Industrial Placement Technologist Review

As part of my industrial placement with GSK, I joined the Orals Technical Team , responsible for supporting the production of antibiotic tablets and suspensions. I really enjoyed being put in charge of my own project to procure new equipment for use in the manufacturing areas- an initiative that targeted GSK's values, financial goals and business objectives and so were very relevant to the company's aims and future targets.

My team were very welcoming and happy to support my in both my personal and professional development. We kept in close contact via morning meetings throughout the COVID-19 crisis and grew very familiar with each other's interests and styles of working. I have discovered that building strong working relationships between colleagues is essential as a means for success in your job role.

My Line Manager and Project Supervisor, in particular, were excellent in providing specific feedback related to how I approached my tasks and projects. The advice that was given for purposes of furthering progress in my multiple projects was very useful and I shall carry my learnings from this experience throughout my career path.

While the COVID-19 crisis made me relievedly less busy, I always had something that I could work on throughout my placement year with GSK. If not, I made sure to take the initiative to request to take on a larger workload requiring more leadership and responsibility.

I was put in charge of managing multiple projects. As well as procuring new equipment used for Quality Control in the tablet manufacturing areas, I was involved in overseeing the collection of samples of compression mixture as part of an initiative to reduce the maintenance frequency of a piece of kit. For this, I had to brief and train experienced technicians on how to extract the samples both safely and correctly.

I will carry the lessons that I have learnt from my placement at GSK with me throughout the remainder of my undergraduate studies and beyond. My experience has given me an idea of the working culture in the UK and what skills are required to be successful. More so than academic ability, developing crucial soft skills has proven to be integral in improving one's employability.

Everyone was pleasant and agreeable and promoted a great workplace environment which values diversity in both nature and thought. Not a single complaint to be had in this regard.

It was difficult to start the role without a handover period with the previous Industrial Placement which meant that I was struggling to find my feet in the first few months but I just took it in stride as it added to the challenge of the new job role and experience.

Not only was the bespoke GSK Virtual Learning Environment engaging and interactive but my Line Manager would also be willing to invest in my trips to different sites across the UK on both business and awareness related matters which I found to be an invaluable insight into the different areas of pharmacy available.

The Future Leaders Programme (FLP) appears to be a very promising avenue for the career development of a prospective graduate. While the scheme is notoriously difficult to get accepted into, the rewards and challenges are very exciting and promising.

All of the placement students were friendly and inclusive. The only matter for improvement that I could suggest is organising more sober socials perhaps, but apart from this point, the social scene was excellent.

The cost of socialising was perfectly fine with a major city nearby the residential area in which I lived. However, as to be expected down South, I would recommend future placement students to be wary of the high living costs within London and Greater London.

I am not really the right person to ask this question as being completely honest, clubbing is not my scene. I enjoyed socialising at pubs, however.

There were plenty of opportunities both for social purposes and work-related to get involved in during my time at GSK.