Undergraduate Synthetic Chemist Review

Working at Pfizer has been a brilliant experience. I have learned so much being here, especially lab skills and understanding about process chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry. I have loved working in the lab everyday getting hands-on experience and being able to see what a job in chemical research involves. It has sometimes been difficult to balance work and study but my supervisors were extremely helpful and understanding.

I enjoyed working as part of a team on two different projects at Pfizer. People were happy to take time out to help me learn and become more confident. As I grew in experience I felt I was able to contribute a lot to the project which was definitely valued by the team.

My supervisor was amazing, she went out of her way to support me through my university presentation which she knew would be a struggle for me. She was very patient but also pushed me to develop my understanding of chemistry. My project lead was also exceptionally helpful and we met weekly to discuss my project.

This varied a lot depending on how much uni work I had on and whether there was a lot going on in the project. Most days I am pretty busy with experiments and writing my uni report (or completing coursework earlier in the year) but some days are more quiet.

At the start, not a huge amount until I was trained in lab safety. As I developed my skills and gained more experience I was given more responsibility, e.g. working alone in the lab and conducting experiments independently. I was responsible for my project and was left to decide which direction it would go in.

I have gained a huge amount of skills this year, especially in the lab, which I know will be hugely useful going forward in my career. I also learned presentation skills and the ability to work well in a team which will put me in good stead for later on in my career. I have also gained a great deal of self confidence as well.

The atmosphere was quite relaxed, people were always focused on their work as there are lots of projects going on with deadlines coming up. However we do have a laugh and every Thursday is 'cake club' where someone bakes and we all hang out and enjoy some baked goods together.

Very well organised. Pfizer has had undergraduates from Nottingham before so understood what they required from the placement and knew what to expect. I had no problems with that side of things and matters to do with holiday and pay were never a problem. Very well organised in my experience.

They definitely invested a lot of time in me; at the start of the placement I had a lot of one to one time with my supervisor in the lab to make sure I was comfortable in what I was doing. They've given me a huge amount of training during my time here.

I would absolutely love to work for Pfizer in the future. They regularly take on graduates and post-graduates and also have a thriving apprenticeship scheme. It really is a brilliant place to work. The location has good links to London (about 1.5 hrs by train) but I live in Devon so it is a bit far for me!

There were about 20-30 undergraduates at the Sandwich site at Pfizer and the company set up a Facebook group for us to chat before we started work. Lots of us live together and spend time outside of work together. Locally to work there isn't much of a social scene but we're not too far from Canterbury which has more of a student population.

It depends where you chose to live and if you shared a house with other undergraduates. I wouldn't describe it as particularly expensive but most people tend to live further away from site where there's more going on so you have to factor in some travel costs. Socialising is pretty standard in terms of cost.

In the immediate area there is not really a night life. However we're not too far from Canterbury where there is a nightlife! It's a student town so there are some clubs, lots of pubs and bars. In Ramsgate there is the world's biggest Wetherspoons which is a big selling point!

In terms of completely outside of work, there is a squash team I think but it wasn't particularly advertised. Work do give you several days off if you want to to do volunteering and outreach. I did a day with a local primary school teaching them about science which was a good experience.