Sensory Scientist Review

I loved the actual work - I worked on lots of interesting projects and learned loads of skills, but due to circumstances with a Joint Venture with another company and the headcount being reduced the atmosphere and behaviour of certain individuals on our floor was awful, especially in regards to the fact that we were students - not employees. (yes, we were not treated like regular employees by the company)

Within my team like a big family, my opinion was asked and valued - but the larger team's behaviour towards me was greatly lacking.

My manager was incredible - he was the only reason I stuck it out in the awful atmosphere and learnt to deal with difficult individuals (people that target you in a personal and professional capacity). He gave me projects to immerse myself in, taught me how to be myself, keep my integrity, protected me when I got caught up in HR "games" between the company that hired me and GSK

First half of the placement was excellent, I had lots of interesting things to do, but with the Joint Venture starting and no one knowing the future, we didn't have any work as a department at all - and I mean nothing. Most of my days for three months were me teaching myself new skills or reading scientific journals sometimes completely unrelated to the work. This went for the whole department.

Twice I was given complete responsibility for my own projects. I was given a budget and a due date for a report and then basically left to it - to organise and run my own testing. The second time I was allowed to train 14 individuals over the course of three months.

Immensely, but probably not in regards to the "normal" skills such as job related etc. I learnt how to get through a burnout, how to deal with senior members of staff shouting very personal insults during presentations at me (because they disagreed with what I was saying, despite it being correct), how to work though the first depression of my life, how to not become a changed and jaded person, how to deal with the fallout of a friendship group, my fellow students, in light of my success at work (being the first ever student to have their own project - that lead to an important business decision), how to deal with HR in a big company.

As previously mentioned, it was awful for me personally. But there were lots of "fun" organised: themed days, outfits, lunches, games, cake days, coffee mornings,...

It wasn't really, there was a lot of "official" organisation, but then it wasn't really implemented - some managers of my fellow students were massively uninformed of the role of the students, using them as "errand-runners" and so on. There were a lot of policies but no actual organisation.

Not at all, the company didn't actually invest in us at all. They did in the policies, but again the implementation of those was not great. Only thanks to my manager did I get to experience great personal training and development. A budget for this was actually given to the firm that employed us but they didn't give it to us.

There aren't any available I did however get a lot of contacts within other firms and got an offer from them for the future.

Was greatly tried to be achieved, but didn't really work. There were a lot of bars and parties - but always a lot of drinking involved so the people one met didn't remember you when you even were in the same meeting.

Amazingly expensive. I was in the greater London area, so socialising etc was in Town. As we were paid pittance (over half of the income was spent on rent) so a drink or a cinema ticket became a rarity quickly.

Greater London so nearest decent place was a good 20 minute train away and then again expensive - not able to be afforded if not subsidised by a loan or parents etc as mine was not.

I joined a gym and dance so I had a great activities and places to go to. But that was my own initiative, I was not helped by the company.