Industrial placement student Review

A Highly enjoyable and rewarding experience. Challenging and stressful at times but rewarding to get through. Colleagues were nice and work hours were flexible so it was possible to get certain things done, e.g go to the doctors or finish early if needed. The work feels worthwhile and is varied as well as engaging

At the start I did not feel the most valued, however this is understandable as I was knew and had a lot to learn as well as people not knowing what my ability was like yet. However by the end I felt as though people listened to and trusted what I said and what my work showed.

I was given lots of support by my direct supervisors with weekly check ins. I could always ask for help. I also had an independent line manager who would deal with any issues not directly linked to the work e.g pay etc. This worked well and made getting help easy.

On most days I was busy however on some days I wasn't particularly at the start and some days I had to stay later to get the work done. You realise this is just a part of science however as you could have a busy week planned but if an experiment doesn't work then everything might be cancelled or your work load doubled.

By the end I had quite a lot of responsibility. I had sole responsibility for my project and presenting this to other people. I was allowed to create my own experiments and plan what I needed to do. I was supported the whole time however by my supervisors who I could ask questions to if I was stuck

My practical lab skills have increased way beyond anything I have learned at uni. My presentation skills have also greatly increased, and opened me up to how presentations are done in the real world, as opposed to how uni makes you do them. My transferable skills such as team working and writing have also improved. I have learned a lot more skills relevant carrying out scientific work e.g experimental design etc.

Everyone was very friendly, however as there were so many people in the office you often ended up only talking to those people in your team. People worked hard and it was a professional environment but we also talked to the people around us. Overall it was a nice atmosphere.

The placement was very well setup as GSK has been running this for a lot of years. At GSK you are actually employed by SRG on behalf of GSK. They can be quite hard to deal with and are not very helpful in dealing with questions/ issues. For any internal GSK issues the managers at GSK are excellent. SRG not GSK are the main reason for only giving 6 stars.

I was allowed to attend any training/development sessions that were open to anyone else. Deliberate efforts were made so that I was exposed to as much different lab work as possible as well pushed to present at regularly. Possibly more training for office based tasks could of been given as this would be transferable to other roles.

I would like to come back to GSK for an R&D scientist based role if the opportunity came up. Because it is a large company there are only formal channels for direct re-entry, some of which are not the most appealing. However I have enjoyed my time so would return if possible.

At GSK there is a group called IP UNITE who are responsible for organising socials for IP students at GSK. Events are organised for just IPs at your site as well as with IPs at other sites in the UK. There is a good mix of events throughout the year so there is something for everyone.

The cost of living was ok but not cheap. On the salary you are paid you feel plenty comfortable doing a big weekly shop whilst still being able to go out at the weekends, by clothes and pay rent etc and have money left over. As long as your sensible it's not too expensive to stop you doing anything

Good pubs and bars, few clubs however being close to London and on the train line meant that it was easy to go into London itself for a night out or go visit mates at uni and go out there. There were lots of good pubs and beer gardens though.

There are lots of sports clubs based around the local area as well as other activities. There are not loads of activities organised by work however there is a gym with classes and I've heard they play netball too. There is plenty of stuff to do on the weekends though if you look yourself.