Undergraduate R&D Scientist Review

I have really enjoyed my experience at Pall Europe at the Harbourgate offices Portsmouth,UK. Based on R&D I have found my work varied and interesting and have been given lots of opportunities to develop my skills and learn on the job. I always felt like one of the term never just the ‘intern’.

It was nice to be part of such a varied team. I always felt like my contributions in meetings were always appreciated and valued. It was great to also join in on work socials such as go karting, team meals, family BBQ’s and cricket matches. It was great to build good relationships with my colleagues.

I have had so much support from my manager, team and mentor. I have weekly 1:1 meetings to go through my work and discuss any issues and met my mentor monthly. However everyone in the company is so approachable and you always feel like you can walk up to anyone and ask for help!

It is a full on job and you are expected to complete all the work set. However as long as you communicate I never found my work load to be over bearing! I also really like the flexible hours, meaning I could work longer days and then finish early at the end of the week giving a nice early Friday finish!

It was nice how the responsibility increased through my placement to the point that I am now project managing a small project! It is amazing experience and I have really enjoyed learning about the process of bringing a new product to market. It has been a steep learning curve but with some much help and support around I always have people to ask if I have any issues.

I have learnt so many different skills and have really been able to work on problem solving and time management. I have been given the opportunity to attend training including accredited project management courses that I can add to my CV. I have also been trained on a variety of analytical techniques and equipment and improved my simple skills such as presenting, running a meeting, calling people and using excel to a high standard.

It was a friendly open plan office and it was always nice to have a laugh and catch up. It was always a good atmosphere and there of lots of people working there... which means lots of birthday cake!! Although busy I never found it noisy and whenever I really needed to get on and work a pair of head phones or there were small work rooms if you really need total peace and quiet.

I enjoyed the fact it wasn’t too regimented. There were always projects going on and tasks that needed doing but it was nice to be able to direct my placement in a direction that I found interesting and relevant for me. I really appreciated the fact that they asked me what I was interested in and took that into consideration.

The company made you feel very valued and I have been very lucky to be on some amazing training courses some for health and safety in the lab but others for technical development and others for self development. It is nice that Pall invested in me even though I was not a permanent staff member.

I have just been offered a job for when my placement finishes on their R&D leadership placement which is a 2 years rotating around the R&D sector of the business. It was great applying after my placement as through that we had monthly meetings with the other interns and learnt skills such as CV writing, doing presentations and interview techniques.

There were around 8 interns throughout the site and we met monthly for breakfast and then also privately organised a Christmas party and also other social meeting such as coffee or a meal. It was nice to chat with people at work who are the same age and in the same position and share experiences.

The south is expensive in general but there are plenty of different options around. You can always rely on a Wetherspoons. For the south I would say Portsmouth isn’t too bad and it’s nice to be on the coast with good connections to London (just over an hour by train). Gunwarf , Port Solent and Albert Road are all good places for going out.

I am not really into clubbing anymore so not something I particularly do anymore but there are a few clubs around in Gunwarf and Guildhall Walk. For more the pub scene and a night out/ live music, Albert Road has a lot more atmosphere.

There are lots of clubs at Pall. There is a monthly photography competition aswell as yoga, meditation, board games, running, walking, horticulture, cricket, football, go karting and paddle boarding and they are just the ones I’d heard of! Also you get reduced entry to the local brand new gym just across the road. There are yearly fun days, local BBQ’s, bake offs, raffles and usually some charity fund raising.