Scientist Review

by GSK

Best Student Employer

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.2/5
  • The Role
    3.7
  • The Company
    3.1
  • The Culture
    2.5

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I really enjoyed my job. The work was interesting and varied with plenty of opportunity and support for me to forge my own direction.

    4/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • My colleagues were very friendly and my supervisor would thank me for my hard work.

    4/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • The management level were not involved in the day to day workings of the company and did not give much input in any area. However, if I had needed it and asked, I may have received whatever help was necessary.

    2/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • Chemistry is quite dynamic in terms of work load as depending on the reactions being run there may be a lot of work, or very little. It was up to me to managethis appropriately.

    4/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • I was given the responsibility for my own projects and my supervisor recognised that I was being productive and hence did not hinder me.

    4/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • I feel much more confident in my lab work and in general areas of chemistry that I became familiar with during my placement. Past degree level I can take the advanced skiulls to the work place and I have a full year of experience to offer potential employers.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • My colleagues were fun and friendly and we often had games, lunches or other activities planned, as well and day to day talking and fun.

    4/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • My placement was in America and I did not think that the there was enough time to sort out visas and flights comfortably. Also, since I was the first international intern nobody really knew what to do with regards to social security, finding and apartment etc etc. Hopefully in the future this will become easier. When I arrived I had a project planned for me to get me in the swing of the work but after this it was less planned, again largely due to the dynamic nature of chemistry. I think that it would have been beneficial for the company to have planned specific times for seeing different departments or getting a wider range of techniques learnt.

    3/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • Lab skills were taught to me by the relevant colleagues as time went on - necessary to do my job. In addition to this I was allowed to go on a course designed to improve presentation skills which helped me greatly.

    3/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    Subsidised/Company Gym

    Company Parties/Events

    Staff Sales/Staff Shop

    Working from home

    3/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • The economy isn't promising and pharmaceutical companies are taking cuts. However they still take on a few graduates each year and I would be happy to go back.

    3/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • There were very few interns. As a group people would go out but most people were young professionals with young children which hampers the social scene

    2/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • Not super expensive, not super cheap.

    3/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • America's nightlife is very different from Britain so it's hard to judge. There were plenty of bars and live music.

    3/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • It was very difficult to get involved in a large number of things as many things seemed to be exclusively for members of the local universities. Anything I wanted to do I had to work very hard to try to make happen, and more often than not it didn't work out so well.

    2/5

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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Science

International

October 2009


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