Intern Review

I only enjoyed the first day, after this I did not return. Previously, I had already done a week here at a younger age and earlier on in my academic journey. Upon returning, older and more experienced, I thought I could be more hands on. I was wrong. To summarize my individual placement, there was evidently no plan for the week. It appeared everything was 'off the cuff' and even the Line Manager was lost at times as to what to do with me.

Despite the poor experiences, I felt very welcomed and respected by all levels of staff I interacted with. There is a friendly community culture at the site but I also remember hearing about a lot of corporate problems from more senior management. I enjoyed speaking with the staff and hearing about their roles, they were polite and very informative. However, this was probably the highlight of the overall experience. Shadowing is only good for a day or maybe two, any longer in a laboratory environment and it's very boring.

The people I directly worked with were very informative about my potential career pathways. They were kind enough to give me insights of their experiences, their friends, and just general information about careers. Fortunately, they would also happily sit me down to discuss procedures and the science behind them. This was invaluable, however I didn't receive much practical guidance/support because I was never given an opportunity to be hands on. Anyone can weigh, pour, heat, and so on.

Overall, none. I didn't develop any skill or information that has benefited my studies. I briefly learned SOPs and a few facts about machine that I could mention in my analytical seminars but that was it. Looking back, I don't believe this 'week placement' benefited my career from any angle. The only takeaway from this really is what a corporate culture is like and the difficulties of working in a massive team and so forth.

No structure. There was no plan at all, the first day was shadowing. This was followed by uncertainty as to what they should do with me next. We followed this by printing out SOPs, having me read them, and then be quizzed on them. I respect the staff very much, but this seemed like a waste of time for all parties. There is ample resources online, I wanted a learning experience I could have only had by coming to Baxter.

Overall, very boring. The QC Analysts were interesting to shadow for a short while, until I realized QC is one of the most repetitive and procedure occupations. Fortunately, a good learning outcome was that I realized QC was not really for me. The atmosphere was friendly and caring, but very dull and boring. I couldn't see myself working on this Baxter site, or QC, in the future. This isn't to say they are poor, it's just to say it is not what I want to pursue in life.

None, there was nothing invested which was very disappointing. As an aspiring scientist at the time, I should have been given menial laboratory work. Preferably, work that outlines the effect of what you're doing. This really shows the science and can be very motivating. The Line Manager only let me observe, which wasn't great. There should have been opportunities to have a go and then write down (in a lab book like a real analyst) my data to give a full experience.

Yes, I would understand it to be very dull with corporate politics with the more senior figures. The scientific part was very procedural, so not for me. I want to innovate, using my scientific background to lead research, and achieve new outcomes. This is obviously the opposite of QC, so I would hate working here full time as a QC Analyst unless there was no other jobs. More so, there was general corporate problems. This manager said this, it was his fault, no it was this departments fault, and so forth.

I don't believe anyone can infer company culture from a week and from one operational site. You need to work at a company for months and speak to all levels of employees and engage with stakeholders. Even more so, from working in a placement again, I can see this changes from different sites. So, it would be unfair to generalise Baxter based off of a few days. Additionally, this was two years ago now and a lot changes.

Very, as stated, it has reassured me that QC is not for me. Like I said, this isn't being rude to their QC Analysts - the position just seems very dull. So, in this sense, it was good because it taught me what I don't like and narrowed down (relatively) positions I would pursue in the future. The corporate environment was ok, this isn't something you can really choose because the majority of good scientific firms are million pound companies anyway.

No, not really relevant.

None.

Yes, they would go to the gym or for food.

No, not at this site unless they've implemented a crystal clear plan for the student.