Finance Industrial Placement Consumer Healthcare Review

I loved my work placement! I felt as though the work was challenging, fulfilling and consistently different. I had the chance to get involved in a variety of interesting projects which meant my experience was consequently brilliant.

Most colleagues treated me as if I was another member of the team, there was never any feeling that I was thought less of just because I was on placement, if anything it was the opposite, members of my team appeared trusting in my ability which helped my confidence and development over the year.

My manager was brilliant throughout the year, engaging in regular catch ups to make sure I understood everything, had enough to do, and ultimately, was happy in my surroundings. This was important to me considering I was living in a new city and working in a completely new job, it was reassuring to know my manager was so willing to give his time and support to improve my experience.

Most days I was able to find a nice balance of being busy but being able to enjoy it. Because of the nature of my role and Finance in general some days were very busy with late finishes, however I was happy to do these as they were all learning experiences which i was able to take something from.

As mentioned earlier, I felt like one of the team, given important responsibilities, and had a valued opinion in the team. This was one of the best parts of GSK because my level of involvement meant, generally, that I was rarely bored and always learning!

I picked up many brilliant skills that will help me in my future career. From time management, to excel skills, even to office etiquette, I feel largely more qualified to progress in my working life as a result of this placement!

Atmosphere and culture in the office was awesome. Generally (but not exclusively) under 30 colleagues meant that there was a very warm, social, helpful atmosphere around the office.

The placement was set up well with few hitches - on a couple of occasions there were times where I could have been doing more/needed to be doing less. However, on the whole, the organisation was brilliant.

While I had many learning and development opportunities with a lot of on the job training and coleagues that were always willing to help, there were limited formal training opportunities which I felt might have improved my placement.

The future employment opportunities are massively appealing to me, with great development opportunities within the graduate schemes available at GSK - my critique would be that it appears as though having a placement years experience hasn't helped my chances in getting a graduate opportunity, and I feel that the placement I've already completed should benefit me more in getting a graduate opportunity.

Brilliant social scene was one of the best things about this placement with many opportunities to integrate with my fellow placement students.

London is very expensive to live and so it was difficult to balance having a social life with being cost conscious. I feel as though the placement salary should have recognised this and been more reflective of the surroundings we were in.

Only 30 minutes away from central london meant that we had great access to a vibrant and exciting nightlife.

There were always opportunities to get involced socially, whether it was through sports clubs or charity work; there were many opportunities to get involved.