Associate Study Manager Review

The 1-year placement at GSK has been a great learning opportunity and addition to my undergraduate degree. I've been given the opportunity to learn and grown in a variety of disciplines and enhanced my employability skills tremendously. The working environment here at GSK has made my 1-year industrial placement extremely enjoyable.

GSK prides itself on its value of respect for colleagues, patients and consumers. Teamwork is also one of the company expectations. I have not spent this year as a student making tea or photocopies. I have been a valued team member and led numerous projects for my clinical studies and department.

The amount of support and guidance was different for my line manager and supervisor. It also varied greatly depending on the task. For my day-job, my supervisor provided a lot opf background information and initial guidance but quickly became less hands-on. I did not work directly with my manager for the majority of placement and therefore, most support was pastoral. There was very little support or guidance for my university requirements.

I was quickly given a high workload on my 1-year industrial placement here at GSK. I often worked through lunch or in the evenings to complete my tasks. I also took on a lot of non-project related activities which were onerous on my time. I learned to decline tasks when I was over-stretched around 1/3 of the way in to my placement.

Two of GSK's values are accountability and development. My study teams have undoubtedly lived these values! I was given a high workload and lots of responsibility during my placement year. By this, I mean I was devising, organising and leading projects. Due to the nature of my work, this often involved working with physicians from around the world and representing GSK.

I have learned and develop numerous skills on my placement. Although they may not be directly related to the topic of my degree, the organisational skills, time management, project management, leadership, communication, professionalism, presentation skills, strategizing and problem-solving, critical analysis and data analysis skills I have learned will undoubtedly be useful in the future.

I was based at one of GSK's R&D sites at Stockley Park, Uxbridge, London. This is a non-lab, office environment. The teams based here are 'central' and work globally. Therefore, the site is always buzzing with meetings and communication. The office is also open-plan which helps to facilitate transparency. We hot-desk which also means that you seen new friendly faces frequently.

Unfortunately, the onboarding experience was not well-planned. My line manager changed close to my start date and another student in my cohort had a new line manager assigned to them on our first day. The university documents that I had sent over to my line manager were also not reviewed to ensure there was any support or framework in place to achieve my university requirements. The positive is that the people leading the onboarding experience were very flexible and welcoming.

The teams I was closest to helped me tremendously and were very keen to give me the opportunities that I was interested in. I built a strong network and was able to learn from experts because they were all willing to chat with me, let me shadow them and help out where I could. This culture definitely fosters development.

There are numerous employment opportunities here at GSK, either in a graduate role or the direct entry route. Unfortunately, the graduate schemes are not that reliable, they are not all advertised at the same time which makes it difficult for placement students to plan their year ahead. There are new contract opportunities coming up and senior leadership has been very willing to share them nearer to graduation.

Yes, there was a good social scene amongst my fellow placement students. Many of us lived together and in in very close proximity so that we could do things together in the evenings and weekends. We also did lots of social activities with work colleagues and extended team members and built great relationships.

Living and working in London was extremely expensive on the placement salary. The site canteen is not that subsidised and so buying lunch at work can rack up and be quite expensive. Rent and bills are more expensive in London than back at university for me but rent could have been cheaper if I lived closer to the site.

There was no nightlife in the area that I worked (Uxbridge, London). However, I chose to live a bit further out in West London. The nightlife in London is renowned and of course there is something for everyone. The culture is also different when working 9-5 than being a student.

There were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. These include getting involved in ~Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Outreach, fundraising for GSK's the partnership with Save the Children (Orange United) by doing Tough Mudder and other events, or organising activities on site with the site events team.