Computational Chemistry Placement Student Review

by AstraZeneca

Rating

4.1/5
  • Skills
    4.8
  • Responsibilities
    3.0
  • Support & Guidance
    5.0
  • Culture
    3.5
  • Your Impressions
    3.7

    Overview

  • 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
  • I was working remotely for my placement year due to COVID-19. This meant my daily interactions depended heavily on the meetings scheduled for that day, which took place on Microsoft Teams. I was able to plan my work around these meetings and other university commitments. My work involved an independent project and work for current drug discovery projects.


    Skills

  • 2. Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
  • I have learnt about and used many new computational techniques. Additionally, I was able to develop transferable skills, particularly presentation and communication skills. AstraZeneca also have a professional development scheme accredited by the RSC, which allowed me to obtain the award of Registered Scientist (RSci) by the end of my placement.


  • How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
  • 4/5

  • Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
  • 5/5

    Responsibilities

  • 3. Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
  • As I was working remotely, I was given full responsibility over my time-management and often had to work autonomously. Also, my work for drug discovery projects had impact on which compounds were made and tested.


  • Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
  • 3/5

    Support & Guidance

  • 4. How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
  • I was lucky to have a very supportive supervisor who gave a lot of guidance when needed, even for university assessments. The majority of support from the wider team was through email with prompt replies or occasional video call. I also had a mentor for the RSci scheme and an advisor from my university, providing additional support.


  • How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
  • 5/5

    Culture

  • 5. What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
  • As I was working remotely, I did not fully experience the general atmosphere, but the company culture online is very welcoming. There were company-wide events and regular town halls to keep me engaged and feel more included. There were also social events organised for the early career employees, which were fun.


  • How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate the social opportunities?
  • 2/5

  • How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
  • 4/5

  • How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
  • 3/5

    Your Impressions

  • 6. To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
  • Given the circumstances, I really enjoyed my placement and was grateful for the experience. I had many opportunities to develop my skills and connect with more experienced scientists. My placement did not match my expectations, but I would love to work at AstraZeneca in the future (and maybe go into the office!).


  • Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
  • 5/5

  • Please rate how your experience met your expectations
  • 3/5

  • Please rate the future employment prospects at AstraZeneca
  • 3/5

  • 7. Would you recommend AstraZeneca to a friend?
  • Yes


  • 8. What advice would you give to others applying to AstraZeneca
  • The fact I was doing my placement in my fourth year and summer work experience helped my application. The interview day had 3 interviews: one about my application/CV, one asking technical questions and an informal one for questions. I would advise doing some research around drug discovery and intermolecular interactions for the technical interview.


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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Chemistry

East of England

July 2021


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