Analyst Programmer Review

I had a really good experience because my placement allowed me to find out what it was like first hand to have a role as a programmer at GSK. I was also able to meet other people in the workplace and find out about their roles and learn more about what the company has to offer.

All the people at the company were extremely welcoming. Even head of departments and senior managers would come to team events and introduce themselves to me. I felt comfortable and despite being just a placement student, no one looked down on me. The work I was given felt important and I was happy to be given such responsibilities.

My manager would set up face to face meetings with me every week which provided a lot of support. They ensured I was settling in well and that the work I was being given was to my level and enabled me to develop. There was also a mentor scheme, adding an extra person I could ask questions to and get advice from.

I was pretty busy on a daily basis. The workload would fluctuate depending on the stage that the clinical trial was in/the stage of analysis. This meant that some days were incredibly busy, whilst other days were a bit slower. Despite having less work, I was always able to go to my manager and ask for more.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during the time that I was on placement. I was given the responsibility to create outputs and tables that would be given to the statisticians to make analysis and decide if the study was significant or not. It was important for me to create these without errors.

Regarding technical skills, I learnt a lot more about programming and the syntax of different programming languages, which I feel will assist me in my maths degree. Other than technical skills, I developed a lot of soft skills as well, such as confidence, networking, problem-solving and teamwork that I can definitely apply in the real world.

Despite the heating being a little funny around where I was sat, meaning the office was sometimes a little cold, the general atmosphere was really friendly. My colleagues could welcome me every morning with a little 'hello' and often asked how my evening or weekend was. It was a really nice environment to work in - spacious and very clean.

The overall placement was organised quite well. There was a small issue in the beginning regarding where I was based, but that was quickly resolved and I was provided with a lot of information and support. My manager had a basic work plan of how my placement would be like throughout the year and the different projects I would work on.

The company provided a lot of training and places for development. Emails were sent out throughout the year with different opportunities and courses that I could take part in. Furthermore, if there was something specific I wanted to learn more, I could ask my manager and he found training courses available for me,

Future employment prospects within the organisation are really appealing. There are multiple roles available in different departments that offer slightly different things. Furthermore, they have a very well planned out graduate scheme that involves rotations and allows you to work in the company for another 2 or 3 years, being involved in slightly different roles throughout the time.

There was a good social scene amongst the other placement students. Before the placement started there was an induction day, which included all the placement students at the site. This was a great chance to meet the other placement students and get to know a little about them. Throughout the placement there were social events, such as a Placement Student ball, which was a lot of fun. We would also sit with each other at lunch as well.

Living in London meant that sadly living and socialising in the area was not cheap. However, being on a London wage meant that I was able to comfortably afford my rent and was still able to go on nights out and socialise with the other placement students. Being from the North, bars and pubs were more expensive than what I was used to as well.

The nightlife in the area I worked was really good. Most of the placement students got places to live in similar areas so we were all pretty close to each other. There were pubs were I ended up living and also a cute little shopping mall, which made weekend shopping trips really easy. It was also near a tube station, making it really easy to get into town and go out.

Yes, during my placement year there was a lot of non-project work activities that we could get involve in. For example on of them was being a part of Over the Wall/ This is a camp that involves providing a free fun week or weekend for those with serious health challenges. We could volunteer to help at the camps. Furthermore, we were provided with 'orange days' which let us take a day off work to help/run a charity event.