Industrial Placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, there were plenty of opportunities for personal and career development. I got along well with my department and have learnt a lot about the industry and whether I would like to work in it or not.

I felt like some of the work I was given was simply for the sake of giving me something to do but some of the other work, I feel did progress the project.

My manager was happy to meet with me on a regular basis to hear about the work that I was doing and whether I had a healthy work load or not. However I did not feel like there was much guidance in development, I was lucky to receive plenty of advice from others in the department, including previous placement students as to how to make the most of my year.

It varied, there were some days where I had a tight deadline but most days were very relaxed and chilled due to the nature of the work that I do being slow. However I am aware that there was opportunity to ask for more work.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility, I was allowed to interact directly with third parties and write up project plans/technical documents and conduct formal testing, in addition to raising purchase orders (so dealing with the budget)

Compared to my degree, the technical level of my work during my placement was much lower, however I did develop a lot of soft skills and project planning skills which will definitely help me in some aspects of my studies. I believe the skills I have gained will help me more so beyond university.

The office always had a very friendly atmosphere full of all kinds of characters. It was relaxed and I felt comfortable walking into anyone's office just to ask some questions or have a chat. We have also moved to an open office now, so there is even more communication between everyone. We even all play badminton on Fridays together.

I don't think there was much of a structure, it was sort of, you turn up and are given whatever work is needed to be done. Any work which is seen as possible is improving your skillset you might be able to be involved in. However there is no guarantee that you will get this relevant work. There isn't any formal planned training unless the work that you are given just so happens to require that training. There was still a variety or work so every week I felt like I was doing something different which kept the work fresh.

I definitely feel like I've been given many good opportunities for development, more so than permanent employees. I've been given the opportunity to visit many sites around GSK in order to learn more about the different work conducted, this included travelling abroad with most of my expenses paid. I've also had the chance to attend many workshops and other general development events, and I'm very satisfied with this. However I would like to note that I believe that this is very dependent on your manger. I know of other placement students in GSK that did not get the same opportunities.

Unfortunately I am in a position where my department are not accepting any new employees due to head count, however I am aware that placement students do get a fast track application to graduate programmes here in GSK, however it is important to sort this out before leaving, otherwise it is difficult to get past the online section of applications, even with the previous experience.

There is a good community amongst the placement student, going to the pub on a regular basis as well as having a Christmas + summer ball together and other regular events. However I was not included in most of this, as almost all the events are alcohol based and so are not very inviting to those who choose not to drink.

I did not live in the area that I worked in as it was a small town and I was already living in London, however due to its proximity to London, I was able to commute every day as an alternative, as do many others. The cost of living is quite close to London prices, again due to it's location. In my personal opinion there was not much to do in the town (although it was a very cute, safe and clean town), but it was close enough to London to make up for that

Again, as I worked in a small town, there is not much to do here, there are a few pubs and one club nearby, however its closeness to London does make up for it. There is also no university nearby so the majority of young people (in their 20s) are those working in GSK.

Yes there were many opportunities, for example, the placement students were able to volunteer and represent GSK at the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham. It was also encouraged to sign up to become a STEM ambassador and go into schools to talk about STEM, however this is entirely dependent of how active the student is themselves.