Associate Clinical Development Manager Review

Working for GSK has exceeded every expectation I had for my placement. I've been given a large amount of responsibility in my daily tasks, as well as having countless development opportunities. Everyone I met really contributed to the company culture, making me feel valued and respected, as well as provided opportunities to gain mentors. I felt like I was contributing to the study team, and by the end felt very comfortable in the role.

The company culture at GSK could be felt clearly around the office, with everyone very friendly and happy to help you. My study team was not significantly close despite this, but I understand this varied by department and teams. However, I felt valued and respected by my colleagues nonetheless, and I felt trusted to do a good job without being micromanaged in my daily tasks.

The line management I received was exceptional. Despite changing manager 3 months in, as my original manager went on maternity leave, I felt fully supported throughout. Initially I received more guidance and support, as I became more confident in the role I was given more tasks that I could manage. My line manager was always happy to answer any questions I had and made me feel comfortable to ask these. There were also several employee's who took on a mentoring role with me, allowing me to feel fully supported and with many people to go to if I had an issue. Even during the COVID-19 Pandemic where the office shut 6 months into my placement, I felt fully supported whilst working from home and in lockdown, with a lot of emphasis being given to my wellbeing.

Generally I was very busy during my placement year, but it was usually manageable and I always had time for development opportunities alongside my study work. I was never given more work than I could manage without reasonable deadlines, and should this have occurred I would have felt comfortable telling my manager I had too much work. Tasks were given to me naturally and depending on how much I already had ongoing, meaning I usually had a good balance.

I was surprised by how much responsibility I was given during my placement. Initially I was doing more basic admin tasks but by the end I felt able to cover many aspects of the work on my study that my manager did, including chairing meetings, leading discussions with vendors and proactively dealing with issues/problem solving. Despite the large amount of responsibility I feel I was given, I still felt supported and knew I could ask for guidance, or step back if I felt it was too much for me. Generally I think I was stretched to the right level.

I feel that I have developed really key skills this year, and upskilled a number of my existing ones, for instance, communication. Although I thought I was good at this initially, I now have a greater appreciation for influencing people, being clear and concise and summarising technical points in more basic language. I have also developed my teamwork, interpersonal skills, and my organisation, as well as my project management. I'm more able to network, and have a greater appreciation for the running of a corporate company, all in addition to the formal training I've received for internal IT systems etc. Although my scientific knowledge has not greatly increased, I have no doubt my skills that will be useful for a job in the future have developed greatly, and will be an asset in my future career.

The office I was in was largely very friendly. Staff members were approachable, and it was fine to have conversations whilst you worked. In the office there was a culture of hot-desking which I found useful to get to know more people in the office instead of just sitting with the other placement students.

Generally I think the placement was well organised. SRG managed the placement for GSK, and the application/interview/offer process was clear. There were a number of systems that were different to those of GSK employees which added a layer of complexity but generally it was easy enough to work these, and SRG provided guidance. The placement was set up well with clear onboarding and talks regarding each department.

There were a huge amount of opportunities for personal and professional development and training, including formal electronic training, development days, site visits, strengths testing, sessions regarding presentation practice, excel training, word tips etc. We also had access to LinkedIn learning which was very helpful, and were encouraged to set up lots of 1:1 meetings with various employees and departments to learn more about the company and it's different areas.

Due to my overall extremely positive experience I would very much like to work for GSK in the future. There are several graduate schemes which set candidates up well for being a future leader, but personally I would prefer to go direct entry into the role I am currently in, which also seems to be a viable option (if currently working former placement students are anything to go by).

The social scene wasn't as good as I'd previously hoped, as a lot of the placement students lived at home and commuted into work every day. This limited options for nights out, meals etc. However, we were still a very clear group of friends and did events outside the office (pot luck dinners, birthdays, night out etc). There was largely not a social scene outside the office between the placement students and the permanent employees.

I lived in Ealing near GSK House in a 2 person flat. This was quite an expensive option, but provided easy access to central London via several tube lines, meaning it was ideal for socialising in this sense. However, being London, going out for meals/drinks was a large expense, although the benefit was that there were plenty of options and variety.

I worked at the Stockley Park site of GSK, but lived nearer GSK House in Brentford. I did not go out around either Uxbridge or Brentford, but both workplaces had easy access to central London via direct train/tube, where there was plenty of choice of where to go out (Heaven, Be At One, Tiger Tiger etc), which was always busy on a Friday/Saturday night.

There were a huge amount of development opportunities to be involved in alongside study work such as STEM outreach projects, Bring Your Child to Work Day team, a site events committee, Women's Leadership Initiative, GSK's charity Orange United, various site visits to see different parts of the company, a journal club, podcast club etc - there was plenty to be involved with if you wanted to be.