Chemical Engineer Industrial Trainee Review

I really enjoyed the opportunity to apply University learnings in industry and get involved in many different projects.

Very valued as I had responsibilities and had to work closely with colleagues to get my jobs done and help them with their jobs aswell.

Support from my supervisor was brilliant throughout the year and I also had regular updates with management.

At the beginning there was a lot of training but as I got more into the job I became busier.

I was given total responsibility over the projects I was given however these were not necessarily vital to the department.

The skills and knowledge I gained during that year were invaluable. I was able to enhane my interpersonal and leadership skills significantly whilst also attaining a huge amount of knowledge about how the pharmaceutical industry works. The placement helped me massively when I returned to University and also to get a job with the company after graduation.

The office was a welcoming environment where people were always available to help if I had any questions or needed any support with my projects. I found my colleagues very approachable and the general atmosphere was very friendly. The atmosphere in the office helped me progress with my jobs and meant that it was much easier to get information when needed.

The placement was well organised in the sense that I had specific projects to work on with a main focus within my department. The training was well organised as it was clear from the start what I had to complete to progress with my project however as a student new to industry the volume of training was quite daunting to start with. The placement was flexible enough to allow me to get involved in other projects of interest and also spend time in other departments to get a better picture of how the whole company worked.

There was a significant amount of training especially at the beginning of the placement which was useful to get an insight into GMP requirements which will be applicable to me in the future. I was encouraged throughout the year to get involved in additional training to enhance my professional development such as networking and Lean Six Sigma training. These skills will be very valuable to me in the future. We were also allocated a certain number of days a year to do volunteering in addition to our holiday days and encouraged to use these.

When leaving placement there was not a clear graduate scheme to apply for however regular jobs become available and having completed a placement at Pfizer this should help to enhance the application. I was able to keep in contact with my supervisor regarding upcoming jobs after leaving the company and as a result am back at Pfizer in a different department having now graduated from University.

Before the placement started we were all put in contact with the other placement students and this meant that we could organise houses together and near one another which helped the social side a lot. At work most of the placement students did the STEMNET volunteering and therefore we were able to socialise. There wasn't any activities organised through Pfizer outside of work where we could socialise as a group but as most of us lived together this wasn't a problem as we organised things that way.

The area that I lived in was relatively low cost for living and it was also very easy to get to and from work in the mornings and evenings. The socialising in the area was limited however there were enough placement students in the area so we were able to socialise amongst ourselves. It was much easier for people who has cars as its an area where most activities are a driving distance away however there are also buses and trains available.

The area near work was fairly limited in terms of nightlife but there were many bars and pubs around. There were also places near to where we were living such as Canterbury which had a much better nightlife as it is a University town. It was much easier for people who has cars as its an area where most activities are a driving distance away however there are also buses and trains available.

Outside of work we were always encouraged to get involved in departmental activities including Christmas dinners etc. We were also allocated 5 days in which to complete volunteering activities outside of work which was encouraged strongly and very well organised so we knew what activities we could get involved in and when these were going on. The volunteer was well managed so we were given all the necessary training and information we needed to go into schools.