Organic Synthetic Chemist Review

Overall the placement was good developed a variety of transferable skills useful both now and in the future. Made good connections and learnt from amazing people across levels of professionalism and disciplines. I also learnt a lot about myself generally, how i like to work and whether this is a role I'd like to return to in the future

You are seen as a very valued member of the team and incorporated in. You would be working on live projects that are making a difference so what ever you do in your role does count. You are also given the opportunity to share you ideas and make valuable contributions which are then considered and even implemented.

In the early months of the placement you are given a lot of support as you are new to a lot of things and how things work, so both in terms of training on instruments and all, there is a lot of support and you don't have to worry if you do not quite get some things to start with, everyone is very happy to help. As the year goes on you do develop a sense of autonomy and confidence so you would not need as much support, as is expected.

Each day varies but there is always a lot to do. You would be given a set of tasks to do, in my case, a set of target compounds to synthesize, once I'm almost done with them, I would discuss with my supervisor to see what else i can take on. generally there is not much of a direct pressure but there are periods where in there are deadlines to be met and more is expected from you, and when this 'season' is over, you get rewarded for your extra effort (a paid dinner or lunch for example).

to start with, not much but as one becomes more skilled, more responsibility is given. And due to the nature of the field, every compound i synthesise has great potential in treating a particular target disease therefore i believe that is a great responsibility to have to play a part in the process. However if you do have any ideas, as long as you run them past a more skilled person or your supervisor, you are encouraged to take the lead.

The major skills i learnt from my time was gaining confidence in working in a lab and with hazardous chemicals. so when i returned to university, having that confidence helped me. however a lot of things in industry is done automated and using a lot of machinery not available in undergraduate labs, as a result those skills might not be useful now, but has definitely prepared me and set me up for a brilliant start of a career in the pharma/chemical industry.

The atmosphere was great. where i was working adopted an open space working with a communal attitude so everyone pretty much moved everywhere and shared everything. There's a large population of student interns which does liven up the atmosphere and with music in the labs, there's always that to comment on! regular tea breaks with teams also facilitated an atmosphere that allows you to get to know everyone better.

The placement was organised. GSK is very experienced in this as they have been employing industrial placement students for about 10 years now so the system does work however they are always striving to make the process work better.

The company ensured that all the necessary training required for me to perform the role i was employed for was carried out early. However the company as a whole has a wide variety of opportunities available for anyone to take part in such as workshops, careers sessions, lecture courses, online training resources, a coaching/mentoring system which one can make use of and which I engaged myself in as well.

The company is a great place to work. Its core values are ones which i resonate with and I would potentially look to work with them in the future, however maybe not in the same sector or department i did during my placement year. Being a reputable global company with diverse arms and branches, this makes it a very attractive company to me. likewise the company does value its employees and seek to invest in them

Yes. As GSK is a large company, the intake of industrial placement students was quite large. I was based in the Stevenage site and the amount of students present was over 100, and most of them lived locally so there's always a house party available to go to and this is facilitated by a facebook group set up for all the intakes in the year. Even amongst colleagues, you can easily organise a house dinner or a group outing/event pub lunches or dinner and the likes.

I lived outside of GSK so i cannot comment, however from the little i experienced, it is not that expensive.

likewise, living outside Stevenage, i did not experience much of the night life but there are restaurants, clubs, cinema, bowling and others in the main town. and London Kings Cross is just a short train ride away.

Yes there are lots to do and places such as Cambridge or London, neighboring town Hitichin are not too far away either and offer alternatives to Stevenage.