Statistical Programmer Analyst Review

My placement was a great opportunity to work across a large variety of different Therapeutic Areas (including Oncology, RA and Transplant) and be part of a team that delivered treatments to patients across the world. I enjoyed the wide variety of exposure I was trusted with and got to work with some great people.

Although part of a large global company I fitted in as part of a smaller team within my department, and I was very much made to feel a valued member of this team.

I had a manager and a mentor/buddy. Between the two I felt very supported and they were comfortable with me bombarding them with many questions, which helped me learn quickly.

It was a lot of peaks and troughs, there would be times where we were hugely busy and others where I had slightly less project work going on. This was useful though as it allowed me time to focus on personal development activities and some extra self-learning, for which there were lots of materials available to help me.

I was surprised at the extent of responsibility I was allowed and was even allowed to take some smaller team leadership roles, which helped my confidence and building my soft skills.

I already completed my final year after the placement year and it did have a massive impact on me. Especially around my work ethic and my organization/project management skills that I had acquired. There was a noticeable increase in my grades after the placement year.

It was a professional open-plan office, but this didn't mean people weren't friendly and approachable. We had a lot of socials and sporting events outside of work and I made a lot of friends for life.

In the very early days you can't get involved in all activities as you need a lot of job-specific training, but once you get this you do have plenty to get involved in, and it is a very worthwhile and well run placement.

I was sent on a lot of trainings, including some technical (like SAS programming) and many others around soft skills (such as resilience). I was made to feel very much like a permanent employee rather than a temporary 1 year student.

After I finished my placement they took me back into a permanent job.

Not great at the time I took my placement, but I've heard this has improved for subsequent years.

The office is not far outside London, so it often depended on whether you ventured into there, but the accommodation near the office was reasonably priced.

Fairly near to London so can't complain.

Lots of social opportunities as mentioned earlier.