Industrial Placement Student Review

I and most people I know on placement had an amazing time at GSK. Working here offered us a wide range of both professional and social opportunities. It was an incredible opportunity for professional development, and although there were occasionally stressful moments the benefits definitely outweighed them. This placement helped me gain important first hand lab experience in the field that I wouldn't have gotten from just completing a university degree. It was a fantastic opportunity that I definitely recommend other students take part in if they are able to.

Joining a company for a year as an undergraduate with little to no experience working with industry experts was quite daunting. Right from the start all of my colleagues were very invested in my professional development and wouldn't hesitate to take time out of their busy schedules to show me the ropes. They made an effort to include me in all work/non-work related events. Even while working from home during COVID lockdown my colleagues always made sure I will was still able to be involved.

My supervisor and manager were absolutely fantastic. They were and still are very invested in my professional development. They have taken countless hours out of their days to support me with tasks and give me advice on anything I need. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive supervisor or manager and am very grateful to have been able to work with such fantastic people. Knowing that I had people to go to for anything I needed during my placement made it a very good experience.

As I was in an R&D placement there was no "typical day" and my workload varied quite a lot from day to day. Depending on what stage my projects were in somedays I would need to have an early start or late finish to get my lab work done. I was never given an overwhelming number of tasks to complete and always felt as though I was able to ask for assistance if I needed it.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility in planning and running my own project. Although I had much less experience in the research area than all of my co-workers I always felt as though my insight and opinion was valued. I was always able to manage my own time and spent a lot of time conducting independent lab work. I was also able to gain lots of experience in running meetings and giving presentations.

This placement has allowed me to put many of the research techniques and skills I learned about in my university course into practice. Having had hands on experience conducting laboratory research I feel as though I have a much better understanding of the process than I had prior to my placement. Spending a year working at GSK has also inspired me to pursue a career in science so I can expand my understanding of the field I have been working in this year.

Very friendly, although fairly quiet as people are usually busy at their desks. Even so people will not hesitate to make time to answer or quick question or to have a longer chat with you over a coffee. As people are in and out of the labs quite a bit the office always feels quite lively and is something I missed once I started working from home. Even while working from home I was in frequent contact with my coworkers so did not feel isolated.

It was very well structured. GSK has had lots of experience hosting placement students before and even if your immediate supervisor has not supervised a student before there will be others in the department who have. GSK are very understanding of university requirements during the placement and will give you time to work on any assignments/coursework you need while at placement. I found the structure of the placement worked very well with the requirements for university.

As laboratory reagents can be quite expensive I had very limited on hands experience with laboratory work while at university. I found my department at GSK to be very keen on investing in time and money for reagents/equipment towards the completion of my project. They were also happy investing in reagents for me to learn laboratory techniques unrelated to my project just so I would have the experience. If they were unable to teach me something I wanted to learn they would help find someone who could.

As GSK is a very competitive company I don't imagine it would be very easy for me to enter an R&D role immediately after graduation without post graduate qualifications. However I do think my experience working in the company will put me at a competitive advantage if I end up applying to work at GSK at any point in the future. For non science based roles there are more direct routes for employment after graduation.

Because there were around 100 students based on site there was quite a strong student community. There were many large student socials throughout the year as well as casual after work socials. Additionally many of my colleagues who were full time scientists included the placement students in on pub trips, barbecues, and other events. Because there was no pressure to study like at university, and all the time after work and weekends was completely your own I felt as though I had much more time to socialise while on placement.

Although close to London, Stevenage is a much cheaper place to live. There is not much in the town but the pubs are fairly affordable. Stevenage is probably considered a cheaper place to live than most of the surrounding areas. The trains to both London and Cambridge are very cheap and fast and make for nice day/weekend beaks. Working in Stevenage is a happy medium between living close to London and still getting to spend time in the city without paying London prices.

Stevenage nightlife is pretty limited, there is only one bar/club but quite a few pubs. However as Stevenage is such an easy and quick train ride from both London and Cambridge it was quite common for students to go on nights out to either of those cities rather than stay in Stevenage. Although Stevenage nightlife is bad the convenience of being in central London in 20mins or Cambridge in 30min more than compensates for it.

There are quite a few different sports clubs GSK employees are able to join as well as an onsite gym with lots of classes at lunch and after work. GSK really encourages employee wellbeing and gives opportunities to get involved in different activities. Additionally there are many social and charitable activities people can get involved in. These include charity fun runs, tube station bucket collections, bake sells etc. If you enjoy planning and organising managers tend to be happy for people to volunteer to be involved in this.