Two rounds of interviews and an assessment centre reduce the field to those offered jobs, who will normally hear within 24 hours of participating in the final stage of the process. These days only 12 per cent of those sales are in the UK, where 4,500 people work for the company. The office: The global head office is in London's West End, with major administrative centres in the USA and the Netherlands. They're earmarked for roles in commercial and technical fields, as well as for the new paints operation in China, where Mandarin speakers are needed. In the UK, there are 29 manufacturing, research and administration sites - one of the biggest is in John Betjeman's least favourite Thames Valley town, Slough.Is this you? Around 40 graduates are recruited every year to the European Graduate Development Programme. Among the more recognisable brand names, to the decorators among us, are Dulux, Hammerite, Polycell and Polyfilla. Meanwhile at the wackier, lifestyle end of ICI's website, we're encouraged to spend more money on cosmetic and health products, by unlocking the "secrets of the senses" to increase our capacity for pleasure, love and success! Vital statistics: ICI has around 33,000 employees worldwide and last year recorded sales of £5.6bn. They include flavours and starches in food, smellies for our bodies, glue for the electronics and packaging markets, and paints for homes and buildings.
What does it do? Most people will be familiar with the palindromic three capital letters, but how many know that they stand for Imperial Chemical Industries, the name given to ICI when it was formed in the UK in 1926? Today, the company boasts that all of us, every day, touch, taste, smell or use a product it has had a hand in. Sometimes it's primary care: people panic and don't know what to do, so they call 999 and your job is just to reassure them."Having said that, you never know what's next I've delivered five babies in my short time. It's usually when the mothers have been caught unawares and the midwives don't have time to get there Delivering a baby is so satisfying It makes a change from seeing people at their worst.". But this means that when you come across a situation, even if you don't feel entirely comfortable with it, you've always got somebody You have your crewmate who you can consult with. You also have your paramedic supervisor who's on the phone if needs be."I didn't realise how complicated the career progression was I thought you went straight in at paramedic level If you just sit back, no one will do anything for you. They think we're trained to deal with anything, like paramedics So you sometimes have to demote yourself. The course I did was roughly a 50-50 split between academic work and being out on the road."If all you've seen is ER or Casualty, try to speak to a paramedic It's worth asking to get work experience if you're over 18 These TV programmes are obviously highly dramatised They only do the traumas and the deaths Thankfully, most of a paramedic's shift is quite routine.
He graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 2002."I would recommend university courses, because it's soon going to be the only way forward. I found it an easy conversion from being at university to being a professional. Being a paramedic is a very practical career, so you need a practical course. You have to be proactive."Steve Hatton, 28, is an emergency care practitioner - a solo paramedic - with the South Yorkshire Ambulance Service. However, because we're all first aid trained, if you come across any kind of accident, at any time, you're obliged to help."You need good teamwork You'll work each shift with a different crew member.