Industrial placement (API chemistry) Review

Thoroughly enjoyed a new challenge and getting out of my comfort zone.

We were first and foremost here to learn rather than be a valuable asset to the team and this was noticeable in my colleagues behaviours.

Lots of support and guidance was given.

Most of the time a perfect balance was achieved but occasionally I was too busy and got too stressed to function optimally.

Not much throughout the first 8 months or so but the last 4 months I had more responsibility.

I have learnt an awful lot and these skills will be very transferable to my final year of university and beyond.

I resided in two offices during my placement. The first for roughly 9 months and the second for 3 months. The first office had a very light hearted feel, lots of joking among colleagues whilst the second a bit more intense and not much communication between colleagues thus bringing the score down.

The work placement was very well set up. The placment was very well organised which is notable through the preparation activities which occurred before staring the placement; a trip to Bristol to participate in workshops brining your practical skills up to scratch. The placement also had many events for placement students to develop our skills.

The company invested a lot. The company was willing to send us to conferences in order to learn more about the field as well as organising taster days in other fields so you could learn about other areas. I also had a lot of 1 on 1 investment for the first few months so I could learn the skills necessary to carry out project demands.

A lot of placement students end up returning at some point or another. It is easy for the company to see how somebody worked if you completed a placement with them thus they can see whether you are worth hiring easier than somebody that has never worked for the company.

A lot of the placement students were antisocial however among the ones that weren't the social scene was really good. Plenty of trips were planned (including Dublin and the lake district for some walking ) and the occasional night out making for an enjoyable time outside of work. Not much interaction occurred between the placement students of different science disciplines.

The cost for housing was extremely expensive, my rent was really expensive and the house was a wreck and there was no living room, not to mention it wasn't in an ideal location. The cost to go out and socialise was also expensive since the placement was located down south.

There was only 1 club which was fairly small and a few other pub/bar type places. Whilst it was limited in choice it made for quite a homely feel since we would always go out to the same places and it meant that it also had a community feel to it.

Work has an annual Christmas dinner in a nearby town and also an annual cricket match. Whilst this is a good opportunity to socialise outside of work with colleagues I feel like there could be many more activities that could have been organised so that colleagues could have mingled more.