hi,

i got a job offer and thinking...
i would like to know some subjective/objective opinions about Syngenta.

my thoughts are going around these things:
- in my country agriculture doesn't sound good...
- i wonder how the culture is there
- i wonder if employees are intelectuals, researchers or alike or...just field workers...
- i have no idea where exactly is, in Basel...so do you know anything about that?...how far from the city?

thanks!

well...i saw their website, but it doesn't help too much...
are they a factory for pesticides or they do research on this?
i see their stocks are going up but is it a good industry in CH?
they say are leaders in this field...in the entire world...but how big is this industry more precisely?

i am more of a "feel" person when it comes to choosing an employer...numbers aren't enough...so i am looking fwd to some subjective opinions...

You got a job offer without knowing any of this?

I just went to the Syngenta website and found the following. I think it answers at least some of your questions:


Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2006 were approximately $8.1 billion. Syngenta employs around 21,000 people in over 90 countries."

Archie,

I really do have to question how you managed to get a job in a company that you seem to know nothing about. Surely when you were applying for the job, you at least googled the company to see what they did???

Exactly how wise is it for you to take a job which you know nothing about? What is your job title?

It's over in Klein Basel near Badischer Bahnhoff which is only about 10 mins by tram to the centre of the city. There is a little rumour that it may move to Germany in the near future although this is totally not confirmed so don't quote me on this (!)

My friend works for them and has been there for a number of years and seems to be very happy there.

Hi, I'd appreciate some insight on Syngenta as well. Brand-wise they obviously don't have recognition like Nestle or so, but they are a global player, have roots in Novartis and AstraZeneca, recruit many INSEAD MBAs (which says - at least to me - a lot about the Company's profile) and multinational business.

Those of you who work with other blue-chips like Novartis, Roche, Lonza, etc. - what did you hear about Syngenta?

My brother in law works for Syngenta and has recently been moved from Singapore to Basel which is the head quarters. He will be moving with family in june (lucky for me). He has been with them two years and a little more. He is happy with them. They are supposed to be the second largest company after Baer in pesticides etc.

It is a reputed company and takes care of its employees.Hope this helps. In their words "you may not become filthy rich working for us but you will be comfotable/well off". SO I guess it depends on what you are after.

i am after being a happy employee in a nice organisational culture
so thanks for the insides

well...i didn't apply for the job the way i am doing "job searching" is sending my cv to targeted recruitment companies and ...they made me some offers...because is hard to find something by myself...i applied for about 20 jobs and got a NO from all of them (or no answer which also means "no")...
but from the big recruiters...i sent them my cv in November and now i got 3 job offers...plus i have put my CV all over the place in linkedin and xing and got 2 job offers from there also...what is also true, is that these "job offers" are not that great, i mean these guys are underestimating me because on my front head is written "Eastern Europe" ...but there were 2 that looked pretty good and one is in Syngenta ...so this is how come i had no idea about the company before...

there are still going to be 2 more interviews...for the moment i passed 1 plus the "work permit" test

[Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2006 were approximately $8.1 billion. Syngenta employs around 21,000 people in over 90 countries."[/quote]

yeah, well all this sounds well...but i guess i should read some more about the seeds industry, get an overview globally...for me, this industry never crossed my mind as existing...maybe is hard to understand...but in my country peasants do agriculture, not companies, and is a "loser" industry...cause the Government prefers to import half of all we need from other countries...or we are constraint by EU regulations...i am not sure about this one...

maybe now you understand why i am so "dumb" about "agri" stuff

Interesting comment about countries where agriculture is practiced by peasants and seen as backwards. I'm in the U.S. and involved in ag, and it's a pretty high-tech business -- not that public perception here is fully caught up with that. People tend to picture farmers either as down-to-the-earth simpletons (perhaps akin to your peasants), or as part of a huge conspiracy seeking to monopolize and industrialize food production.

The truth is neither. They're smart business people who do increasingly use technology and some industrial features, like specialization, mechanization, economy of scale, and in some segments vertical integration, to become more efficient and succeed.

Back to Syngenta -- the world's population is going to grow by another 3 billion people or so, and they'll need to eat. There's very little new land that can be put into agriculture. We can't keep destroying rainforests to plant crops. So a big part of the answer has to be to increase production on the existing farmland. Syngenta and a handful of other global companies are very important in this picture... they develop higher-yielding seeds and better herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. to increase production. Syngenta puts about 10% of its sales revenue back into R&D.

Isn't Syngenta mainly know for the genetic modification and genetic engineering of its seeds?

My grandparents are peasants and they have and had a hard life. far from me the thought of denigrating them...but yes, agriculture doesn't have a good brand/image in my home country

Tilia, yes, they are in the GMO business as part of their seeds business. They also do a great deal of conventional plant breeding. Ag companies are increasingly using sophisticated techniques to identify and map genes within a given plant species, target certain native traits, then cross-breed (non-GMO) within the species to get the trait into the commercial variety efficiently. Syngenta does both. Its seed business overall is still much smaller than its ag chem business, though.

I love the way you explained it. I learned something new by reading your message about Syngenta. I miss the fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmers markets in California.

LOL that sounds like someone I know ... are we talking about PP ????

I love this ... they are throwing job offers at you, and you can't be bothered to find out what the company does..?

hint ... production of seeds and pesticides is a high-tech industry... just a little diff from ploughing the land

so what exactly are you ... an investment banker ??

no...i am an IT business analyst...who presently does work in a bank ...so i don't know too much about the seeds industry...i found out all that can be found through "internet search" so i just wanted some subjective opinions...that's why i posted my question here...