Industrial Placement Student Review

Great experience, full of challenges and opportunities. You can focus not only on your main project, but also draw from all the additional opportunities you can create or find within the company. All that with great deal of support, training and advice. You are free to explore your interest in any area of the company, if there is time to do so. Although the commute time was significant, it was a pleasure to go to work almost every day.

My efforts were appreciated and often rewarded with internal recognition programmes, financial awards and feedback. I always received constructive feedback on my project progression and delivered presentations. My ingenuity was appreciated with a trophy and internal recognition programme award. My colleagues treated me fairly and I did not feel different from a normal employee (although I heard some had slightly different experience).

I had bi-weekly 1:1 meeting with my supervisor, but it varies between the candidates. My manager was always there for me and it was easy to schedule a meeting/lab assistance whenever there was a need to do so. Every member of my team was helpful and willing to contribute. There were opportunities for me to help others with more specific tasks.

There was always something to do around the office or the lab. Even if your project is temporarily stopped, there are different activities you can engage with. You are not restricted to only your main project, so the daily activities vary greatly: research, reading papers, experimentation, lab work, training sessions, office work, learning via workshop and meetings. You should be prepared for lots of meetings, emails and self-guided research.

I was wholly responsible for my own project throughout the placement. There were plenty of opportunities to take on more responsibility, either by participating in other projects or volunteering your time for other activities. Unfortunately, as a placement student, my ability to participate in activities crucial for the current pipeline was limited.

I have seen huge development in lab-critical skills around my area of study. I was not able to make use of everything I learned before, but it is to be expected in such structured organisation. As for skills development, I was able to explore range of areas that I did not even consider beforehand and these look great on my CV now. The training received at the beginning was detailed and extensive. There were opportunities throughout the placement to develop myself further either on my own accord or by participating in official training sessions.

It greatly depends on the building you are in. Some of them seem more official, while the others less strict. However, all of them have friendly atmosphere, encouraging discussion and small talk. Most people know each other and treat everybody with respect and professionalism. There is space for some banter and there is space for serious discussion, so it seems rather balanced.

Everything worked smoothly, so I was overall happy despite some initial issues .

I was provided with detailed induction training, that took a significant amount of time from my first month. Once that was done, I could choose from a wide range of available training sessions in multitudes of different subjects throughout the whole employment period. The company considers personal development very important for the employee wellbeing and progression.

Highly depends on your performance and the internal situation. The is no guarantee of employment after the placement is finished. However, considering all the skills you develop and the experience accumulated throughout the year, alongside a big company name on your CV, you should have a significant advantage when applying for jobs.

All placement students were connected together and it was easy to reach out to anyone. It was easy to make plans together and meet up for a social. Some activities that placement students engaged with are: quiz nights, bowling, movies, BBQs, pub crawls, clubbing, ice skating, team sports, picnics, music events, Xmas dinner, nights out.

Cambridge is really expensive when compared to some places in the UK. The salary was sufficient to afford everything needed but Cambs night out is not to be taken lightly.

Rather tranquil in the area I lived in, but it gets more busy as you get closer to the centre. There were some party venues available and enormous number of pubs.

There were some initiatives to participate in outside of work. The company organizes volunteering days, that are usually used by whole teams to work in a local community initiatives together. Moreover, there were a handful of team-building days and/or activities throughout the year, alongside more official events during the Xmas period.