Expert Insights Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at GSK. I was welcomed in to my team with open arms and was always pushed to ask questions. With such a large group of placement students on site, it was easy to become friends with everyone. The overall atmosphere on site was relaxed and friendly.

In my own team(s) I felt very valued as I would bring a new perspective and new insights to any project I was involved in. I was integrated in to my team within the first week, having 1 to 1 meetings to get to know everyone and understand their roles.

I received lots of support from my line manager and others. I was able to ask for help any time I needed it, and was given feedback on what I had done well and where I could improve even more. I was given opportunities to explore different parts of a business, to give me a well rounded view of where I may want to go after graduation.

My business varied greatly. Some days I could be in meetings from 9am - 5pm with a 30 minute break, other days I would have no meetings at all, with nothing to do. Most days I was able to find things to do, usually by asking others for work if I was unable to locate my manager.

I was given quite a bit of responsibility on placement, however everything that I did had to be signed off by my manager or by someone above me. This meant that I had to wait to be given projects so there were times I had nothing new or exciting to do.

The skills I learnt I will definitely take beyond my degree - I know how to properly conduct myself in a workplace which you can make relevant to any company. The training I received allowed me to explore and learn how to market better, and work with external agencies well. I now know what sort of company I would like to start out in.

In my office the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. I was based at a smaller site, so you get to know everyone on a more personal level, which I think blurred the lines of hierarchy. Also, the employees already on site wanted to get to know the placement students, which meant we were always treated the same as any other person. We also had a lot of site and/or team away days doing fun activities to build on our relationships.

I think that it was not very well set up. An external agency handle the student contracts and they were not easy to get hold of, and we had no direct account manager who would deal with any problems. Also because there were a lot of changes, there was confusion about what this would mean for placement students wanting to apply to the graduate scheme, and there was no information on this, until the end of the placement. I do think that my manager was well equipped to have a placement student.

We had a lot of training at the beginning of placement. There was also on-going training, some mandatory and some voluntary. I think it is dependent on your manager - I was lucky enough to have one that wanted me to get the most out of placement and would push me to develop my skills further, while also thinking of how this will equip me for graduate applications.

I would apply for the grad scheme, and for a direct entry job if I had an option. The company treat their employees well and want the best of the best. The competitiveness for jobs would put me off because there are so many people applying for X amount of positions. However, as an employer I would recommend. Personally, I think I would rather work in a smaller company where I have more opportunity for growth.

Amongst placement students, there were few events thrown to get everyone together. However these were all limited amounts of tickets, and some were very pricey for what you got in return. You grow very close to your colleagues and fellow students, so we would organise our own nights out. In my team in particular, we enjoyed celebrating others' successes, so we regularly went on days out or dinners.

A student would not be able to afford to live, work and socialise in the area which I was based. I was lucky enough to live just over an hour away from site - however the cost of travelling TFL and SWR was very expensive. Driving would work out at the same price as you are in traffic on the M25 pretty much the whole way. Living costs are very expensive as we are based in Surrey, so nothing is cheap apart from supermarkets.

There was not any nightlife in the area where we worked. Pubs and bars closed early (10pm, sometimes 12am). However, if you were not renting in the area you would have to leave in order to get the last train(s) home. It is a very family friendly place, so there are not many students around.

There was a football team that the students set up to play against other sites and colleagues, but that was all. There was talk of other teams being set up but they never happened. Some teams had away days where they would go and do an activity, but not everyone had this.