Vaccines Industrial Trainee Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience gained throughout my placement year and the opportunity to incorporate this year into part of my degree. I have found it of interest to learn a vast amount about the pharmaceutical industry and in particular, how marketing departments in the industry function, which I found to be different to what I had expected (having never had any experience in marketing previously). The company has a very freindly and flexible atmosphere, which has made it a comfortable environment to work in.

I have found that my team have all been very inclusive and approachable right from the start of my placement which immediately made me feel like a valued member of the team.

I have always been given support and guidance by my manager and other managers who also work in my team and they have been more than happy to provide me with any help or assistance when required or requested.

My workload has been variable over my placement year and I think this is largely down to other people/ managers in my team being so busy themselves that sometimes they do not realise that my workload is very light at times and hence at such times I have not been very busy. However, there have also been times where I have plenty of work to get on with and have always been able to find extra odd bits needing to be done.

I have been given responsibility on a number of pieces I have worked on, however I do tend to check things over with someone of higher authourity or work alongside someone of higher authority before important things are progressed.

I believe I have not only developed a number of my skills, but have also learned and put into practice numerous other skills which I previously hadn't. These skills vary from organisational, time management, presentation, communication to having improved my overall confidence and ability to make quick decisions and use my initiative on matters which I would have previously liked to get the opinion of others on. I have also attended various training courses and learned a large amount about business function, which coming from a science background, I did not have a vast amount of knowledge on.

The atmosphere in my office was very relaxed and comfortable and I found it to be a very friendly environment. I think this atmosphere fits in with the general company culture, making it a great environment to work in.

I believe that the work placement was set up well, with clear ideas right from the start of the year of projects I would be working on and who I would be working with on these projects whilst also allowing some flexibility for projects/ pieces of work which just crop up. However, I also think that there are some improvements to be made to this placement as there were times where I had a low workload and I think this was due to my colleagues being so busy that they were unaware that I was short of work.

Training was provided for all brands that I would be working on, as well as additional and optional training sessions which may have been of personal interest to me.

I would consider coming back and working for Pfizer in the future.

Between the placement students, social events were often organised and a large number of us also lived together in houses.

The cost was reasonable where we were living and working.

Very little nightlife- worth going into London for if you wanted a night out.

Yes, a number of joined gyms as well as local sports clubs.