DMPK Industrial Placement Student Review

I had a really enjoyable year at GSK. It was a great first insight into working life and being an employee at a large company. I had the opportunity to learn about a new discipline and new business industries. Unfortunately with COVID-19 we had to move to remote working for half of the placement, which did make the experience less engaging than working in the laboratory. However I understand that this was unexpected and regardless I enjoyed the year.

In my team the placement students make up a large percentage of the workforce, and therefore I felt that we played a very important role in helping the team reach targets. Therefore I felt very valued and appreciated by my supervisor, and was given work that made a real impact and large responsibilities. I did observe examples however where team members would pass on the more mundane repetitive admin tasks to students, to get out of doing them themselves.

My supervisor was extremely supportive throughout the year. They were always on hand to answer my questions, spent large amounts of their own time working on my personal development (CVs, sorting out university admin, training). I felt comfortable with approaching them with issues I had. There were monthly check in meetings with the leader of the team also. This support will vary from department to department, but I only had good experiences with my supervisor.

Like any job, the work load did vary throughout the year. Some weeks I would be working longer hours to ensure tasks got done, but some days would be quiet and I would be able to do some project work. Although you are busy, it does make the day go past more quickly. There is also lots of support on hand so you are never left struggling with a task alone. Over COVID-19 the level of work did decline, but this is only natural with the reduced level of lab work.

As mentioned, the students make up a large percentage of the workforce, and so as soon as we were competently trained we were left in charge of routine tasks within the first few weeks. We were given a lot of independence in the lab. Within the first month I was working on a project that was global and highly important to the department. By being given responsibility early on, I developed my skills quickly. However some tasks did naturally need to go past my supervisor first.

This year I was able to learn about a new discipline of science I hadn't come across before. It was really interesting to learn these new concepts, but I don't feel like they will be applicable to my degree. I also don't think I want to pursue a lab-based career and so although I feel more confident in my practical skills, this will not be of too much benefit later on. However, in terms of other skills such as presenting, team work, leadership and an understanding of the corporate world, this year was invaluable.

The whole department was split across multiple offices. There was a "hot-desking" policy in place, but nobody followed it and so everyone sat in the same seat every day. This meant there wasn't much opportunity to socialise around, and generally the atmosphere was fairly quiet. However in the laboratory, the atmosphere was much livelier with more opportunities to chat and mix with other departments. It was more fun to be working in the laboratory than in the office.

A training programme was set up for us for our first few weeks of placement. I felt quite overwhelmed at first with the amount of different concepts, equipment and techniques involved over the first two weeks. However looking back it was an introduction, and within the first month of placement I felt much more comfortable. There was a few discrepancies over university project deadlines and the placement of students within the teams which had impacts on the workloads of others.

The company did train us up well to do the routine tasks, but as mentioned because we made up a large proportion of the workforce, this was important to them so that they did not fall behind with work. My supervisor put the majority of effort into my personal training and development, taking time out of their schedule to support me. But for the company as a whole, personal development was not as high a priority.

The company do run a future leaders programme which you can be nominated for by your supervisor. However if you were interested in a scientific role, GSK do not offer graduate schemes in science and you would have to apply by direct entry. As these roles are limited, I would suggest it is not the easiest company to return to after graduation. I would be open to returning the company in the future if the right opportunity arose.

At my site there were over 100 students and so there were lots of opportunities to make friends and socialise. It was a similar experience to starting university. There were activities after work and at weekends with friends, and there were also work meals out and parties which were fun. There was also the opportunity to do sporting events at lunchtimes with fellow colleagues. Overall I always felt there was someone I could go and chat to.

The cost of living was higher than I had ever experienced in the north, but that was to be expected. I was pleasantly surprised that the cost wasn't as high as expected and it is significantly cheaper than London living, despite only being a 20 minute train journey away. I found that I had a significant amount of my wages left over for personal spending at weekends, as well as saving.

The nightlife was pretty poor in the area. There were quite a lot of pubs around, but apart from the two Wetherspoons, these were mostly aimed at older locals and so were not the most lively venues. There were a few nightclubs but these were also not really my scene. Early on there were a few house parties, but as there is no designated student area in the town, these were limited as to respect the local residents. London was only a 20 minute train away, but the last train back on a Saturday night was at 1:00 am.

There was a gym on site, sporting events such as badminton at lunch, work socials and pub nights. However sometimes after a long day at work you would just want to go home!