Commercial Channel Management IP Student Review

GSK is friendly and relaxed making it easier to build a strong network of your colleagues. This is a huge help in achieving your personal objectives. I'd also say you work at the heart of the business during your placement. When working at head office I sat just a few desks away from the UK MD and alongside senior colleagues who seriously know their stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at GSK and it has given me brilliant experiences to add to my CV and bring up in interviews.

In my placement experience this was actually mixed. Some mentors and coaches I sought out were fantastic in offering their advice and support. I also knew other fellow placement students who had very supportive bosses. On the other hand I felt I lacked support during a period of my placement, however seeking to change this, I changed roles and found myself in a more supportive environment again.

Well this is kind of similar to the previous question however you are given a full PDP (Personal Development Plan) by your manager when you join which acts as a fantastic help. You can use your PDP to benchmark where you are with your projects / objectives and generally how you are performing. There are also opportunities for further training, however I found you'd have to seek these out yourself if you wanted this support.

During my time at head office I'd have busier times and then quieter times. In my opinion, at GSK, this really comes down to how much of an experience you want from your placement. If you're happy to clock in and do the general 9 - 5 + 1 hour lunch you can. If you really want to go out and achieve (like I did) then you can seek these further opportunities out yourself. As mentioned before it's generally a relaxed and friendly environment, so you can go out and test yourself if you feel the need to do so.

Again this varies on your overall work-plan and what your projects are. Responsibility is given if you have shown promise and that you are someone who can be relied on. However it's not given automatically.

I'd definitely say what I've learnt from GSK I can take into my future studies and future (hopefully!) employment. This is, of course, yet to be seen.

I'd say it was relaxed, intellectual, interesting and pleasant.

OK really - if you take control of your Personal Development Plan then really the only organising comes from yourself and your objectives.

I had more training investment towards the start of my placement. I would have definitely benefited from formal training in my final role for the last four months of my placement. However, with of course money tight you could kind of see the logic of not investing in someone who was to leave the business relatively soon!

Consumer Healthcare, the FMCG arm of the business, is the only business unit without an actual graduate scheme. This is being built right now for a 2012 intake, so it was difficult to assess if I wanted to stay on or not as the details are still being determined.

This was excellent - with more than 100 placement students at GSK IP student nights out in London were regular and enjoyable.

You'd most likely be based in Brentford which is West London so accommodation was certainly not cheap. This had a big impact on my budget and I'd rarely make a penny overall profit if I'm honest. Usually incomings equalled outgoings.

You're in London - it's expensive, but, well, it's massive and to be honest I felt I only really scratched the surface with nights out!

None - but I wasn't particularly interested in this to be honest. I knew of other placement students who did, however, go out on charity days which would involve conducting activities for charity.