Industrial Placement Student Review

I have had a fantastic year at GSK and have genuinely enjoyed my work. In addition I feel that this year has helped me develop as a scientist and a professional adult and has prepared me for the final year of my undergraduate degree and future work.

I was given my own meaningful project of which I had control and never get like I was being asked to do something that nobody else wanted to do or had time to do. I was always treated like an FTE and was supported when needed.

My supervisor and other colleagues were always happy to support me and often went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and that things went to plan.

Work load varies on a day to day basis depending on the state of my project but during quite periods I was able to assist with other pieces of work. As with any job, there were times when I was extremely busy but the workload was always manageable.

I initially worked Close Sky with my supervisor but a couple months into my placement I was given my own project and had was able to design and carry out my own experiments within the confines of a general overarching goal set by my manager.

The skills I have developed this year have made me more confident and will allow me to carry out a better final year project. I also feel that this placement will allow me to compete for a PhD position without having done a masters degree.

The office was never to loud so that you couldn’t concentrate but was not disturbingly quiet either.

Organisation from GSK’s side was always well done but SRG (your actual employer) were often unable to answer simple questions like “How much holiday have I accrued?”

I was given plenty of opportunities to develop, sometimes at the expense of the company.

GSK frequently employs previous IPs and have schemes in place to assist students with getting a job with them once they have finished their final year of university. There is no guarantee of a full time job.

There is a student lead committee that organise social events through the year which have been quite enjoyable.

As Stevenage is close to London prices are relatively high. Letting agents often charged unexpected fees and seem to specialise in exploiting placement students. I would recommend not letting through one of these student focused agencies.

The night life in Stevenage is poor but it is easy to get into London.

There are plenty of social activities linked to GSK and the surrounding community for sport, music, and more.