Compliance, Operations and Risk Excellence analyst in Supply Chain Review

I enjoyed my Placement because it gave me everything I wanted from a work placement. This was from breath in understanding, where it I could get involved in various functions such as finance, sales, marketing and strategy even though I was employed into the supply chain function. Also, it was a fantastic environment to work in where I made a lot of good friends, which was easy in the more casual (but hard working) work environment to what I expected.

GSK were very supportive of me and how it took some time before I really gave back any value to the company with my contribution, however once I did it definitely felt like I was valued by my peers. Becoming friendly with everyone really helped from a work perspective, especially when needing to ask questions or give my opinion on something. In one example, a senior director from another department singled me out for my opinion on a matter as she felt I was the most knowledgeable in the project team on this. This was a good experience.

My management team was exceptional because they continuously pushed me and helped me achieve my goal by the end of the placement, whereby I had a good understanding of all areas to the point where I could start to direct my future goals and career. Not only was my manager supportive with 1:1s on a bi weekly basis, a younger member of the team who had ambitions of becoming a manager became like a budy who I met every week and worked with, therefore they were able to identify any issues or room for improvement quickly. Finally, I was appointed a mentor from a different area of the business who I met once a month. Again, she helped me progress and became a good friend. 10/10

I was always busy, but once I learnt to manage my time I could always make room for other activities or projects if needed. Towards the beginning, I felt overwhelmed at one point but my manager identified this and encouraged working on few projects but doing them well. We were all generally busy but working late or taking laptops home to work in evenings or weekends was not encouraged at all. If you wanted to you could do very little, or you could get involved in lots, it was essentially up to you and what you wanted to achieve.

As my time went on responsibility increased dramatically. Towards the beginning my input was appreciated but I mostly supported other tasks. Once I became more confident and understood my work area more there was opportunity to really develop my position and my responsibilities. By the end I was a key member of a larger team and ran my own smaller projects,

Everyone should do a Placement, as it appears to be one of the only roles where everyone has the same expectations whereby you are there to learn, and they will make time for that. I already feel my studies will be improved and I will make much better use of the time I have. Beyond University, I feel if I started work like I was at the beginning of my placement I would be sacked within a month! However, I know how the knowhow, experience and skills to feel like I could justify myself in any graduate position and have successfully applied for the GSK graduate scheme.

The office was really really good socially, with a good mix of ages and types of people, although we all got along very well. There were some busy and more stressful periods whereby socially not so much happened and not so many people would be as talkative, e.g go for lunch, but it was always pleasant. The office itself is fantastic at GSK House and has so many conveniences, and the people who worked there just made it better. Many were also willing to go for drinks afterwards or other activities and the company themselves had social events planned such as meals, activities and days away.

At first it felt less organised but this was due to transition and also other issues outside managements control. However, from day 1 my manager had a plan of helping me achieve what I wanted to and also to get me to a point where I was helpful to her. Having a manager, a 'semi' manager and a mentor as well as being able to meet others really made it work well. Also, there was a union for placement students who organised events like a boat party on the Thames.

This is the main reason I would like to go back to GSK. My manager continuously looked for opportunities where I could learn and develop. They follow a 70/20/10 perspective with 70% of time doing your role and learning through that, 20% learning through practice and 10% formal learning. This was followed all the way through and allowed me to experience different functions, visit other sites and invested in letting us get involved in expensive events ran by consultants to improve our skills.

Prospects are appealing but hard to get, especially for specific graduate positions. Although you can join directly in as a direct entry, this means just doing one role and I would not of wanted to do this as I don't feel from my observations that this would help me learn as much or gain as much breadth in experiences as I want. The graduate schemes seem to offer a lot of varied experiences with frequent rotations and similar mentors ideas.

As stated above, within our office (which had 5 placement students and 2 summer students) there was a really good social scene. Generally we went to lunch togeather and did other activities. GSK also get you all to meet each other from a facebook page which allowed you to find housemates and meet friends like that. Finally, there was a union of between 3/'500 people I think. They organised monthly events for all GSK students, however I think it was generally students working at GSK House that got invovled. Other sites also seems to do their own thing.

London... Cost of living was more expensive as you would expect, and GSK don't provide any extra support with this or location allowance which is common in other companies. However, salary was enough to live on and I found a flat which was £435 each per month plus bills, although not in the best area. Generally, people were paying between 5-600 a month plus bills if not more. We all socialised frequently. This can be expensive but its all part of enjoying the experience I think, plus London has plenty to offer which is free such as lovely parks and museums. GSK also generally subsidises company events.

London nightlife is very good, although can be expensive. It seems the night bus is also part of the fun but can be rather a pain! Definitely an experience I wont forget but again, it made the year what it was. Generally for pubs I could just get a bus for night events but most would end up in central which resulted in 1/2 hours to get home at 3am. Uber is ok but still much more expensive. CityMapper is essential!

Again, due to the large office and friendly people there many social things to do. Work themselves had events which were subsidised such as concerts, city tours and weeks away on training. Every week there were also other groups for football and other sports and other activities. I also saw courses such as open water sailing. They have an internal social networking site which also allows you to meet likeminded people if needs be.