Associate Clinical Study Manager Review

I really enjoyed my placement at GSK. I was given a wide variety of work that allowed me to learn a huge amount about the pharmaceutical industry. I was given a level of responsibility with my own tasks. There were also many opportunities for personal development, including non-study related work.

I felt very valued by the majority of my colleagues, especially my managers. They were always very grateful for the work I completed, and gave me helpful feedback which allowed me to improve throughout my placement.

I felt very well supported throughout my time at GSK. I was often given tasks which required me to work out how to do them myself, however if I had any questions or got stuck I always received guidance. I felt that this challenged me and allowed me to learn a huge amount during my placement. My manager was very approachable and happy to help in any way she could.

Due to the nature of my work (clinical trials) my work load varied greatly depending on what was happening with the trial that week. On average I had a very good amount of work, however on certain weeks it did fluctuate.

I was given a certain amount of responsibility. I was often left to work through large tasks on my own, and report back to my manager once tasks were complete. However, very few actual decisions were left to me.

I gained a huge amount of knowledge relating to the pharmaceutical industry, as well as practical skills on many industry wide systems and processes. As I want to come back into the industry following graduation, I believe the skills (and network) I developed during placement will be invaluable.

The office was generally quite quiet as everyone is busy (and full time employees have the option to work from home). However all of my colleagues were very nice and friendly. This made it a very nice working environment. There were often site wide activities and giveaways which kept moral high. However, it has to be noted that as the office is outside of central London, there were very few opportunities to socialise with work colleagues outside of work. I tended only to socialise with the other placement students.

GSK has a very well developed placement scheme. They are used to having placement students and therefore I felt that my placement was very well managed. I was given appropriate tasks and my managers ensured that support was in place. There is also a well developed industrial placement network in place who organise social events for IPs across all GSK sites.

During our placement, we were fortunate to visit many other GSK sites to gain a greater understanding of how the business functioned across different sectors. We were always encouraged to network and learn more about roles that interested us (even if it was a different role from our own). We were provided with a vast amount of training and were able to attend multiple development days throughout the year (including the annual GSK Women's Leadership Initiative conference). The only development opportunities we were not allowed to attend were overseas trips.

I am looking to return to GSK when I graduate in 2020. Unfortunately there are no graduate schemes within Clinical Development (my area), however there are opportunities for direct entry. I would however also be inclined to work for a different company before returning to GSK, so that I can learn more about the pharma industry and the differences between companies.

At Stockley Park there were only 11 placement students (unlike 100+ at sites like Stevenage and GSK House). However, this meant that we all knew each other very well and became good friends. We would socialise together all of the time, and some of us lived together too. As Stockley Park is outside of central London, there were very few opportunities to socialise with other colleagues though.

The cost of living in London was very high as expected. We did however have an active (expensive) social life and managed to survive. Rent in Zone 3 will set you back £675pcm per person for a 4 bedroom flat. The tube however makes it cheap to get around. This placement is fairly well paid, allowing you to enjoy your year in London.

There is no nightlife in Stockley Park/Uxbridge. However, most of the placement students lived in Ealing (Zone 3). From here you can easily get into central London, and there is also the night tube making it very easy to get home. Ealing itself has some nice pubs, giving you some good local options.

In addition to my study work, we were also encouraged to get involved with many activities. This included the GSK Women's Leadership Initiative, organising site events, and organising and running week-long STEM events for local students aged 15-18. These activities allowed us to develop skills such as project management, that we might not gain in our day jobs.