Process Microbiologist Review

My work placement with GSK was very enjoyable but challenging. Every day brought a new opportunity for me to develop my skills and if given the chance I would do it again. It was very enjoyable and I got along well with my team. I would recommend a placement here.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. They were always there to support me and gave me opportunities to develop my skills. They treated me as a member of the team rather than a student and this was shown throughout the company rather than just within my team members. My ideas were considered and I felt like I was contributing to the team.

My supervisor was always available to talk and also held a monthly meeting with me to discuss my progress and discuss what else I wanted to do in my placement. Other management was always available and were happy to talk to me with any questions I had. My line manager also gave me a mentor who was very easy to talk to.

My day to day job had different levels of busy. Depending on what I was doing I was either very busy, or my days were more relaxed, allowing me to catch up on paperwork or explore other roles. I was never bored, and never felt like I had an unmanageable amount of work to do.

I would never have expected to have as much responsibility as I did. I was leading critical processes after only a few months and given charge of production lines with the full trust of the managers. I never felt unsupported despite the responsibility and was happy to have been allowed the opportunity.

I believe my skills in biology were furthered beyond my degree as I was shown aspects of biology that I would not have come across during the course of my degree. I was given experience in aseptic capability and shown where my degree can take me if I open myself up beyond lab work.

My office was very relaxed and the people within were very friendly and easy to work with. People were always up for a chat, either about work or about how their weekend was and overall it was a very comfortable place to work. The office was hardworking but open for a bit of fun.

The placement within the company was mostly well organised. The training beyond my placement was a little disorganised but within my team, it was very easy to get training and my year was structured to help me to get the most out of my year. It was easy to get things sorted and it was generally clear who to go to if I needed help.

I felt like a full time employee and there was no difference in my training versus the other permanent staff that joined before and after me. My line manager helped to get me involved in as many activities as he could so I could learn as much as I could in my year.

GSK has lots of future employment prospects, from the future leaders program to the wide variety of graduate programs available. It is also a company that I would like to go straight into a permanent position due to the wide variety of benefits that an employee gets. I would certainly apply in the future.

There was lots of socialising between the placement students with trips to the local clubs or to the beach or even a group holiday to a local resort. Between my work colleagues I spent a lot of time outside of work with members of my team, doing everything from walking dogs to grabbing a pint after work.

Living costs were very expensive but manageable on the wage that you were paid. Rent was the biggest expense and finding a house withing budget was somewhat difficult as it was not a student area. However with a bit of caution it was easy to pay all of my bills and still be able to save some money.

Nightlife in the town where I worked was quiet, with only a few clubs. However a larger city was close enough to travel to and a night bus was available to get back. There were plenty of local pubs within my area that were good to go to for a pint but overall I did not visit the clubs.

There were some chances for charity work with work, however, there were not many opportunities to do things with work apart from travel internally within different sites. If you were willing to look outside work there were plenty of clubs to join and plenty of things to get involved with in the local community.