Industrial Placement Review

I enjoyed my placement a lot because firstly, my project was highly interesting. I had the chance to work with many new technologies and try out various things as a part of the disruptive technology team. Secondly, I also had the opportunity to visit other sites, shadow people within or outside the department, and take part in various activities such as STEM ambassador scheme, Big Bang fair, and Hack-a-thon competition despite just being here for 1 year. There are many opportunities to develop if you look for it.

I feel valued by my colleagues because they trusted the results I obtained, and were quite supportive when I made my progress reports. They also answered my questions with a lot of thought and detail, treating my very much as an equal. We also brain-stormed together whenever there is a problem, which really helped.

I was supported all the way and did not hesitate at all to go to them whenever I need any help or guidance. They welcomed all kinds of questions and accepted my mistakes without much qualms. I was supported even when I go off to do STEM activities and hack-a-thon and such. I had weekly/regular meetings with my supervisor and manager to discuss things, which was incredibly helpful. I also had a development plan which I evaluate with my manager throughout the year.

I was given too little work in the first quarter because the site was shut down for Christmas, but afterwards I had quite a lot of work to do, which turned out to be alright. I used the first quarter to read things and build up background knowledge. Sometimes I am a bit too busy to write up my experiments on time though but was given 2 weeks to catch up on writing up, so everything was fine

I was given responsibility to do my own experiments once I have gone through it with my management, which was good. However, I am not trusted with more expensive machines such as FACS, which was understandable, but I would also like to get some hand-on experience with it as it is incredibly useful in research. I hope I could be trained on it and use it under supervision.

My ability to plan experiments, analyse the results, and trouble-shoot have improved greatly, and the quality of my reports really improved throughout the year. My communication skills also has developed as I made regular progress reports at team and final presentation at the departmental meetings. Writing up my final report for school under the guidance of my manager in scientific article style also prepared me to write for publication as she was very thorough and taught me good tips.

It was really friendly, congenial. You can ask anyone for help and they would always do the best to help or point you to the right person. I also had the opportunity to bond with others in team building activities and Christmas meal etc. It was relaxing as the office hours were flexible. The only issue is that sometimes it gets a bit noisy when too many people talk as it is a huge office.

I could not find a lot of info about the job as an external when I applied for the position. I was not even sure what kind of project I would be working on until 3 months before the placement start date. Luckily, my manager sent me some pre-reads to inform me about it and was very organised when I come in on the first day. She got everything for me-laptop, locker, lab equipment, etc for me and went through the starting checklist with me. However, some others in my department was not as lucky as their manager were less organised.

I had the freedom to get trained on most things- such as cryogenic training, confocal microscope etc. I think they invested adequately on a placement student. One of my friends also went to a conference on GSK budget, which was quite nice. But often, it depends on your manager-whether they would allow you to shadow someone else outside your work varies case by case.

GSK made it clear what routes we could apply to get a job in the future, which was quite helpful. I know the options were out there, but as a non-EU citizen, I felt that my chances of being taken on might be smaller as they had to be willing to pay for my work VISA. I do see some non-EU long term employees around though. Future Leader Programme was a quite attractive scheme as there is a chance for rotation and for locals, a chance to clear student loans. But I would like to work in academia for a while before going into industry, thus I haven't applied.

There was a good social scene among students and colleagues, There are many events and opportunities to know each other and bond, so it is down to the individual to make the connections and know people.

I just live across a gigantic asda and 10 minutes away from huge TESCO. Can't complain really. The restaurant options were limited but fine for me. Accommodation was cheap compared to London but expensive compared to anywhere else. It's a quiet little town with good cycling paths, relatively safe, and lovely parks.

not much night life I think. there are pubs and bars. but I don't really care about nightlife so I don't know.

There are many opportunities to get involved outside of work. you can be STEM ambassador, take part in orange day (volunteering activity), hack-a-thon (brain storm competition) and attend lectures, seminars whenever you are free. There are quite a lot to do outside of work if you look for it.