Scientist (Undergraduate Industrial Placement Student) Review

I would analyse animal samples from preclinical drug trials using various ligand-binding platforms (depending on the drug) to determine the concentration of drug in the animal sample, in aims of creating a PK profile. I will sometimes be tabulating data in the office, or planning experiments. I often need to order reagents and make up buffers, as well as record all aspects of the analyses I complete.

As far as wet lab skills, the only skill I have really developed is pipetting. I haven't particularly learned any new wet lab skills other than this. As far as soft skills go, I have developed my ability to troubleshoot and my patience.

Yes I was made bioanalysis lead for a specific project which had multiple studies and was trialling new drug modalities, so I was responsible for delivering data and developing assays that would robustly provide data. Also, I was a 'superuser' of a specific instrument which meant I was responsible for training other colleagues (some with PhDs) and creating SOPs and best-practice documents.

In terms of technical support, there was plenty of this with everyone in the team being eager to support you and answer any questions you have. As far as pastoral support, there is very little. Especially if, like me, you're too insecure to talk to anyone in your team or your line manager about any of your concerns/issues.

You are a 'contracted worker' for AZ and as such do not have access to a lot of the company features. There is a STRONG emphasis on entrepreneurial aspects and money. Psychological safety and inter-team collaboration are also quite poor at this company. Other than the restriction imposed on contractors, the company does seem to value its employees and, at least in my team, there is a lot of trust and little micro-management.

If I had been in a better place, mentally, I probably would've enjoyed the year much more. Overall, I won't look back on this year too fondly, but I maintain that having done this placement has been a net-positive (primarily due to the notoriety of AZ and being able to list this on a CV). In terms of professional development, this placement has nothing to do with my degree which limited enjoyment.

Yes

Make sure you're aware of the company values before your interview and milk them for all you can. In the assessment centre group exercise, they don't care what you say, they just want to see you contributing and facilitating respectful exchange of ideas, the ideas themselves can be nonsense. Make sure you socialise; with a 9-5 it's easy to just go to work then go home alone - don't do this!