Industrial placement Review

Overall I enjoyed my placement at GSK specially designing and conducting my research project together with my supervisor, which will be useful for my final year project. Apart from that I learned how to work in a professional environment and improved my soft skills such as presentation skills.

My colleagues are friendly and approachable and if you have any questions they are always happy to explain and go through the process with you. But during meetings, there is a strong sense of hierarchy in management so people sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable bringing up and freely discussing issues.

I had a good relationship with my supervisor throughout placement year and she is really supportive in my project and my day-to-day work. She was happy to give suggestions and cared for me when I had to stay late. Meanwhile, she allowed enough space for me to think and work independently.

During my research project, which lasted for about 3 months, I was very busy looking through previous relevant papers, conducting experiments, analysing data and consulting other expertise. However after my project was closed, the job fell into a routine and often time i didn't have much to do (which I think is largely to do with the nature of my group.

My supervisor actively gave me extra work when she had some but mostly what I needed to do was my routine work, which wasn't enough for me (I might be more of a workaholic). I felt like i could do more in both variety and quantity.

The technical knowledge and lab skills I learned during placement year will definitely help my final year studies. Also the soft skills like presentation skills,productive meetings and effective communication will benefit my future career regardless of which area I eventually decide to go into.

In generally, the atmosphere in our office was inclusive and relaxing. We supported each other and went out for socials (birthdays, teambuilds) once every couple of weeks.

It wasn't well-organised to start with because there was a re-structure in my department plus most of people were on holiday when I started my placement. But after the handover of our new manager, we went through the development plan for IP students and it got more organised.

My supervisor allowed me to take time to go to different seminars, volunteering work, work shadowing and even development day so even though my work is routine and slightly repetitive, I can learn new things and get different experience.

Generally speaking GSK is a great company to work in, as they offer excellent employee benefits (pension, salary and flexible working hours). Also, people at GSK are lovely with excellent work ethics, However, downsides are the communication and management aren't effective enough due to the large size of the company.

Yeah, we had outings in my office to celebrate special occasions (eg. table tennis, bowling). Within IP students, after the first few weeks most socials were more private within groups of friends.

Compared to central London, Stevenage is a lot cheaper in terms of housing and food. There are more cheaper supermarkets such as ASDA, Co-operatives and Iceland, which you don't find often in London.

There are more pubs and clubs in Old Town centre of Stevenage where young people and students go to, whereas in New Town centre it is quieter and more residential.

As the work schedule is 9-5 and the company culture does not encourage employees to overwork, so I had plenty of time to go to gym regularly and get involved in extracurriculum activities back in university,