Associate Clinical Data Scientist Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement. It taught me lots about time management, professionalism, and the importance of communication. I was well supported by my manager and my colleagues, and learned about Clinical Trials and their conduct. I am proud of the level of responsibility I was given and of the caliber of work I produced. I would highly recommend an industrial placement year to any individual considering it - you gain invaluable insight into the industry and the professional environment.

I felt increasingly valued by my colleagues throughout my industrial placement year. At the start I was unable to do as much work or as many tasks because I did not yet have the base knowledge or confidence for more complex tasks. But, as I learnt more and more and applied transferable skills, I was able to complete greater amounts and types of work for my colleagues. I also brought a different perspective to my teams as I was still a student and was also more comfortable with technology.

I was given fantastic support and guidance by management. My manager emphasized the importance of learning as much as I could whilst on my industrial placement year, and supported me in creating a development plan. This plan covered soft and technical skills, as well as my desire to gain knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry. The plan focused my approach to development and learning whilst on placement and helped me make the most out of my year.

My schedule varied day to day, but I was typically quite busy. As I was working on several different clinical trials, I could manage my workflow from different studies and balance increasing workloads on some studies and quieter weeks on others. When study work was quieter I took advantage of the many events and workshops hosted by employee resource groups at GSK and was able to learn about business areas I did not work in.

I was given a large amount of responsibility on my placement - at the start my clinical study related responsibilities were less, so I took on larger roles organising insight events for local school students with our STEM engagement team. I was Project Manager for a five day event, hosting 30 students and coordinating all workshops and activities for the event. This was a large responsibility, and increased my professional confidence. As I gained greater knowledge of how the clinical trial processes work, then I was given increasing levels of independence and responsibility.

They will assist greatly in my degree studies. Through working on several different clinical studies and STEM engagement events I have learnt about time management, prioritisation, and communication. In order to keep a balanced workload I had to consistently and honestly communicate with my clinical study teams and my STEM mentors. This will translate to my degree studies when I manage work for multiple modules and my final year project. Beyond that, any career I choose will be improved by the professional and personal skills I have improved this year.

My office had a good balance of being professional and productive, but colleagues made an effort to get to know one another. It was generally quite quiet as our jobs involve a lot of meetings, so colleagues were often in meeting rooms and not at their desks, but the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I was productive in the office, and I felt able to approach my colleagues in order to ask them questions that I had.

The overall industrial placement year was organised very well. I began my placement year with about ten other students, and we all had an induction week together. This week enabled us to get to know one another better before launching into our training and full time work. It also introduced us into the many roles involved in our business area. Throughout the year we were encouraged to ask questions and learn about the business, and at the end reflect on what we had learned and skills we had gained.

Development on an individual level was one of the highlights of this placement. Our managers and other members of leadership stressed that the students were on placement to learn and grow. We were encouraged to sign up for workshops and lunchtime learning sessions to help round our development and continue to learn. We were also given industrial placement specific soft skill training sessions such as presentation giving and excel utilisation. Development was something I often discussed in my meetings with my manager.

Future prospects are very appealing in the organisation. As an industrial placement student you get to apply to the GSK grad scheme on a fast tracked application. This encourages the talent pool to reapply to work at GSK. We are also encouraged to keep in contact with our managers and colleagues and let them know if we are keen to return to our departments, as GSK likes to develop its early talent and recognises its value.

There was a positive environment amongst the placement students, and we partook in many social events. These events ranged from pub lunches to dinner parties and club nights. Unfortunately as many students commuted fairly long distances to work, there was not much socialising directly after work which made it more difficult to plan. We typically hosted events only at the weekends, making it harder to determine a date when most students were free. Despite this we managed to plan a good number of events and get to know one another well.

As this was a placement based in a London office (Stockley Park/ Brentford) the cost of living was relatively high compared to the salary, but this is expected for any industrial placement year based in London. The cost of socialising was higher than usual but as we were still students we could pay student prices for otherwise more expensive events. This was a big advantage, and broadened the scope of what we were able to do together.

The area my office was in, Stockley Park, was quite far from central London and there was not much near it. There were a couple of pubs within driving distance, but there was not nightlife. If we wanted to go out we would travel farther into London and go out there. But, as most students drove to work we rarely went out after work. We did however take advantage of weekends and went out in London then.

Yes, indeed there were some sports teams and fundraising teams. I did not know that many students who got involved consistently, but you were able to drop in and join activities like Tuesday night football or Thursday yoga. This added to the positive environment in the office as you got to know people outside of your business area, but was not as popular as some of the resource groups who met during the working day.