Oran solid dose technologist Review

Loved every single minute of working at GSK as an industrial placement student. The work was engaging, challenging and a brilliant way to gain an insight to how a leading pharmaceutical company is run and conducts itself with challenges of every day manufacture. My jobs were varied and there was a lot of work to complete but was all very interesting and improved my knowledge massively.

My team were amazing. Friendly, supportive and very very professional. I could approach any member of the team and they would try to assist me as much as humanly possible in order to allow me to become integrated throughout the year. I also gained great advice from the graduates in the team and old placement students to give me an advantage when going into the role.

At first my manager was very hands off the first few weeks. This was mainly due to the fact that a lot of the training was done on a computer and I didn't have many questions. However, I could ask her any question and she would answer with enthusiasm and in a way in which I could easily understand so I could get a grip of the industry. As I became a more integrated member of the team after a month or so, I worked more closely with the more senior members of the team who could give me more constructive guidance to improve in my role.

For the first month or so I was struggling to find things to do. This was because in order to do a lot of the aspects of my role, I needed to be compliant with the standard operating procedures of which, there were many. After I had competed my training I was exposed to a lot of differing challenges in terms of work and I was never looking for things to do. During my year, my team was very busy which also meant I had a lot to do and learn very quickly which was good as this made the days go faster.

After my training I was given great responsibility and value within my team. My first project was to coordinate a plan change at an international site, leading a group of people from across the site in order to set up meetings and draft reports to make this happen. I was given many more other roles of similar magnitude and I was always challenged throughout my placement year.

As I am doing a degree in chemistry the skills I have learnt during placement will greatly assist my degree studies. Although not lab based, I am able to understand how my lab practices at university are implemented on a large scale in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the general skills associated with organisation, time management and attention to detail will greatly assist my university studies as these skills are very relatable to student life.

The general atmosphere in the office was very good. Everyone was always in a good mood and very professional when it came to completing their work. Despite the professionalism there was always time to have a laugh and a chat with my other colleagues to break up the intense work. Our office also was refurbished which gave a great moral boost as our daily office lives became more modernised as the year went on.

The only way to describe the social scene at a company like GSK among placement students is amazing. There were at least 30 other students on placement and all of them were willing to do group activities throughout the year. This included and is not limited to: cinema trips, drinking, bowling, going to each others' houses, bbqs, social league football and the GSK ran events. We even had a placement ambassador who was one of the students and was essentially an organiser of events for placement students and put on many, many great events.

Being in Ware there isn't much of a clubbing scene. However, there is a lot of great pubs which are usually occupied by many GSK workers over the weekend. Only a 10 minute taxi ride away is Hertford which is a very good place for nightlife always busy and lively if you're up for a good night out.

There were many things to do outside of work, there was a subsidised GSK sports and social club. Personally I played 5 a side football which was a great way to get to know more people in the company. A lot of other activities at the social club also existed but out of personal choice didn't get involved. I also joined a local football team which was independent of GSK but still contained many workers and it was a good place to gain a solid social base.