Industrial placement student Review

I enjoyed my placement a lot. I found that there was the opportunity to have a lot of variation in your work by carrying out additional pieces of work apart from your main project. There was also the chance to interact with other placement students from different departments within the company and learn about what they do and about techniques/equipment that they use.

I felt valued as people always had time to help me out in the lab any time I had a question. Also I was allowed to use the equipment and resources that full time members of staff would use. As time went on and I became more confident with the work that I did I felt more trusted by others and sometimes colleagues would ask me for help with things which showed me that I had an important role within the company. However sometimes there were computer documents or files that I wasn't allowed access to which could make me feel not fully included.

My manager sat in the same office and worked in the same lab as me which meant that he was always nearby and I could always approach him to ask for help. Anything I ever asked of him he helped me with - even if it involved asking someone else on my behalf if he was unsure of how to help me. He was also very supportive with the work that I had to do for university by giving me a lot of advice with that. Obviously each student will have a different supervisor so each situation will be different but in general the work placement year is meant to be beneficial for both parties so I think that managers will make an effort to make the year enjoyable and to give their student as much experience as possible.

This varied. I was often very busy and had quite a lot of work to fit into the day - which I enjoyed. However some days were less busy and I would find myself with little to do. I think it is important to ask your manager if there is anything you can do to help them as they may not realise that you are free but if you ask then they will be able to give you more work to do. This means you can learn new techniques. Don't be scared to ask to follow people around and see the work that they do - especially at the beginning of the placement before your responsibilities start to pile up.

I was given a lot of responsibility with my own project and although the work that I did wasn't very critical it was nice to be trusted. I found that my opinion and results were valued as there wasn't always someone checking over everything that I did. Sometimes it felt that the work I did wasn't really that important to the work that other people in my department did.

I think the practical skills that I learnt will help greatly if I continue to have a role in a lab in the future as I learnt a lot of general molecular biology tools which can be applied to other molecular biology labs. Similarly, they will help me in university practicals and with my final year honours project. The organisational and communication skills that I learnt will be helpful in all walks of life - especially for an office based job.

I worked in a large open plan office, where members of staff from at least two different departments sat together, We operated under 'Hot-seating' which meant you didn't have your own desk but could (and were encouraged to) sit at a different desk everyday. The aim of this was to get to know different people. The office could be very quiet whereas other times there would be friendly conversations going on. In general the office was in silence and people whispered to each other if they wanted to talk so as not to disturb others. We took tea breaks outside of the office in the morning/afternoon and this was a good chance to chat.

It was well organised as there was an induction day before we started and an effort was made to put us in contact with other students to arrange sharing houses together. There was an email address you could use to ask any questions about holiday entitlement and pay etc. throughout the year. Also when we joined, the students in my department got trained in tissue culture and pipette handling to give us some basic skills.

I think you can enter the company from a range of different experience levels. And they seem to be a large, ever-evolving company where people are constantly coming and going so there will constantly be new jobs opening up. They advertise jobs on their website. There is also a graduate scheme which you can apply for while you are still here on placement with recommendation from your manager, meaning you skip a stage of the hiring process as you already have experience within the company.

Yes, there are a lot of placement students within the company. I was based at the Stevenage site and there were a lot of students living in the small town therefore at weekends and in the evenings we often all met up. As there is not lots to do within the town it is up to you to make a good time for yourselves. As the town is relatively near London we often went there at the weekends and you could get into Kew gardens and some exhibitions in Natural History Museum for free with your GSK pass.

The rent was high as it is southeast England. I also thought it was dear to go to the cinema. However you get paid London wages. I would say that food costs the same as everywhere - and there is an Aldi and other bargain stores like wilko, B&M etc to buy affordable household items.

There were not a large selection of clubs but there were a few bars throughout the town especially in the Old Town. As mentioned previously, it is up to the students to organise parties etc to have something to do in the evenings/at weekends. This is a nice way to socialise and make friends from the start of the placement. Also, you can get the 25 minute train into London for a night out.

Yes there was a gym which you could attend on site. There were other gyms and sports clubs etc in Stevenage that you could attend in your free time, You could be part of the placement student committee and help organise social events for all GSK placement students. You could also visit other GSK sites to learn about what work is carried out there.