Mechanical Engineer Review

I really enjoyed my Engineering placement with GSK. I have found my placement challenging to be both challenging and rewarding. It has been really interesting learning about the pharmaceutical industry and GSK as an organisation. The skills and knowledge I have gained during this year are invaluable and will undoubtedly help my in my career. I would recommend this placement to anyone looking to develop their skills as an engineer.

My colleagues at the Barnard Castle site were warm and welcoming right from day one. People are generally happy to help you out or at the very least point you in the right direction. I constantly felt like I did have a voice and my thoughts and opinions were appreciated. I genuinely felt like I was a valuable and contributing member of the organisation during my placement year.

Your placement manager is a key factor that contributes to how well the year turns out. From my experiences most IP managers are incredibly supportive and create a great environment to develop in. All managers/supervisors I've had contact with were happy to mentor me and give me any sort of guidance that I may have required. I've also received great advice to use in my career going forward.

I have found my placement to have both calm and busy periods. From my experiences; managers generally do try to keep you busy while still allowing you time to pursue other responsibilities (i.e. uni work) and other areas of development. Due to the nature of work in real-life there are moments when I felt stretched and moments when I felt I could do more. All things considered this gave me a great insight on how projects move in the real world and how to better manage time. Generally there is a fairly good balance between work and free time.

During my Engineering placement, I was given several projects to own. Some of the projects I worked on did genuinely have a critical impact on the business and really made me feel like a valued member of the organisation. I was treated and expected to act like any other member of full-time staff which added so much more value to the placement experience. Despite all my individual responsibility, I was still given plenty of support if I needed it.

My placement helped me develop a variety of skills that I would not have otherwise learned in formal education. My engineering placement helped me develop soft-skills such as; communication, interpersonal & time management skills. Technically speaking, I didn't come across very in depth subject matter taught in my degree. However, this does vary a lot with roles. I did however gain a lot or real-world technical knowledge that will help me be a better engineer in large organisations. I was also given plenty of training which helped me to perform well within my role.

My department at the Barnard Castle site had an incredible atmosphere. All my colleagues were extremely friendly and approachable. This really helped promote collaborative work. There's a great balance of professionalism and casualness that makes for a relaxed but productive environment. The decor, facilities and IT services were all up to the standard of a global employer such as GSK.

Both GSK and Employing organisation set up the placement very well. Everything from initial interviews right through to the end of the placement was well organised. The on-boarding process was very straight forward. Communication was frequent and it is easy to get in-touch with a person from the employing organisation. Holidays and pay are handles systematically and any queries/issues are always dealt with.

GSK does generally invest a lot into training their IPs. Most of the training is on-the-job and comes as part of being with a company like GSK. I also had a virtual learning environment where I received role specific training. There's also many webinars for IP students on various topics that helped increase our understanding of pharmaceutical companies. I have found the most valuable investment to be other peoples time and the experiences given while on placement.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement with GSK and would love to work for them in the future. There are plenty of roles and an abundance of opportunities to develop and climb up the career ladder in a global organisation like GSK. Having worked for GSK as a placement student has also given me a significant advantage if I do decide to join GSK in the future.

GSK takes on a lot of placements students however some sites get significantly more than others. There were about only 15 of us at the Barnard Castle site but we all got along well. Most of the times outings are heavily dependent on how close together everyone lives. There are plenty of opportunities to socialise with apprentices, graduates and other young people. In general everyone is friendly and open to friendships out of work.

Working in Barnard Castle in the North East of England was great. Cost of living as also very affordable compared to other parts of the UK. There are some great cities nearby that offer many activities to socialise in. There are plenty of bars/gyms/leisure centre/shopping etc accessible by walking, car or public transport. There's plenty of young people in the area as well.

Barnard Castle itself is a small town with lots of little bars and very few clubs (nothing extraordinary). The neighbouring towns (25 mins) Darlington and Bishop have much more bars and nightclubs in comparison. The better nightlife found in cities such as Newcastle, Durham and York are accessible by rail from darlington but are not too ideal for the night out.

GSK is great for those who like to get involved in activities outside work. I was involved in many STEM events where I had the opportunity to get involved in activities with neighbouring schools and universities. GSK also encourages many charity events where employees get opportunities to give back to the community. Some events include; the tough mudder challenges, camps, walks etc. Many departments at the Barnard Castle site plan department socials etc.