Mechanical Engineer Review

I very much enjoyed my time working for GSK. They provided plenty of opportunities to learn the business and also improve my engineering understanding. There wasn't particularly a limit on what I could do with my time there, as long as I was fully committed to an idea or job, they would support me (As long as I was trained). They also provide plenty of on site training and I feel like I made the most out of my time there.

I'm currently the only mechanical engineer assigned to a plant on site. This means I have a lot of input into what goes on. Although it seems like a lot of responsibility, I made sure to get to know the plant and took every opportunity it get involved with any works going on. I'm constantly asked advice on issues that occur and I don't feel like I'm treated as an industrial placement student, but more of an engineer.

There is plenty of training to do, I was assigned the mechanical engineer curriculum which meant I would receive the same training as a recent graduate. My managers supported me with any particularly difficult issues that have occurred but other than that, I've more or less been allowed to create my own experience on placement. I've been presented with many opportunities and been supported with all my decisions.

Day-to-day varies a lot. At the beginning of the placement, there is a lot of training to complete to ensure you are sufficiently training to carry out any work. There was a bit of a lull period in the middle, however, that was due to a site wide change that meant a lot of people didn't quite know what their role was anymore. Now towards the end of my placement I am extremely busy, with lots of projects that I'm involved with, so managing my time has become very important.

As I've mentioned previously, I am honestly surprised with the amount of responsibility I have been given whilst here at GSK. I attend several meetings a day where I have to answer for any issues on plant, I also make crucial decisions whilst on plant working with the tradesmen and my opinion is taken seriously. I've also been asked to carry out several modifications to plant equipment, trust is placed in me to investigate the modification, order the parts and help carry out the work within a very tight timeframe.

The role I've taken during my placement doesn't really see me use a lot of the skills that I've learnt whilst doing my degree. However, the skills that I have learnt whilst on placement will be invaluable when it comes to graduation. Before working here I didn't quite understand how an engineer would fit into a pharmaceutical company, but I now know they are valued for their analytical skills of problems that they come across on plant, and their ability to think of practical solutions. I feel like before I came to GSK I didn't quite think like an engineer in industry, but now I will go back to university having gained much better time management skills and overall problem solving and also people skills, due to the fact that I had to attend several quite high profile meetings during my time.

Generally good, the office was located a little bit out of the way so during quiet periods it could get quite boring. However, the people that I was working with were very fun and good natured people. There was plenty of office based humour and it will definitely be something that I miss.

The overall structure of placement was not very clear. They didn't have any projects set-up purely for industrial placement student. This is necessarily a bad thing however, as I was genuinely treated as a proper engineer, they provided me with every opportunity to go out on plant and learn how everything worked. With time this then changed to me heading out on plant myself and organising the works.

I was given every opportunity to attend all training sessions that were set-up for GSK employees. I've been trained up to a point where I can carry out everything that a mechanical engineer hired by the company would be able to do. The next step from that would be to send me off-site to attend training sessions, however, no such opportunity came up whilst on placement.

I've been offered the future leader programme, which is basically a 3 year graduate program which sees you travelling around 3 separate sites during the 3 years. Due to the work that I have done whilst at GSK I've also been spoken to on the side by an engineering manager, who said that after University, if I haven't found any work there will be a job here for me and to keep in contact. I've also been offered to apply for an assistant team leader, but unfortunately the person offering the job didn't realise I was just an Industrial placement student. The future prospects within GSK are very appealing.

There is a very good social scene amongst all the industrial placement students, however this may chance as of next year due to the fact the site has split, so it may be difficult to remain in contact with the IP's from the other side of site. There is also a great social scene amongst the people I work with, who tend to go out at least once and week and have invited me out from the very beginning. I do hope to keep in contact with the majority of people I have worked with as many of them have become good friends.

Worthing is pretty average in terms of price. I commuted across every day from Portsmouth so I can't really comment on the cost of living in the area. Drinks prices and socialising in Worthing was again, pretty average in terms of price, however if you head into Brighton which is lot livelier, then it begins to get expensive. The cost of living in Brighton is expensive also, with some studio flats costing upwards of £650 a month.

The night life is Worthing is pretty standard, there are a couple of late opening clubs such as Bar 10 and One Club. There are several busy pubs in Worthing which are good to go to after work, one of which has a fantastic beer garden - The Cricketers. The nightlife over in Brighton is amazing, there is always plenty going on but it can be rather expensive.

The group of people that I worked with were very welcoming and sociable. One of the engineers invited me out on something he refers to as WaterSports Wednesday within the first week of placement, we continued that tradition until the weather got worse but we're now pretty solid friends. There were also plenty of out of work activities which involved the whole site, such as bowling nights and reward meals for doing well. I also took an active part in organising some of the events myself as part of the social committee, one such event is that I'm running a pub quiz for all of site tomorrow evening.