Formulation Scientist Review

I absolutely loved my placemen year at GSK. The students I met and the staff are amazing and friends for life! The work was interesting, I learnt a lot during my year and experienced a lot of new experimental techniques within the lab. I have gained transferable skills for the future.

My team were so welcoming, polite and friendly. They supported me in my university work as well as my project work and always advised me of new courses, events and activities I should be involved with. I played a key role within the team and supported studies alongside my colleagues.

My line manager and manager supported and guided me with choosing an appropriate project to complete during my time on placement. They provided me with the resources needed to gain an understanding of the topic as well as training me on techniques I wasn't familiar with. I received feedback on my written work throughout.

The workload varied a lot. Some days/weeks were extremely busy and some were spent doing online training programmes because work in the lab was so limited. My manager always ensured I was happy with the work load available and provided me with extra work where needed. It was often down to how busy you make yourself in R&D.

The responsibility given increased over the year as I became more capable with new techniques and procedures. Within teams (charity and comms) outside my department team, I was given a high level of responsibility organising events for 1500 people on site. The team trusted the work I did and supported me whenever needed.

I have learnt new experimental techniques such as HPLC analysis that I haven't yet done at university. This will be useful going into my final year. I have more confidence in the career path I'd like to take and have build up my linkedin profile with support during my placement.

The culture at GSK is fantastic. Everyone is so polite, friendly and welcoming. I met so many new people and shadowed many different departments. The office atmosphere was fun yet formal, often having cakes and tea breaks with the team and other placement students that were available. My team were chatty and fun.

It was well organised with a plan for the year including project and report deadlines. Unfortunately Covid-19 changed my experience dramatically but support was still there from my manager to reach deadlines and organise my time working from home. There were routine requirements in training in order to do certain procedures.

GSK provided many events and opportunities for placement students to get involved with and expensed everything involved. There are 100s of online courses that you can assign yourself to and there were days organised for development and experience. There were also many volunteering opportunities to get involved with allowing for networking as well as CV building.

Very. I would love to work for GSK for a longer time with more responsibility in my role. The graduate programmes GSK offers are fantastic, with one rotating roles every 6 months over 3 years allowing for the graduate to get a full scope of the business and increase their experience within the company.

Yes. Before starting placement I expected it to be a very lonely year, but I have met friends for life. There were social events organised monthly with placement students as well as apprentices and graduates. Everyone was very likeminded and we shared common interests making socialising very easy. A highlight was the New years ball in London.

Not too expensive. I pay £500 a month for rent, and budget money for pubs/meals out. There are discounts at the site sports and social club, and many deals on the high street. Going into London is more expensive but very enjoyable and exciting. There's a local Tesco and asda making food shopping easy.

The nightlife is very small in Ware. There are no clubs and a lot of gastro/bistro pubs. However, Hertford has more to offer including a Popworld and is only a 6 minute train journey away. We often spent weekends in Hertford or even London during our placement year and enjoyed the time spent.

Yes. There was a volunteering week organised at Over The Wall camp, this was a great opportunity to meet new students as well as building our CVs. Also lots of sporting and charity events that was encouraged and supported across site. These were funded by GSK making them easy to apply for.