Reward Advisor Review

Overall my placement was very good. GSK provides a great network of placement students to connect with. IP Unite (the elected body for placement students) organise social events and seminars for students to attend and network with others. There are loads of extracurricular events, volunteering opportunities and sporting activities you can get involved in outside of work. I think this makes GSK stand out as an excellent company for placement experience.

My colleagues valued me very much. Almost all of my work was non-admin related (everyone has to do admin sometimes!). One piece of my work was very high visibility and was given to the head of HR. I performed high profile analysis for various projects in my team to help strategic decision making within the business.

I had weekly meetings with my manager to discuss workload and progress. These regular check ins were very helpful and enabled me to create a good development plan throughout the year and make sure I got the most out of my placement as possible. I was able to let my manager know if there was an area I'd like to gain more experience in.

My workload fluctuated massively throughout the year. For a couple of weeks I was completely swamped but the rest of the time I'd say I was at 20-30% capacity. However being quiet meant that I could go and shadow in different areas of HR to get an idea of which area I'd like to go into when I graduate.

I was given a lot of responsibility throughout my placement. I have been making salary decisions about employees in the business and evaluated their jobs. I have also been doing some high profile data analysis that stakeholders rely on to make decisions about their relevant area. At GSK you really do meaningful work.

I have developed invaluable skills in Excel. I have a much broader understanding of HR and how all of the departments work together. This is not something I knew about before my placement at GSK. This knowledge will enable me to make a more informed career choice when I graduate.

Our office is very open and spacious. All desks are hot seated so you can choose where you sit each day (within your departmental area). The dress code is fairly relaxed and we do casual Fridays. Every now and then there are cake sales and special events which happen on the floor. For example strawberries and cream for Wimbledon and a Halloween bake sale. We also organised a charity sweepstake for the Grand National.

SRG who recruit all of the placement students do an amazing job. Everything is very clear and we have an email to contact them if we ever have questions. There's a newsletter each month to keep us informed about the placement community at GSK. We have a holiday portal to keep track of our time off and filling in timesheets on Fieldglass is very easy.

GSK offer a wide range of eLearning courses which you can complete. Some are compulsory but others you can complete for your own professional development. My manager was keen for me to shadow in different areas of HR and have meetings with people to develop my professional knowledge and understanding of HR.

GSK offer direct entry and graduate opportunities to leavers. The grad scheme (Future Leaders Programme) sets you up to go far up the career ladder in GSK. The grad scheme has rotations so you can experience different areas of HR and gain a broad knowledge of the business. Direct entry also allows you to specialise in a certain area if you would prefer.

IP Unite (the placement student body) organise various social events throughout the year. This includes a Christmas Ball and Summer Boat Party. There are also sports clubs ran my placement students which you can attend. I personally ran a netball and rounders club during my placement year which I thoroughly enjoyed.

London is expensive full stop. However, you do get a student loan to help you out and GSK pay the London living wage. Brentford doesn't have much going on but it's just a short train journey away from Central London. There are a couple of pubs in Brentford where GSK employees socialise and go for team meals occasionally.

In Central London there is an abundance of clubs, pubs and bars which you can socialise in. Putney and Brixton nearby are also a good night out. In the local area around GSK House there is no nightlife. You would have to get on a train or tube to have a good night out.

IP Unite organise sports clubs which are run by placement students. The sports clubs depend on what students are interested in that year. During my placement there was a football, tag rugby, rounders and netball club. You can also get involved in volunteering for Save The Children and other charities that GSK partner closely with.