Industrial Placement Bioanalyst Review

I very much enjoyed the placement. The job was not what I expected but turned into something I am heavily considering wanting to apply for post university. The only disappointment is where the placement is located, if known more about the town, I may have considered living elsewhere and taking a longer commute.

I felt very valued by all full-time employees, especially in the office, few in paticular I would go as far to say made me feel critical to the departments goal. Work undertaken by myself was duly noted on throughout small office and large departmental meetings. However, this was not reciprocated with everyone.

The amount of support that I received and that was potentially available to me from my supervisor and any other figures in the department was infinite. They always made sure I felt comfortable asking for advice, even towards the end of my placement. Many management staff worked on an open door policy which definitely put any students nerves to rest asking for advice.

It really depended on the week. One week you would be overrun with work and have to help other team members too achieve the work. However, other weeks were slow, mostly requiring admin work or a chance to do university work if required. Overall, it could have been busier for my personal preference to be able to be more involved in certain projects.

The responsibility given to me steadily increased from day one and plateaued around 9 months through the placement. The tasks I was given were very achieveable but contained the right level of challenge. I was never handed a task I was unable to complete, however, there were tasks I would have liked to complete but were unable to due to comapny policy which is understandable.

The skills gained from the placement year were invaluable and I will return to university holding a vast bank of knowledge in analytical chemistry. However, I could find myself disadvantaged in other chemistry areas as there was little to no focus on areas of chemistry such as Inorganic or Organic which could hinder my studies on return.

The atmosphere was good, however, it was only made fun by a select few and when those select few were not apparent, it became very dull. This was not aided by ongoing building work which forced myself and others to move offices with lesser known people who I was not as comfortable having a relaxed conversation with.

It was incredibly organised in my department. I was looked after very well, and they exactly knew what to expect from me and even though I am here to work, staff made sure that learning opportunities and my university work was always at the forefront as at the end of the day, I was there to learn.

The company spent the first three months spoon feeding me into the job and once that was complete, I was able to be independent but still get training if there were certain aspects I was not comfortable with. Training in new instruments was available if an interest for it was there.

They are appealing in general but in my personal opinion, there are many more organisations that provide the same experience for myself. A lot of the future programmes required many relocation and further education commitments which do not appeal to myself. I have yet to find a future prospect within the company that appeals to me however, there is scope to do a lot.

The social scene among colleagues was unexpectantly good and did not feel uncomfotable when going out. The social scene among students was as expoected very clique based. Certain placements have more students than others and the lack of students from different universities does not encourage as much socialising as it should.

Stevenage was cheap for a town in the south east for socialising but overpriced for living arrangements to the extent of being ridiculous. There are far better surrounding areas that are more expensive to live in but are worth it on reflection as public transport to work is very accessible.

The nightlife in Stevenage was limited to two clubs both very poor, however, cheap enough to go again. There are a lot of nice surrounding towns with many pubs for pub crawls which are very good. With London nearby there are opportunities to go there but only occassionally as places are too expensive for students in paticular.

There were many sporting clubs to get invovled with at work, including volleyball, football, squash and badminton which was pivotal in meeting new people around the site. Stevenage has a big running culture and offeres an incredible running club which I joined to run but also explore the area in during my first 3 months living down south.