Physical Properties Analyst/Materials Scientist Review

I really enjoyed the variety of work available during the course of my placement year. I did gain insight about how industry works and was able to make a conscious decision in the end regarding my career path for the future.

I was treated like a member of the team, and not just as a placement student. They were not hesitant to give me a task which required responsibility.

I had two different managers with different management styles and it would be suffice to say that they supported me well during the course of my placement.

It was completely dependent on how many projects we had at hand, but the team I was in was small, so I was generally occupied and in the lab most of the time.

As much as a graduate in the organisation would have been given. I prepared reports, presentations and dialled into calls with senior management.

On a technical note, I think I gained a lot of relevant materials characterisation skills which would help me in my further studies. I believe this was possible because I chose a placement aligned to my degree.

I think it was rather friendly and people were always ready to help or answer your questions. There were times when people were under a lot of stress and it showed. I feel it would have been great to have more office lunches as our department was split into sub-teams who would not always work with each other.

There was nothing specific 'set-up' however my manager took the effort in introducing me to a completely new field which I hadn't studied before by providing me with the appropriate starting literature.

This is where I feel GSK should improve. Bringing on students as contractors and then saying that the contractor is responsible for all training and development is simply not done. While they have an amazing range of programs for those on the Graduate scheme, I feel that placement students should be given the opportunity to attend at least a couple of them. On the bright side, the Ware site integration team did host a few sessions with regard to presentation and communication skills.

There is only a fast-track scheme for the Graduate programme available to placement students upon the recommendation of their managers. For those programmes related to business, HR etc., it makes sense but for the scientific programmes, these days you need a PhD to be competitive. Therefore, I was not sure if I wanted to sign up for this 'fast-track' option because a PhD is a serious decision to make and I did not want to rush it. Direct-entry is easier as I have heard from others and having a placement is looked upon favourably in the recruitment process.

There were a few meet-ups in the beginning of the year but the social scene went quiet as the year progressed.

Quite high as it is the South-East of England and is close to London.

There were only small pubs and no large clubs. There was one in Hertford, but I did not like it so much as it was pretty cramped.

There is the Sports and Social Club and the gym. I did not get involved in these, but have heard some pretty good things from people who have been.