Process Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, the work I did and the opportunities I had were more than I expected and the work-life culture at this orgnisation is nothing short of brilliant.

I was always treated as one of the team - no differential treatment because I was a placment student. A team lunch was organised to welcome me into the team which made me feel at home from day one.

I was assigned a supervisor for the year and we would have 1-to-1 formal catch ups weekly, however his desk was directly behind mine so was always open for a chat whenever I needed. I would also have 1-to-1's with my manager monthly and likewise she was also sat nearby and always welcomed a chat whenever needed. The open plan office environment meant I always had people around to bounce ideas off/chat-to as everyone is very friendly.

When starting the placement I had a fair amount of free-time given alot of health and safety training had to be done - but this gave me time to familiriase myself with the work I would be doing in the coming months as well as attending other training sessions that proved valuable in the long run. As time went on I always had enough work to do - often a main project along with smaller projects which required less time. Towards the end pressure did build up, but I guess this was due to the fact I knew I had to finish work by the time I leave but I never felt overburdened by the amount of work I had on at any one time. My supervisor was great at ensuring I always had enough but not too much.

My main project for 3/4 of the year was a science and technology project which didnt have the pressure of meeting strict deadlines, however the onus was to get the work done. Later in the year I recieved more real project exposure which brough the added pressure to produce results, which was partially due to being one of two people trained on a new peice of kit which was bought in and different projects wanted to use. Also throughout the year, the option was always there to get involved with other peices of work which again is a testament to the trust AstraZeneca places on students.

What I learnt in a year on the job could be compared to carrying out a masters thesis in terms of my main project , so the skills I have developed will surely be beneifical for when I return to university to carry out my masters. The training I recieved will again be extremely beneficial as some methodologies I learnt and used on the job will be useful for my research project.

It was a great environment to work in, open-plan office with senior members in the company sitting meters away and not tucked away in an office. Bi-weekly coffee breaks where one member in the team would bake took place throughout the year.

Initially to get the ball rolling, all administrial contact was timely and clear from HAYS (recruitment agency AstraZeneca use for temps). A pre-starting email from my team manager was also nice to recieve. Turning up on day-one it was clear that someone has taken the time and put in the effort to ensure everything was organised, from having my desk ready with a laptop (had a bad experinece in the past with another company) to having pre-arranged training sessions in my calendar.

The company focuses alot on people development, and all around training and development activities take place daily. Not a week went by where there wasn't something on I could take part it, whether it was a knowledge sharing presentation or a training session of some kind. A huge amount is invested in employees (inc. students) which is one of the reasons why there is such a lovely atmosphere onsite.

Given they are a big organisation focussed on science, there is always alot of applicants for jobs including PhD applicants making it trickier to stand out. My experience with the company will help me stand out when I do apply for the company again but different schemes/departments have differnt recruiters so it does mean I will be treated as another applicant (which is fair).

Given there were placement students, graduates, apprentices there was a good social scene. Often there were parties/nights out etc. as well as social gatherings. Within my immediate team and department there were also many things going on throughout the year which meant getting to know alot of people I wouldn't have otheriwse got to know in work.

I lived in manchester along with other placement students and it goes without saying that the costs associated was on-par with costs you would expect at university.

Doesn't really need describing as I lived in Manchester so there was always plenty going on.

Most employees sign upto club AZ whcih is around £2 a month and with that you could attend any acitivites they planned (which was more than you could imagine). There were many activites that were oganised within my team as well.