Industrial Placement Student Review

Overall, I have enjoyed the year working in the Oncology Bioscience Department. For the first time I've been able to shape in what direction my project goes and understand the significance my work has for the company. I've been able to experience both doing my own independent research project and working as part of a team in a specific project - and being able to present this to a high number of people, including the senior leaders.

This varies by person, of course. The majority of people are genuinely interested in what I've been up to - and some of my research was presented to the senior leaders, so it's great that in this company it does not matter what level/stage in your career you are - if your data is great people are just as interested as if you were a senior scientist.

My supervisor was both a great guide and role model throughout my placement. We had weekly 1 to 1 meetings where we would discuss what kind of work we wanted to do that week/in the future. Questions were always welcome and answered throughout the year - it was nice that even my line manager (one up from the supervisor) wanted to meet with me every two weeks to discuss what I've been up to/any questions. Although I know this was not everybody's experience.

Working in science, how busy you are depends at what stage of the project/what lab work you have to do that day. Sometimes I was incredibly busy every minute of the day, and others was fairly steady. Although I'd note that there is always "something" you have to do. I wouldn't say there was a "typical" work load day, but 95% of the time I'd be able to complete my tasks in work hours.

At the start of the year, I was assigned a project which could have turned out to have high impact, or it could not at all. I was given responsibility, that along with my supervisor to guide/advise me, to do the work I think was important to answer questions we wanted to answer. At the end of the year, I was an active/equal part of a team working to deliver data each week which was important in delivering a data package by the end of the year,

The lab skills gained will undoubtedly help me in my final year degree course. Aside from that, I feel I've gained better skills at tailoring and making a presentation to different audiences and with different purposes. This will help me in my later career. I've developed a more critical eye of scientific papers for example, and been able to integrate my knowledge of the limitations and advantages and laboratory techniques to critically assess different scientific papers and what knowledge I can reliably gain from them - a key skill in science.

Most of the time, being a hot desking open plan office, the atmosphere was very friendly. People have skype meetings in the office sometimes, and it is normal to sometimes wear headphones if you want to concentrate on something. It is normal for colleagues to discuss things together in the office - and everyone's input is welcome.

Honestly, the actual organisation of the placement isn't fantastic - and can involve many emails back and forth. You are outsourced through HAYS which means you get paid weekly, which is nice, but HAYS are quite useless when you have a problem e.g. taxed wrongly on your pay slip. The coordinator of the placements was good in that he often checked up on us, so on AstraZeneca's side it was fine - it is really just HAYS that let it down.

There is a specific work group called AZInspire, which is just for people early in their career in the company. You get to meet other people such as apprentices/graduates etc at many conference and career days that are organised by AZInspire. However, compared to the graduates you get much less investment in you, which is a shame as we are similarly experienced and work on projects of similar importance.

There is a grad scheme which is certainly appealing to apply to - however very few places (about 6) are available compared to the year placement (about 20) so it is hugely more competitive. If you want to work in the company as a scientist in later career I think it is necessary to have a PhD, which obviously is a huge commitment.

Cambridge is disproportionately expensive - similar to London I think. Rent in particular is hugely expensive for not great quality housing. However, not being too negative, Cambridge is a very pretty town to live in, which is why I guess it is so much. Price of a pint varies - in some could be around £3.50, others can get as high as £5/6 .

Cambridge doesn't have the best nightlife in my opinion - it is fairly just cheesy nights etc. There are good pubs and bars in the centre of town - but clubbing usually involves going to London for big nights. Compared to my university town, it's pretty tame in my opinion.