When not bungee jumping in Victoria Falls, quad biking on the Namibian sand dunes or cooking up a feast for friends and family, Chengetai is a Staff Supplier Quality Engineer growing her career at Stryker. Learn about her journey so far and her tips on navigating the quality engineering interview.
Why quality engineering?
Growing up in Zimbabwe I always dreamed of becoming either an air hostess, model or chef.. When I realized I wasn’t going to meet the requisite height requirement for modeling, I focused my attention on my favorite subjects at school instead which were biology and chemistry – and this led to me eventually studying applied biology and bio-chemistry. My first internship was at an organization’s quality department and I was hooked! I might be biased but contrary to popular belief, the quality department is not always looking for errors or issues, it is actually the love for the product that drives us to be strict to ensure standards and customer needs are met and exceeded!
Did you always want to work in the medical technology field?
I actually started out in the quality assurance, packaging and new product development department at a food manufacturer before moving on to work at a biltong (beef jerky) manufacturer in Namibia working as a microbiologist, ensuring the products were in compliance with food safety standards. From there, I continued to develop my career in the quality assurance space working at a meat processer and exporter as a food safety and quality manager. My husband was then offered a career opportunity in Ireland and we decided to move! I had never been to Europe before, so it was an exciting adventure! Once settled, I started job hunting and saw a job advertisement for a quality engineer at Stryker. The more I read about Stryker, its mission and values and how it’s a leading medical technology company helping to make healthcare better, the more I wanted to work for Stryker, so I applied.
What has your first year at Stryker been like?
My first year here has been unique as I started remotely. Apart from not physically being onsite, I don’t think I’ve missed anything. All my onboarding and training were done seamlessly in a virtual environment, my manager and team are great, and I’ve found my peers to be welcoming, open and eager to help. It’s a very tight knit and collaborative environment which feels like a global village. My days are always different, and I really enjoy working with people from different cultures from all across the world. Also interesting is that I’m experiencing the different departments of the organization from base plates to packaging and the labs – all within the quality engineering scope.
I was also promoted to the role of Staff Supplier Quality Engineer in Global Supplier Engineering after two years in my previous role. I find working with suppliers very rewarding as the developing and maintaining partnerships with our supply base enables us to sustain the highest level of reliability, quality and value in our Stryker product and ultimately helps us to make healthcare better.
Do you have any advice for other quality engineers looking to apply at Stryker?
Be yourself The interviewers are interested to get to know the real you - not only what you can bring to the role but what your interests are, and what you do outside of work.
Prepare for your interview Stryker has a great mission and values that I can truly relate to. I urge you to visit stryker.com and careers.stryker.com to learn more about the company, how it improves lives, its culture and environment.
Read reviews Another good tip is to read reviews on Stryker on sites like Glassdoor for candidate insight into the company.
Connect on LinkedIn Finally, find out who you will be interviewing with and look them up on LinkedIn and remember to link in with your talent acquisition contact. Your assigned recruiting contact might be your biggest asset. Ask for guidance, insights and tips on the process, the interviewers, products and anything else Stryker related.
For more on engineering at Stryker and our latest job openings, visit our engineering careers page.