Microbiology Laboratory Technician Review

I did enjoy my year GSK because it provided me with many opportunities to develop both my personal and technical skills. I had a good year learning how to work within a global company and how important every role is to ensure consumer safety. I would recommend however I did find at times many dull tasks were given to me as the 'student' by many members of staff - despite the department priding themselves on their belief that students are treated equally as full time employees. On the whole, I was given a lot of responsibility which developed me greatly.

I generally felt valued particularly by senior members of staff including my line manager who repeatedly told me how I will be missed! I had a lovely group of people to work with which enabled me to be a valuable member of the team. Only on the odd occasion with the assignment of particularly dull tasks and the odd rude tone used by other employees I felt less valued. I would say my experience overall was very good however and I enjoyed my time.

In this case, I had only two 1:1 GSK official meetings with my manager as I was informed that as complementary workers we were not entitled to the monthly meeting with my manager to discuss my progress. This was particularly frustrating considering my colleagues were given this time and we performed the same job. From a personal perspective, my manager was incredible for providing support with personal issues if I raised any concerns with her. Due to her personal touch I have awarded 3 stars however otherwise it would be 1 star.

My daily tasks varied throughout the placement due to projects which required long working days to other periods which were relatively quiet. With regards to normal lab work I found the day would be generally busy but I could plan as much as I wanted. With the project however it required lots of overtime to complete which was not a good balance.

I was given a fair bit of responsibility during my time at GSK, particularly within the technical department because I one of a few people trained to identify and analyse the risk of microbial growth results on environmental samples. this role included a justification of the decided risk and evidence of the calculated risk. I was also given responsibility at many events outside of work that required GSK presence such as the STEM event for 900 schoolgirls. I was one of 3 people who went to represent GSK to all schoolgirls and inform them of career options.

I have learnt so many valuable skills during my time - both technical skills that I expected to develop during my time in the laboratory and personal. The technical skills will definitely be helpful when I return to university to have more confidence in the laboratory. I learnt many skills on how to communicate with others, both that I worked with daily and across departments. I learnt how to cope with difficult or uncomfortable situations in the workplace that will benefit me greatly in the future.

I was lucky to work in a youthful and fun team, with a manager that had a wonderful sense of humour and really connected with her team. The team I worked in was very mixed in terms of personalities however the support that each member would provide for another was great to work with. The atmosphere towards the end may have been more stressful however the laughs continued.

I believe generally it was set up well. I was given a wide range of experience within different areas of my department and given the chance to attend GSK related events. I have however knocked a few stars off for the low number of 1:1s I was granted and the dire state of the agency SRG that sees the overall HR side of the placement.

As I was not a full time employee, I found several opportunities were not available to me. This has been particularly frustrating as I wanted to push myself further this year and try many different experiences. I had a decent amount of training within the laboratory and with my own personal confidence however the overall investment in me wasn't a lot.

I have been spoken to regarding employment however I have not been officially sent an offer. I am hopeful that once I graduate that there will be a position available however the situation at my particular site seems to be changing quite rapidly. I would not be surprised if there is not a role in the department I originally worked in however I have been spoken to about my future employment.

I was based approximately 40 minutes from London so the cost of accommodation was very expensive. For a 4 bed houseshare it was £2000 per month, resulting about 500 per month. The area is very expensive however food can be fairly inexpensive depending where you go to eat. Socialising in Reading was cheap compared to travelling to london however there wasn't much to do around my site.