Microbiology Review

by GSK

Best Student Employer

Rating

4.5/5
  • Skills
    5.0
  • Responsibilities
    4.0
  • Support & Guidance
    5.0
  • Culture
    3.8
  • Your Impressions
    4.7

    Overview

  • 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
  • My role was project based so each day depended on what my current projects required, this could include running experiments such as PCRs, Ligations and Digestions. More routine aspects of my role were making media and agar plates, making disinfectant for the department, washing up dirty glass wear and putting it away, and ensure the lab was filled with equipment such as falcon tubes, pipette tips and eppendorf tubes.


    Skills

  • 2. Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
  • I have developed my molecular biology skills such as running PCRs, agarose gels, digestions and ligations. In addition, I learnt new technical skills such as using CRISPR to make gene modifications, how to work with plant cells, and how to cause bacterial conjugation. Through the placement I have also developed many soft skills such as team working, communication, critical thinking and problem solving, data analysis and digital skills.


  • How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
  • 5/5

  • Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
  • 5/5

    Responsibilities

  • 3. Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
  • I had responsibility for my own projects and meeting the deadlines in regards to that. In addition, I was responsible for my own data analysis and presenting my findings in front of key stakeholders. Lastly I trained another placement student in Molecular Biology techniques so they could work alongside me in a project, so I was responsible for ensuring that they understood what to do.


  • Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
  • 4/5

    Support & Guidance

  • 4. How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
  • I was given a lot of support, when I first started I had a lot of on the job training to complete and I shadowed a member of staff for the first couple of weeks whilst they taught me lab techniques and introduced me to my projects. We had weekly department meetings and weekly teams meetings, these allowed me to discuss my projects and their findings, as well as ask for help and guidance.


  • How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
  • 5/5

    Culture

  • 5. What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
  • The general atmosphere was comfortable and everyone was exceptionally friendly, whenever I needed help people was there to help me. Company culture is integral to GSK and it really shows in the employees, I was treated as a colleague as a opposed to a student and as a valued member of the team. This allowed me to feel comfortable asking for help


  • How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
  • 4/5

  • How would you rate the social opportunities?
  • 3/5

  • How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
  • 4/5

  • How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
  • 4/5

    Your Impressions

  • 6. To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
  • I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. I found the work very interesting and had an amazing team to support me when I needed help or wanted to learn more. It exceeded my expectations, especially as there were still some COVID regulations in place, and it confirmed to me that I would want to work in Molecular Biology/Microbiology in the future in an industry setting. The amazing culture of GSK would encourage me to return.


  • Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
  • 5/5

  • Please rate how your experience met your expectations
  • 5/5

  • Please rate the future employment prospects at GSK
  • 4/5

  • 7. Would you recommend GSK to a friend?
  • Yes


  • 8. What advice would you give to others applying to GSK
  • Be yourself in the assessment centres, if you have gotten this far in the application process the interviewers now really want to know who you are and what your values are. It's important that you bring in examples from outside of University as well. In terms of preparing for day one- don't worry!! Everyone is so friendly and no-one expects you to know exactly how a manufacturing site works. Lastly- Enjoy the placement!


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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Pharmaceutical

South West

June 2022


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