Industrial tranee Review

I really enjoyed my placement because my project required me to be trained on a wide array of instruments and in turn allowed me to speak to colleagues who are specialized in very different areas of research. My project also evolved throughout my time here, which was exciting because despite the goals of the project remained unchanged, there was a lot of flexibility of what experiments could be carried out to build a 'fuller picture' of what I was investigating. Despite the fact that all my colleagues are very busy with their own work, everyone's happy to help and spend time to exchange ideas; whether in an official setting (community of practice meetings) or informally in the office.

I get on really well with my supervisors, we have a weekly catchup session which I greatly appreciate as it showed me that they are interested in my project and care about my progress. When I approached colleagues whom I've not previously worked with, with questions about their expertise and requesting their support for my project, they were happy to speak to me and all agree to help as they are interested in my project; which is very encouraging and it made a huge difference to my project - making it very dynamic.

When I have queries about what I am doing and what is expected, after some independent consideration, my supervisors are always happy to clarify things for me. I think this helped me to be more of an independent researcher, because I don't have to worry about being stuck on a problem for ages without a way of progressing from that point. In our weekly catch-up sessions, we discuss my findings and what to do next, which allowed me to think independently for new ideas and guide my project in a certain direction.

It varies, but I am given a lot of freedom with my time. This has been a very useful year for personal growth as it tested and gave me the opportunity to exercise my time-management and organizational skills. I was given an outline of my project at the start of my placement and my supervisors gave helpful estimations of how long sections of my project would take, which allowed me to plan my year and prioritise. I was only struggling a bit with time because I had to complete two thirds of the theory modules for university which full-time campus students needed to in a distance learning format.

My supervisors kindly allowed me to use 100% of my time at work to do my project, I would say that I was given full responsibility of my project in the sense that I was given the chance to plan and organize my practical work and write-ups myself, with discussions and reviews with them to ensure I am on the right track. This has really given me good training for my final year research project.

I think I have grown dramatically this year as an individual; as this is my first proper experience of being a working adult. I've learnt what it means to adjust my lifestyle so that I have a fair work-life balance, how to prioritise various aspects of my life according to what is important at the time, how to effectively communicate and interact with colleagues etc. Also, I think this year has taught me the importance of self-motivation and perseverance as well; as it was daunting to come into industry and realizing that everything is alien and it is a very different environment to university.

Our offices are open-planned and quite casual; this allows us to speak to one another easily so that we could exchange ideas and discuss results. We are also in close proximity to the laboratories, which makes it quite convenient in between experiments to sit down and do write-ups and literature research. It is very friendly and most of the younger workforce (apprentices and interns) are placed in the same area in our department; which made it much easier to settle in when we first started and allows us to give one another support throughout the year.

I received a starters pack with useful information about housing, transport etc. alongside my contract which I greatly appreciated. I think the most helpful thing Pfizer did was setting up the Facebook page which allowed interns starting at the same time to organize accommodation and have an idea of who the others were; so that it was less daunting when we started.

I was invited to training and meetings offered to full-time employees, my colleagues spent a significant amount of their valuable time to train me up on various pieces of equipment and shared their expert knowledge with me. They were very personable which encouraged me to take initiative with questions and thinking about how I could progress with my project. I really do feel that the company valued my time here.

Not many entry level positions are available in my department, the employees in the department are largely more experienced and jobs are not actively advertised to current employees. I have realized this year that I probably would not like to stay in scientific research, hence I am not currently considering the prospects of working for Pfizer.

There are about 20 placement students, which gave us the chance to organize various activities and spend time with one another. Most of us shared houses in close proximity so it was easy to meet up and do things. Although there isn't much to do around here, in the summer months we were able to go to the beach a lot and have BBQs, which has been very nice.

The prices of things around here are quite reasonable, there are areas we avoid because of their high prices but there is a range of places to choose from. Our rent was very reasonable and splitting the bills between 4 of us has been completely fine. The only complaint would be the price of food in the canteen and the bus fare to and from work.

We often go out in the weekends, it is more about the people you go out with that makes it fun and enjoyable. There isn't a university scene in Ramsgate so clubbing feels quite different. There are many pubs and bars in the area but no clubs. Our best nights were probably house parties!

There are a lot of leisure activities available in the area ranging from sports to art, because of our closeness to the sea, there are plenty of coastal walks, watersport activities etc. to join if you are interested. There is a high-speed train to London and Canterbury from Ramsgate, if you want to go into the city.