Materials Scientist Review

I enjoyed my placement as I got to meet some great people who taught me a lot about working life and where my career could possibly go. I was exposed to things that you couldn't learn in a lecture hall and I feel as though my placement gave me an insight into what it's like to be an adult in the working world. My placement year helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses and showed me what I desire in a role I intend to pursue

There were some tasks I was given that I felt were just given to me because no one else wanted to do it and I was the placement student in the department but more often than not, it was recognised by members of the team. In the last few months, I was given projects to lead the increased in size and given more responsibility when it came to day to day activities

I had regular 1:1s with my manager (who also doubled up as my mentor due to my actual manager going on maternity leave) where I was able to go through what I had planned for the week and receive any projects that I could prepare for within the week as well. I sat next to my manager so I was able to ask for help quite easily and she put me at ease from the very first day. She taught me a lot and challenged me to stretch my thinking and apply myself more

Depending on the projects we had at the time, some days were busier than others. During the quieter periods, I was able to catch up with my university work to a good enough point before I got busy again. This was definitely a highlight of the placement as I had times where I could breathe for long enough before I got busy again

At the start, I wasn't given that much responsibility (which is understandable) as I had just come from university and had never properly worked before (part time jobs were different to me) so there was a lot of training and getting used to things in the department. However, once I had got into the flow of things, I was given more responsibility, particularly if I appeared more willing to receive more opportunities

I received a lot of training with regards to using certain techniques and writing reports etc which were useful for the particular role I was in. The skills that I learned that were particularly valuable were the transferable skills of time management, organisation, prioritising, presenting etc that will prove useful for my final year and whatever job I choose to venture to next. Even writing reports have allowed me to articulate myself in a business-like manner

The atmosphere of the office was great - another highlight! People in the office socialised a lot over tea time and within the day over various things. I was able to listen to music when I was typing things up such as reports and my project and some colleagues organised outings that we could do outside of work so we weren't just restricted to talking about work things

My department and GSK have done numerous placements so everything was set up before I even arrived such as my laptop, my user account and the plan for the things I could get involved in during the year. From this, I was confident that I was getting off to the best possible start and I was aware of who to speak to if I encountered any issues

IP unite provided various opportunities where we could hear from departments we may not necessarily have had contact with e.g. clinical studies who do not take in IPs as far as I know. I thought this was a good way to get an insight into different aspects of the company which were interesting and a particular career path. The contractor company also held workshops to help us improve on our employability skills relating to our CV and interview behaviours. I was also given an improvement project to improve something in our department that allowed me to develop skills such as presenting and communicating with relevant people

I would love to work for GSK in the future, either through the graduate or direct entry route. I love the work place culture here and there are opportunities to develop if you make the effort to take them. I believe their methods of doing things ensure that they are able to deliver the best possible products to patients which aligns to what I aim to do in the future

The social scene was good. It was generally the same people that would get involved in activities outside of work when it came to going for after work drinks or going out to do activities. I didn't mind this as these were people I got along with very well but it would have been nice to get to know some other colleagues outside of the work environment. The placement students on my site pretty much did the same thing which didn't really interest me

The cost of living was okay since I rented out a room but I know other students paid substantially more than I did. The town I was in was alright for me as I had coursework to do during my placement so I didn't really have much opportunity to go out and do stuff. However, I wasn't far away from London so it was relatively easy for me to go there when I wanted to go out and do something

There were a load of bars/pubs but beyond that, there was not much to do. A lot of the shops (and there weren't that many) closed pretty early so if you wanted to go out, you would have to go to the next town for a proper night out. I personally didn't mind because between ~9-5 and doing coursework, I didn't really have time to go out that frequently

I went to the gym fairly regularly after work. I wasn't aware of any opportunities I could join in the town I was in and I didn't mind too much as I could meet up with my friends in London and my colleagues were keen to do some activities outside of work