Analytical Sciences Placement Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. I enjoyed the work I was doing, I enjoyed being a part of the MSD community and also enjoyed being part of a group of about 17 placement students. I looked forward to going into work, and was highly motivated. Unfortunately, the announcement about the closure of Devlab changed the work I did in the department, and following that I enjoyed the placement less.

My colleagues trusted me with huge responsibilities, and I felt that they worked alongside me as if I was a permanent member of staff rather than a student. They all seemed happy to help me learn and develop. I felt a part of the team. Aside from work, I also joined them in social actives.

I had a very thorough training program in place for me to work through during the year's placement. I was astonished by the amount of time and effort both my manager and my supervisor put into supporting me and training me. They were very helpful, and were always available to answer my questions.

For the first couple of months I didn't have very much to do, other than reading up on SOPs. However, after this, and up until the closure of Devlab was announced, I was extremely busy every day. In fact, I struggled to manage all the work I had to do but was given a lot of support to help me manage my time.

Once I had proved my competency through completing my training modules and demonstrating that I could perform the tasks independently, I was trusted with the responsibility to perform very important tests in the laboratory. I was also responsible for liaising with contract research organisations and passing information onto my supervisor as and when it arrived.

I expect to feel more confident completing my laboratory work at university over the next year, however I don't plan to pursue career in a laboratory role. My understanding of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole will be extremely useful when thinking about potential future careers and companies that I might like to work for. I vastly developed my skills in time management, communication and presenting, all of which will be hugely beneficial in my degree and in future jobs.

The office was open plan. Before the closure was announced, the office was a fun, bubbly place. Everybody was very friendly and there was a lot of conversation going on as people worked together. There were however, click groups of people, which at times made it difficult to integrate with different colleagues. After the closure was announced, people became less patient and less professional. The atmosphere was not so welcoming.

HR organised an induction day for our first day of work, where all the students were together. On that day, we had an IT induction, a chat from the Gym manager, and we used the day as a chance to get to know each other. This was very helpful. My department had a very good training system in place for students, and they had my roles and responsibilities ready for me, with cheat guides to help me through it. I had a 2 week handover period with the student in my role before me. During the year, all of the students across the company had chance to improve our presentation skills and our interview skills. Therefore I think that everything was very well organised. The company are working to ensure that this is the case across all departments in the company.

I was given a huge amount of one-on-one training for which I was very grateful. The interview training was very helpful, as was the presentation training. I always knew who to go and speak to if I wanted any further help with personal training and development, and they were always more than happy to go above and beyond for me. I was given the opportunity to shadow numerous people in different roles across the business, and I even got the chance to be involved in projects run by other departments. MSD are committed to investing in students.

The labs have closed at MSD, therefore there is no possibility of me returning to the same job. The company is in uncertain times, and so I will consider working for companies with more stability. However, I found MSD a wonderful place to work, and would definitely consider applying for a graduate scheme.

The placement students always ate lunch together. Groups of us also lived together, and we often got together at weekends. It was very valuable having other placement students around the company that I knew well. I often went through them to get in touch with people I was interested in shadowing. It was also good for us all to discuss our different jobs. This gave us a much more complete understanding of the company and the industry. Also,departments regularly had social events, usually meals out in the evenings.

Being near London, I found it very expensive. House sharing helped to keep the cost of living down. The obvious place to go to socialise is London, therefore eating out and drinking is very expensive. MSD pay students generously, so the expensive living costs were manageable, and I was also able to run a car for the year.

Aside from London, which is expensive and difficult to get to and from late at night, Hertford is the only other place for nightlife. It is not like nightlife in a student city, but still lively at the weekends and good fun. It is not the place to live if nightlife is a priority.

I joined some colleagues to play badminton at a nearby leisure centre on Wednesday nights, and there were other sports that I could have got involved in. Other than this, it was difficult to find things to do. Of course, this depends on your interests. Tourism in London was a good way to spend a weekend.