Communications Executive Review

For the majority of my time on placement with Baxter, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I was given a lot of responsibility which meant I was able to develop significantly throughout the year. Due to the nature of the role, I was also able to work with a wide variety of different teams across the business which was very interesting.

I felt very valued at Baxter. The majority of employees there treat the students the same as they would any other colleague which is great. The level of responsibility you are given means that you are fully integrated into your team.

My manager provided me with lots of support throughout the placement. We had weekly 1 to 1's so that we could catch up on what each of us was working on and discuss any issues or areas for development, I found these extremely helpful. Every employee at Baxter (including the students) is required to complete a 6 month and end of year review as well in which you set goals and development areas with your manager. This structure meant that my development was very well structured and monitored to ensure that I got the best out of the placement. I really felt like Baxter genuinely wanted me to make the most out of my time there.

The workload did seem to fluctuate throughout the placement, sometimes quite drastically. When I first started in July I didn't have very much to do for the first couple of months, but as I developed and my manager was able to handover tasks with higher levels of responsibility meaning my workload increased. Since Christmas I have been very busy every day. Sometimes this can be a little stressful but generally I prefer having lots to do.

I feel that I have been given a lot of responsibility on my placement. I have been given my own projects which I have been allowed to manage with minimal supervision. I feel that I am a fully integrated member of the team.

The skills I have developed during my time at Baxter will definitely assist me in my studies and beyond. My time management has definitely improved as I am often responsible for tasks which must be completed within short deadlines. I also feel that I am more independent now and capable of finding solutions to problems without relying on someone else. During my placement I was also given the opportunity to take part in lots of training courses, for example I did a Presentation Skills course which will definitely be useful for me in the future. I now also have a much better understanding of the healthcare system in the UK and Ireland and a better insight into the different career paths within the healthcare industry, I think this will be very useful when I consider the career path I wish to pursue in the future.

The general atmosphere in the office was very friendly and approachable - you could wander round the office and ask someone in a different team a question if you needed to and everyone was more than happy to help you. The office was quite a sociable environment as well - for example you could be getting yourself a coffee at the coffee station and someone from the Senior Management Team could start up a conversation with you. Something which was very nice about Baxter was that it is not very hierarchical. You could quite happily speak to the General Manager the same way you would speak to anyone else in the office. Baxter also have a social committee which I joined while I was there.

The placement was very well organised and our development plans were well structured to ensure we got the most out of the placement. The students also had monthly catch up meetings with our placement advisor at Baxter so that we could talk about any issues or questions which we didn't feel comfortable discussing with our line managers.

Baxter invested a lot of resources into our training and development. We were allowed to attend almost all if the same training courses as any other employee (obviously taking into account whether we would benefit from them).

I would definitely be interested in working with Baxter in the future, although I don't think I would want to work in Communications (not a reflection of the placement, this is just not the career path that interests me any more). Baxter is a very respectable company to work for and I fully stand by their company values. Baxter also have a great graduate scheme which is only offered to students who have completed the placement year with them, meaning there is far less competition when applying. The graduate scheme is 18 months long and includes 3 6-month rotations in a marketing role, contracts role and sales role. This gives you lots of experience in different areas of the business.

The students all got on very well and occasionally went on nights out and out for dinner etc, The only small issue is that Baxter is located in the middle of the countryside in West Berkshire, so the nearest place to go out is Reading which is quite a trek.

I lived in Abingdon and was lucky to share my rent with my boyfriend who also had a placement nearby. I don't think I would have been able to afford to live there on my own. The other students lived in Reading, either at home or in student accommodation so this was affordable. Night outs in Reading were reasonable in terms of cost.Overall I think it's definitely affordable if you find the right place, averaging £400-£500 per month.

Non-existent. Baxter is located in a tiny village called Compton which literally has a school, a corner shop and a dentist. You have to go to Reading if you are looking for a night out which is about 45 minutes away from Baxter.

Occassional social events organised by the social committee - for example going to the dog races, theatre trips in London etc and some volunteering events.