Summer Student Review

I have really enjoyed my internship at GSK. I have found the work interesting, and learnt a lot about the company, as I have been able to attend meetings and Q&A sessions. I have also attended Study Days with the other interns which were very valuable, including both tours of the sites and also presentations on the work done by specific areas of the company.

I do feel very valued here- my supervisor even planned a meal out in London to welcome me, as well as the other new starters. The project I am working on is valid and will be used in the future- I have not been given a pointless task just for the sake of it. Everybody is friendly, inviting me to join them on tea breaks for example, and I do not feel afraid to ask for help if I need to.

I do not think that my supervisor could have been any better! He literally sits beside me in the office so is always on hand. As this is a summer placement, he has been on holiday for about 2 weeks, but he has set me work for this period. I know exactly what I need to be doing, as he sets my tasks out clearly before he leaves.

At the beginning, for probably the first week I was quite bored. This was nobody's fault, it was simply because I had a lot of training to do, which involved a lot of reading. Now I have my project, I am a lot busier and the work keeps me occupied throughout the day. However, I am not too busy and have never felt stressed/ out of my depth/ like I have had to stay for longer than my contracted hours to get the work done.

I am in charge of my own project and am encouraged to increase awareness of the work I am doing by preparing and delivering presentations about my work. I have also been allowed in the lab to prepare my own samples; although I always have to have my supervisor with me in the lab, this is more to do with safety rather than not being trusted.

I have learnt some handy tips from my supervisor when it comes to the lab. I have also learnt a vast amount about the pharmaceutical industry, specifically GSK. However, the office-based work I have been involved in does not really use anything I have learnt at university and is quite repetitive- I feel anyone could do it, regardless of studying Chemistry at university or not. In this sense, I do not think the internship will assist me in my studies, but it will help me when I start applying for jobs after university because I know more about what it is like to work for a large pharmaceutical company.

The office was pretty quiet, because a lot of people are often in meetings and often had their headsets on while on the computer. People occasionally had tea breaks or stopped work for a 5 minute chat but nothing more really.

When I arrived, everything was already in place for me- I had my own locker, my own laptop etc. The Study Days I went on were also very well organised with a set plan for the day. I was also made aware of people I could reach out to if I had any specific issues.

In terms of personal training, I spent probably the first 2 weeks of my internship doing online training. I was also encouraged to apply for the graduate scheme, which I have done so- the application process has slightly less steps than for those who are applying externally. I would have been able to develop more lab skills if I had been able to spend more time in the lab (I am 5 weeks into the internship and have probably only spent 3hrs in the lab). However, my supervisor is very busy so this is not his fault and cannot really be helped.

As mentioned above, I have applied for the grad scheme within the organisation, and the application process has less steps than for those applying externally. I also get to apply before the application process opens to the general public. However, from what I can gather, the process is still very competitive.

There was quite a large age gap within the office, with only a few people my age. This made it a bit harder to socialise just because perhaps the age gap meant there was not much in common. However, there was a site-wide BBQ which was nice, and also a meal out in London. I think if you want a good social life, which I did, it is very easy to get involved, but not very many people in my office did really.

The company provide a free shuttle bus from the train station which significantly reduces travel costs. The train only cost me £5 a day, and Stevenage is a cheap place to live as far as I am aware, despite being not very far from London. I lived at home during my internship so cannot really comment on the cost of living in Stevenage.

Stevenage is quite a quiet place to live, and is mostly shops or industrial areas. However, I know there are definitely bars, restaurants and a least one club, so it is there if you wanted it!

Every week, a small group of people in the office go out, either for a meal or to the cinema. There is also a gym at GSK which I know some people go to, and a lot of people walk around the grounds of GSK during their lunchtime which is a nice thing to do.