Oncology iMED Placement Student Review

When I first started I struggled a little with the adjustment from University to working in Industry but I everyone was really helpful and supportive and I soon began to love it. It is definitely true what they say about people making the job, everyone at AZ is really lovely and it make such a difference.

As my confidence grew and I got the hang of my lab work I became increasingly valued in the department I was based in. My data was used to push projects through to next stages, write papers on controversial topics and help new projects break through which was really exciting to be a part of. In the last few months of work people would come to me rather than my supervisor to discuss my data in more detail.

My supervisor has been really amazing throughout this year. We have had weekly meetings where we discussed my data and discussed future directions my work could go in and he massively helped me with coursework for my University assessments. He was always happy to answer questions, however stupid they may be, and made me feel as though he valued my insights into my work. He also pushed me to be very independent, which though daunting at first has allowed me to massively increase my confidence in my lab skills, organisation, time management and writing skills.

Working in industry means your work load varies massively according to what projects you are on, if there is a timeline where you need to do certain experiments for a certain date, if you are waiting on things you ordered or for a machine to be fixed and the type of lab work you do. Personally I had very busy periods were I would be doing several experiments a week and staying quite late and then I had periods where I had nothing much to do other than read papers and do University work. You can always find something to do in the down times though as there are so many people you can shadow.

The level of responsibility I was given increased over the course of my placement as I gained confidence in my work and understanding of my project. I had a say in the direction my project was going in and my suggestions were listened to, I communicated with people from other departments to organize collaborations and had a say over when and how I did various things.

This placement has been massively beneficial to my degree studies and as work experience it looks amazing on your CV for future job applications. The range of scientific skills I have learned through doing my project will help me massively when I go back to University next year to do my final year project and made people more than happy to take me on as a student as I had already got a years worth of lab experience and was fully trained. Outside of scientific skills it has helped me with presentation skills, organisation and time management, confidence and working independently, skills which are useful in whatever profession you go into.

The site I was based in in Cambridge was a lab with desks in it which was a bit annoying at first due to the noise from the lab and the fact we weren't allowed to eat and drink at our desks, I was in one long line of desks which didn't really encourage conversation but I think that was pretty unique to my site. I got moved into an office with the rest of my team after about 3 months which has been great as there is a lot more chatter and you can easily find someone to talk to them. In both places there was a cake table though where people would bring in stuff for people to help themselves, usually if they had been on holiday everyone would bring something back!

The organisation of the placement varied a lot across the scheme depending on where you were based (AZ is spread across several sites in Cambridge at the moment) and what department you were in. I am under the impression the supervisors weren't given any training or guidance as to what they were meant to do with us or things they were meant to get us to do so it was very dependent on who your supervisor was. Those with supervisors in higher positions got very little guidance with some students not starting their actual project until 6 months into placement which could work out to be a bit stressful at the end with the write up for University. I was lucky in that my supervisor made sure I had my own project from the start and didn't make me do much of the 'dirty work' that he didn't want to do and was always open to me exploring other departments/getting other training,

Compared to the graduate scheme the company invested next to nothing in our personal training and development outside what we did in our projects. The graduate scheme has several training courses in topics such in how to present effectively which we didn't receive and would have been really helpful to. The AZinspire committee did carry out a Career development and leadership day which was really helpful however that is run by other placement/graduate scheme students so isn't directly influenced by the company itself.

I do think that AZ is one of the best pharmaceutical companies to work for in the UK. Like all companies it has its issues which currently seem a lot bigger than they are due to the upheaval of moving from Manchester to Cambridge and the delay in the finishing of the new build. However AZ is a pharmaceutical company that puts real emphasis on the importance of good science and benefiting the patients they are wanting to treat whilst being really open about the work they are doing. Publishing is encouraged and there are lots of public engagement events not to mention the entire new building in made out of glass! I would be happy coming back to work at AZ as it has a really nice atmosphere and great people to work with, it will be interesting to see how it develops once it has moved into the new building.

Placement students were always up for meeting up and we regularly met up on weekends and in the evenings to do things. I joined a work touch rugby team whilst I was there which was really good fun and a great way to meet people. AZ also try to put on fairly regular social events for all employees but for placement and graduate scheme students AZinspire provided a lot of the 'official' social events over the year. All the placement students got on really well though and I have definitely made a lot of friends that I will keep in touch with.

Cambridge is definitely an expensive place to live and work but if you are a placement student based here you will get paid more than your fellow students in Manchester to make up for the increased cost of living. I paid £500 a month for rent not including bills which is about what you are looking at for a fairly nice house in Cambridge itself. You can live further outside the city but that isn't great for socializing and makes getting into town a bit expensive. Public transport is fairly extortionate so definitely get a bike and a pint in a pub is about £4, maybe more.

Nightlife in Cambridge is not that great compared to the big University cities, its definitely more of a pub and bar type of place but there are several clubs which you can go to, the most famous being the Regal which gets converted from a pub to a club every Friday and Saturday night.

As I said I joined a touch rugby team at work which was organised by someone in my office and I think there is also a football and basketball team that you can join too. AZ have recently set up 'AMAZE' which is designed to be a sports and social club in Cambridge which also gets you discounts and perks within the city such as free punting. I think they are going to make an effort to set up more sports teams through that but if not there are plenty of opportunities within Cambridge itself with several hockey, rugby and football clubs. You can also volunteer in many places across Cambridge especially within the hospital and various charity shops.