Regulatory Affairs Review

I really enjoyed my placement year with GSK, in particular I really liked the team I was in - Regulatory Affairs. There were also another 20 placement students in my department which gave the year a great social aspect too. People were always willing to help if you asked, and there was plenty of opportunity for development over the course of the year.

I did feel valued by my colleagues since the role that I had in my department was equivalent to that of a member of the full time team. I was given my own set of products to manage which meant I was given a good amount of responsibility within the team. By the end of the year colleagues would come to me and ask questions/my opinion relating to the work they were doing, which I felt really displayed that they valued me.

I was given good support and guidance, particularly in the beginning 2 weeks of placement where I had a handover with the previous student. I had weekly meetings with my manager where we could discuss anything I was having problems with, but I would also speak to her on a day to day basis to ask questions/get help and she would be more than willing to help me and provide support.

There were times in the year where I was very very busy, and other times I would have to ask for more work or ask if I could help colleagues with their work load. But on an average day I would be busy enough to always have something to do. I would work 8:30-5 and would never need to stay past 5pm to finish my work for the day.

As previously mentioned I was given the responsibility of a full time member of staff. I was responsible for 5 of my own brands, and was given the responsibility to interact with the other GSK functions such as marketing to ensure that the projects I was working on were running smoothly and that the necessary steps were being taken to reach the end goal of the project.

My role wasn't directly scientific as i was in an office and didn't use too much science during the year. But I did learn really useful skills such as teamwork, attention to detail and thoroughness which will indirectly help me throughout the year, particularly with group projects and my dissertation.

The atmosphere was very good. People would be chatty and there was a general good 'buzz' around the office. People would come over from different departments to discuss work, and it seemed like a very laid back atmosphere. Sometimes this was a negative thing if you had lots of work to get on with, and there was too much noise, but generally it was a really nice thing to be able to have a chat with the team.

It was very well organised. Within my first 2 weeks it was clearly explained to me what I would be doing and I got the sufficient training. My projects throughout the year were also well organised. The level or organisation was evident when I was involved in the recruitment process for the student who was replacing me, I got to see first hand how seriously the placement year is taken and the steps in place to ensure that it all runs smoothly.

I felt well invested in - I gained a huge amount of training internally and externally. I went on various training courses outside of the business to learn things needed in my role, plus within our department we would have group sessions sharing best practices so we could learn from each other. There were also other training sessions for all the placement students where different members of staff at GSK would talk to us about various skills, and how we could improve them.

Quite appealing. The company is definitely somewhere i would be interested to work in the future, however im not sure the role is suited for me as a career path. But I would be interested at a different role at GSK. GSK have a future leaders programme which is their grad scheme. I didn't apply for this but I know that this is a great opportunity for future employment within the company.

This was really good! With 20 other placement students on my floor the social scene was great. Many lived together in houses which was fun. We would meet for lunch and also outside of work on the weekends. There were also company social events organised to meet other workers who weren't placement students.

Cost of living was high since it was london. I lived at home which was advantageous but the cost of socialising was high with london prices. Bars and restaurants would be expensive and many clubs have a very high entry fee. The salary earned in my opinion wasn't enough to pay for rent plus socialise, as many of the people I know renting accommodation during the year left worse off financially wise.

The nightlife was good since it was London so there was a huge amount of choice in where you could go out. And as London is so large there is definitely something for everybody. However it can be very expensive, and many clubs charge a high entry fee. The only issue about London is getting back home after a night out if you don't live in the centre of london.

There were, as placement students we had to raise a certain amount of money for charity. Some of the ways we did this was through organising social events in the evening for all members of staff in the department. We would meet at a pub, possibly play some games or do a quiz, provide food, and then do a bar crawl before finishing at a club.