Procurement Review

I really enjoyed my placement at GSK. It was great to work in a global company as it gave me exposure to many different functions as well as different cultures. I also got to interact with a range of different people which was great for my development.

I felt extremely value by my colleagues. I was given work that had actual purpose and was able to see the effect of the work id been doing. I was also able to get involved with some major projects and always given the chance to voice my opinion.

I feel as though I had a good level of support from my management, I knew I could turn to them if I ever felt stuck or didn't know what to do. I was given a good amount of guidance without being micromanaged as well on all the projects I worked on.

How busy I was varied, at times I felt as though I was extremely busy where as others I had a lot of spare time. This depended often on the timescales of projects and if any problems came up. I never found as though I didn't have enough to do for extended periods of time.

I was given a great deal of responsibility on my placement. From the start, although you aren't expected to know everything, you are expected to be willing to learn. GSK mostly operates through a learn on the job scheme so I was given meaningful tasks to help my development.

I think I have gained many skills from working in GSK you couldn't get from just studying a degree. Managing people and relations as well as data analytics skills that weren't directly related to my degree have been enhance through working in Procurement and I will definitely utilise these skills in the future.

GSK is big on personal development. If you are curious about anything in the company and want to learn about it they will always support you whilst on placement in order to develop you as an individual. There wasn't much formal training but there were mentors and coaches in place to help you learn.

This helped massively. Until you have worked in an office you can understand what it would really be like. Whilst on placement at GSK you really are treated like a full time employee so you get a real feel of what it would be like to work here after graduation.

I learnt a lot about the company culture whilst working here. The company has a big focus on work life balance and there were many things in place to show this. There are also lots of events you can get involved with and volunteer at the experience what GSK values.

I was paid during my placement and reimbursed for any travel I had to take for work.

I spent a lot of time on my placement networking. Because it is such a global company, it is best to make the most out of all the people that work here. I was able to learn a lot about other business functions as well as interact with a lot of senior staff through networking.

They held networking and social event s across the company, run by different groups including other placement students, women in leadership groups, sports groups and many more. This gave me the opportunity to meet lots of different people with similar interests as well as people I wouldn't normally come across.

Yes, this wasn't as structured and more word of mouth. there were also announcement posters around the office if there were activities going on outside of work. If things were organised as a department, everyone would receive an email about it so it wasn't difficult to find out what was going on.

I would recommend GSK to a friend. Its a good company to work in as a placement student as they provide you with lots of support and also have great development opportunities. There are also lots of different functions and you can learn about any of them despite what role you land in.