Service Specialist Review

It was a wonderful environment, there were many placement students at the base I was at, so you didn't feel like the only student there. But you were still a team of experienced individuals, so you could always count on people for advice and support that would always set aside time for you.

Every achievement that my team achieved I was always invited to celebrate with as they felt that I could contributed. This really made me feel part of the team. I would also have people ask for my advice when it came to specific areas that I perfected through my uni career.

My manager was always there to give me useful advice and guidance. He organised a mentor for me to understand how to be more professional around directors. And we scheduled weekly catch ups to ensure that my work load was sufficient, wasn't having any issues and that I was enjoying my experience.

I had regular meetings scheduled through the day, plus managing my work load. I had regular projects, some set by my manager, some that I went out and found myself. Through the year the workload would fluctuate, however after Christmas was when the work load really picked up and they expected you to take on more responsibility.

I found myself having a fair amount of responsibility after Christmas, making decision for the team and being given tasks with a lot of freedom. Such as, my manager would often ask me to compile data, but wouldn't have a format in mind, which gave me the freedom to do as see fit.

I got to do a lot of courses including Excel, ITIL and problem solving. Though I'm not sure it will help too much with my degree it will definitely help later in life if I want to get back into a more business orientated job as my degree is currently quite technical.

I was based at Stockley Park which is a slightly smaller GSK site. The environment was friendly and quiet. It was slightly more relaxed then Brentford house, which was honestly perfect for a student trying to get their first corporate experience. Events were organised regularly, including a table tennis tournament to a waste busters event to try and cut down on printing.

As contract workers we assigned through a agency. However, GSK seemed very in touch with the agency so if there was ever a problem it was really easy to find someone to help. On the first day we were greeted with a special industrial placement induction, then laptops and equipment were given to us. It all seemed very organised and was a seamless transition into the workplace.

They allowed me to enroll on several courses to further develop my skills, including ITIL, Excel and problem solving. I would have like to have done the final excel training course, however, there was not the budget to put four industrial placement students through it, however even to do one was worth while.

There is a graduate scheme, however currently for IT graduates it is only for SAP, an area that doesn't particularly interest me currently. My manager has told me that if an opportunity should arise he would have no qualms offering me employment. I have also been added to the recruitment agency which means should any other opportunities arise that would suit my skill set I will be informed.

There were about 20 industrial placements students at Stockley Park, including Science and IT. We organised several trips out, including paint balling, bowling, at Christmas they had a boat party, a trip to thorpe park. People were very eager to socialize with the Industrial placement students from other sites as well.

I lived on the outskirts of London with another Industrial placement student. But even then the cost of living was quite expensive by comparison to university. Socializing was also expensive, however travel, especially if you didn't have a car, was very cheap. Getting to central London to meet with other students became a weekly thing.

There weren't many places near the area I lived in. If you wanted to socialize at night you needed to travel to central London. Which was very expensive. The only way to combat this meant going out on a weekday, which was obviously not preferable. So we tended not to go out at night due to the high cost or inconvenience.

The only thing I found myself involved in was organizing charity events.