Reward/Compensation Advisor Review

Cannot fault the placement experience from start to finish. The work was challenging and exciting and I was always given appropriate support in completing tasks. I had responsibility for multiple projects and this enabled me to network across the company including different business units and functions. I feel like the placement was the perfect head start to my professional career, its given me insight into what I will want from a future employer (e.g. work life balance) as well as the confidence in my abilities outside of my comfort zone.

The beauty of working at GSK is that you are not there to fill a gap in a team or to complete miscellaneous tasks. You have real value, every single member of the team appreciates your input. Your opinions are really valued especially on processes that have been carried out for many years as you act as a fresh set of eyes to the business. On several occasions members of leadership teams have asked for my opinion on process flows as I have both the oversight of policies as well as the experience in the everyday actioning of tasks. I have had to take bereavement leave at 2 occasions this year and every member of the team reached out at various points to check in on me and my family. They even sent flowers on my birthday. At GSK you are a valued member of the team because the work they do really does take a team.

Support and guidance is always there when you need it. I found that I did have to be proactive in asking for it, showing initiative to ask the right questions etc. But I was never made to feel like I was asking a stupid/silly question and my manager was always happy to help me. From a development perspective, I did sought out my own personal mentor from elsewhere within the function as they had contacts and could provide support and guidance where necessary from a different perspective. In terms of mental health support and guidance, as placement students we were fully supported throughout the whole COVID-19 pandemic, we were invited to online courses etc regarding how to deal with emotions and anxiety during the pandemic. The support really is second to none in the mental health sense.

My workload varied from day to day & due to the nature of my role sometimes I had periods of being really busy and others of being rather quiet. On less busy days, once I had completed my tasks and to do lists I would reach out to my manager to see if they needed any further support. Of which he could usually provide me with something he needed support on. If not, I would reach out to the wider teams. This was particularly easy for me as I supported 2 separate teams so found it easy to fill my time when I was less busy. On busier days I would often have lots of different tasks to do, at the start this was difficult to manage but towards the middle of my placement I mastered the art of saying 'no' to tasks/work. I knew my capacity and my ability and had a rough idea of how long individual tasks would take. Staff at GSK recognise when you're at capacity and it is okay. I never had to stay for extensive hours at the end of my working day and my hours were flexible so if I did stay 1 hour later I could start the following morning 1 hour later.

Of all the placement students in my function and comparing to other students at other companies I did have an extensive amount of responsibility. I was handling very confidential data sources which obviously carry sensitive PPI as well as legal implications. At the start this was quite daunting as decisions I was making was having a knock on impact on peoples everyday lives. However, I never felt overwhelmed by the responsibility and there was always support to talk about issues regarding my responsibility.

Technically, my degree and my placement are not directly related. I study a social science degree and my placement was numbers related. Although this meant that at the start of my placement the whole process was quite daunting and I felt uneasy at some of the calculations etc. It really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and upskilled me in so many different types of software including Workday and Excel. There are skills which whilst I might not use in my degree in my final year of university, they will definitely support my career post graduation. The same can be said for soft skills, my confidence in my abilities as well as accountability and time management have also developed extensively this year. I am hoping I can use all of these in my final year of university and they will make my last year of studies more focused and manageable.

My experience of the atmosphere in the office did differ from the rest of the placement students in the function. I sat with high level leadership rather than other placement students and this did impact my experience of the office itself. Some placement students sat with other placement students to complete their work and had a more relaxed environment, full of fun and games. However, I sat with my team and most of them (besides 1 graduate) were 35+. We always laughed and shared sweets and cakes but most of the time we worked quietly due to the nature of the data we are working with. This didn't really bother me too much but if you were an extremely loud/bubbly/outgoing person I can imagine this being quite difficult to adapt to. In general, the atmosphere in the office was supportive and relaxed. We could do what we wanted when we wanted as long as we got the work done. This meant that it didn't feel like we were being 'micro-managed', so we had a nice environment to work in.

The overall work placement was set up and organised very well from a company perspective, the projects we did varied from student to student but everything was explained in detail and day to day functioning was very good. We were employed by another company, so technically complementary/casual workers, this company were a little more dysfunctional. They changed our holiday pay half way through the year with no communication, they would send multiple emails regarding the same information and the whole process from their perspective was a little disjointed.

The firm really did provide support to us from day 1. They put on development talks with 'inspirational people' as well as providing sessions for us to talk to young graduates about their experience. During COVID-19 they put training on to support us while working from home. They also provide details about opportunities within the company post university. A lot of this was organised through a student committee who were really great at organising social events too.

I have applied for the graduate scheme with this company and I would love to return here because of the culture of the company and the amazing work they do for patients across the globe. The schemes themselves are very competitive which means that I am not sure how likely it is that I will gain a place but nevertheless I would consider returning as a direct entry role post University/later in life as it is a really great company to work for.

There were lots of social events organised by the student committee at GSK. They ranged a lot so you could get involved with anything you wished e.g. pub crawl or mini golf/bowling. Some events got cancelled due to COVID-19, for example there is usually a boat party at the end of the year. I had a particularly long commute for the first 8 months of my placement & didn't get involved in activities as it would take me so long to get home. My team often went for lunches at local restaurants to 'bond' and it was a really nice way to get to know other people in the team. Also events at a function level e.g. HR Christmas party.

Considering that this is a London placement the cost of living/working/socialising was pretty good. I lived at home for the year so cannot speak so much on personal experience but based on peers it was quite affordable. They were annoyed when paying rent during COVID-19 but that is a situation that cannot be helped.

I didn't go out in the local area as I lived at home for the year and commuted. It is in London with good network links across the tube & the nightlife is good. Areas like Hammersmith etc are good and not too far to travel from the office. There isn't much nightlife in the immediate area of the office besides two pubs which are nice for after work drinks.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in/sign up for. These included activity camps, awards evenings, STEM projects at local schools. All activities were emailed to us whilst on placement. Unfortunately many got cancelled due to COVID-19 but there is still a wealth of things to get involved in throughout the year.