Service Operations and Improvement Analyst Review

During my placement at GlaxoSmithKline I have had the opportunity to work within a number of different business units as well as getting involved in a great deal of projects (some self managed). Initially the placement was a struggle, but that was largely influenced to me adapting to a corporate environment/moving away from my family/friends/boyfriend. Once I had settled into my role, I was quickly given opportunities to get involved in a number of different workshops/training sessions and projects.

For the majority of the placement I felt quite valued by my colleagues, but that is dependent on the work that I was doing. At the beginning of the placement I felt more like a piece of furniture in the office, however once I took responsibility and accountability for pieces of work, by value increased.

Within my role I am assigned a direct manager whom I report to for all work related issues/queries. Within my team I can also approach a number of different people who can assist me. I also found myself a mentor who is an IT graduate and she mentored me throughout the year with any personal/work queries/concerns. I have had a fantastic network of people who have helped to support and guide me throughout my placement.

Different times of the month normally affect how busy I am on a day to day basis, but normally I felt I had the right level of busyness. Normally within an eight hour day, I would have a couple of hours free and then lunch, and the rest of my time would be split between meetings or completing work.

At the beginning of the placement I was not given that much responsibility, however once I started completing more work and people began to trust me more, I was assigned tasks which held a greater responsibility. By the end of my placement I was accountable for specific service improvement processes which I needed to ensured were maintained whilst I was not there.

I have had a vast amount of instructor led training such as ITIL v3, Unconscious Bias Workshop, User Story Workshop. I have also greatly developed my soft skills which will assist me in my degree studies as well as beyond such as confidence, public speaking, presentation skills, networking skills etc. During my placement I have also gained a network of people which I can use later in my career/dissertation.

The average age of IT employees is 40-50 years old and it is very male dominated. This often led to numerous conversations relating to wives/children etc. The atmosphere was very relaxed though and you felt like you could speak directly to different managers without worry.

The placement scheme itself was set up quite seamlessly. At GlaxoSmithKline they invite you to an induction day before you start where you meet all of the other IP's starting with you and get exposure to the company and your managers. This greatly helped me to put things into perspective such as my future job role.

If I wanted to get involved in any training or development programmes, my team was very supportive of that and assisted me with funding. I would obviously have to explain the relevance of the course to my current role, or projected interest.

I applied and got accepted on their IT Graduate Programme and I will be starting in 2013 once I complete my final year at University.

Amonsgt the IT industrial placement students there was a good social scene, but that was normally based around playing football, watching football, playing fifa etc which I do not find appealing. A large proportion of the fellow IP's where males... However there was a few happy hour drinks sessions, but there could always have been more.

The cost of living in Brentford, London is a lot more then the cost of living at Newcastle University. The cost of rent is higher, the cost of food is higher, the cost of alcohol is higher and the cost of travel is higher. However people found alternatives around this such as bulk buying alcohol so it is cheaper and eating out with discount food vouchers.

In Brentford, London there is no nightlife option. Instead I would travel to central London and go to happy hour at one of the cocktail bars after work.

There was a great deal of opportunities however these were mainly linked to Marketing and were done on a "first come first served" basis.