Industrial Placement Process Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. I worked in an office with very friendly people and was given the responsibility to manage my own projects. Although the work wasn't always easy, I feel like I made a positive contribution to the team I was in and have learnt a lot about working on a manufacturing plant as a result,

I felt very valued by my colleagues. I was as much a member of my team as all the full time employees. I managed my own projects and was often asked to assist the other members of the team on their projects. I never felt like anyone treated me differently because I was a placement student, and my colleagues respected me as a member of the team. I felt very valued by my colleagues, I was as much a member of my team as all the full time employees

My manager was very helpful. Although I didn't have regular one to ones as many other placement students did, I knew my manager was always happy to help and give me feedback on what I could do to improve. I feel like I would have benefited more from having one to ones, however my manager was often too busy for this.

Work was slow at the start, but when you start being given tasks you're thrown in the deep end a little. I had some weeks where I had very little on my plate, but there were other weeks when I was juggling multiple tasks to get everything done on time. I often worked over time when this happened, but was never made to stay if I didn’t complete things.

I was given a lot of responsibility. I had my own projects which I had to manage by myself, and had to complete them in a timely manner. I was also often asked to support other departments due to people being on holiday or them having lots of work at a given time.

I definitely developed my communication skills this year, including how to communicate ideas and plans to large groups of people, and how to work effectively in a team. As I worked in a sterile manufacturing area, I was given a lot of training in sterile manufacture and aseptic practice. GSK are good at helping give you an overview of the company and learning things relevant to your job and course.

The atmosphere in our office was always happy, despite the fact our department was often under a lot of pressure. It was always nice to see people joking and smiling, despite having a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. All the people I worked with are very friendly and easy to talk to, and I haven’t found anyone that I didn’t get on with.

The placement year wasn’t the best organised. I didn’t have a hand over with my previous placement student as he left before I started, and never had set objectives or aims for the year, although I do know other placement students who did. The work I did in the office varied often and wasn’t usually to do with my programme, but I was happy to help as the department needed all hands on deck.

I was given a lot of training in site procedures and practical things I would come across in the day to day of my job. I had some opportunity to be trained more specifically in some processes, and was given a careers work shop which was helpful for the future.

The future job prospects are ok, but not amazing. It's not likely you would be offered a job straight away, but have the opportunity to on a mailing list for jobs you'd be interested in in the future and can have a fast tracked application for the graduate scheme. However, despite this fast track, the odds still aren't great!

Yes, there were around 20 placement students on my site (there were more on other sites) and we often did things together after work. We also organised a christmas meal for all the placement students and were invited along to the work ball and christmas parties.

The cost of living is expensive, as I lived in Brighton which is a half an hour drive away from the worthing site. Brighton is an expensive city to live in, but has a great social atmosphere and I would definitely choose to live there again.

Nightlife in Worthing isn't amazing, but Brighton is only a train journey away and there are regular buses back to Worthing. Worthing does have some bars and quite a few pubs, but isn't the best place for a night out.

There were opportunities to join in with STEM (local school outreach) and other volunteering days which we refer to as 'orange days'. I personally helped out with STEM and went into schools to promote science subjects to the students, however our team was never involved in and orange day, but I know many other teams that were.