Claire Evans
Technical Team - Employee spotlight
Claire Evans
Technical Team - Employee spotlight
What do you do on a daily basis?
Most of my days involve answering questions via emails or phone calls from our Sales Team, helping them with their customers’ microscopy applications (i.e. looking at really interesting objects at high magnifications), troubleshooting with Sales Engineers or directly with customers or leading some training for our Sales team.
How has your role changed since starting?
When I joined KEYENCE UK in 2017 the company and Tech Team were both much smaller, so rather than focusing on one or two products/departments (as I do now), everyone in the Tech Team helped with any incoming technical query, regardless of the product it was related to. Of course, while we all still try to help each other out when we can, nowadays I can be a little more specialised and spend time to deepen my own knowledge of the products I mainly look after: our offline microscopy and metrology units.
Also, now I am training to be a Team Leader in the Tech Team, I am able to take on more of a personnel management and corporate improvement role, to continually improve our processes, help my colleagues to advance in their careers at KEYENCE and develop my own skills along the way!
How did you learn the technical side of the role?
As soon as I began work at KEYENCE UK I went straight into technical training on the product(s) I was going to be working on. For my first few weeks in the office, I was immersed in training with some new Sales Engineers. I spent all day, every day learning about the technical ins and outs of the products, as well as spending time with my new colleagues in the Tech Team; I spent a lot of time shadowing them and learning about how to answer technical enquiries, how to organise training and even getting out on the road, attending customer sites on Joint Sales Visits (JSVs) with experienced Sales Engineers.
Over the years since joining KEYENCE, I have attended a variety of skill-up training sessions to improve and deepen my technical knowledge of the products I look after, as well as developing, teaching, and delivering them myself.
How would you describe our working culture?
Focused on quality, hardworking, improvement-conscious, friendly, helpful, and fun!
What is your favourite thing about your role?
When I was younger, I always wanted to be an engineer as I love solving problems. One of my favourite things about my job is troubleshooting with a Sales Engineer or directly with a customer to help solve a problem they are having with their current system.
Any advice to potential applicants
If/when you are asked a to give an example of a previous experience of yours (e.g. where you overcame a difficult situation), try to give a concrete example with plenty of detail as to how you navigated and contributed to that experience. You only have a short space of time to tell us about all your great accomplishments so try to pack in the good stuff! And don’t forget to ask us any burning questions you might have about the role.
