Industrial Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my year long placement at GlaxoSmithKline this year. I was there for a full year and had lots of opportunities. For example I got to present to a group of students at another site, leading an hour long session. It challenged me to improve my presentation skills and represent GSK.

I felt as if I was not a student at GSK. I got treated respectfully and professionally by all the members of staff I spoke to. Even those who were of a more senior level, I felt as if I could approach them and I wouldn't know their level of seniority. Everyone was happy to give feedback and advice, even if I was not in their direct team.

I was given a lot of support from my manager. There were times where I had really difficultly with work deadlines or felt overwhelmed with the work I had to do- I knew I could go to my supervisor for guidance and it was received very happily. My supervisor would help me where necessary and also allow me to challenge myself, without feeling the need to do anything for me.

I was busy most days. Like any jobs there were days where I would be slightly less busy, but this meant I could plan for the days when I would be very busy. During the busy days and weeks I knew that at the end of it I would be happy with what I achieved and really learn from each experience.

Throughout my year I was give responsibility with many tasks and small projects. I had a major project within the year that I had to organise and manage, and then produce a report from it, as well as presenting my ideas to individuals in different teams. This was my main responsibility and I was given it in full. I also had other, smaller responsibilities, for example presentations.

I think I have worked on skills that I will use at University and beyond that in a job. Having long term experience in a job really put to test the skills I thought I had and the strengths I thought I had also. It really added to my presentation, communication, organisational, leadership and scientific skills, whilst developing an understanding for the whole business.

There are around 140 desks in the office I work in, so the atmosphere is great. There is a good balance of quiet working and general chatting. There are areas that you can go in if you need to do focused work. Nothing feels too tense and a short break every now and again is really encouraged.

As GSK has a very solid and set up work placement for students, it was brilliantly organised throughout the whole year. There were sessions throughout the time that had specific topics of how to settle in to your placement, getting to know the team, understanding tax etc. There were also development sessions- how to do well in assessment centres, understand the generation gap between us and colleagues etc.

GSK was really helpful with all personal development skills- they do not treat students as if they're full time workers there to do one job. All opportunities that I was interested in, within reason, I was given permission to do, and they were all aimed at developing myself personally. There was also mandatory training that improved more of my scientific skills.

There is a graduate scheme that GSK does, that I have applied for within my year. As a student the scheme is appealing as we're given more of a short cut in that we can miss the online tests of the application process. This means that after a manager recommendation, and a short video interview we can go to assessment centre if we're chosen to. It is a great graduate scheme with lots of opportunities.

There was a great social scene among students, and a bit of a social scene with the team as well. Within the students there were events organised at the start of the year but once everyone had become friends it was more down to organising them together. However there was a big group that all lived in the same area, meaning social events were very easy to organise. Every now and again there were group socials, although my team were not quite as social as some others.

Cost of living was very cheap- I was based in a smaller town outside of London so this wasn't very expensive at all. The downside of this was that the town wasn't very busy in terms of things to do during the evenings and weekends. I found my weekends were composed of other, more expensive trips as the town, although cheap didn't have a lot to it.

The nightlife was average. It was alright as all the students lived in the same area, but the town itself was quiet. The upside was that it was a 20 minute train in to the middle of London, which was ideal for specific events, mostly on the weekends.

Yes there were activities outside of work. For me and the team I was in there wasn't so much social activities, but there were other groups that would regularly go out for lunches and meals, as well as events in London. There was lots of organise if that's what people wanted to do.