapt to work, technical leaders taught me the necessary know-how for our products step-by-step and colleagues were happy to share their experience with me.

Alice Cheng, Field Application Specialist

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New Job, New Life 

Today, Alice is in charge of the technical support for three product lines: Octet^®, Incucyte^® and iQue^®. These bioanalytical instruments help researchers improve the efficiency of experiments during trial and error in drug development. “Basically, they help to identify promising drug candidates more quickly," Alice explains. This accelerates the time-consuming process from early-stage drug discovery and development to clinical trials to production. “Ultimately, shorter timelines in the lab lead to patients receiving treatments faster. Being part of this and being a trusted partner to our customers is something I am particularly proud of,” Alice says. “Looking back, leaving the lab and taking the chance to learn new skills and develop into such a meaningful role, to me, feels like I haven’t only started a new career but a new life.”