Clinical Research Scientist Review

As with every job, there were tasks I loved and tasks I found less enjoyable. Overall this placement was highly enjoyable although I am not sure that this is something I would want to do permanently (hence the 9/10 stars!). I would however recommend this placement to anyone interested in gaining industrial experience in a non-lab based scientific placement.

Throughout my placement, I was welcomed by the entire department and found the majority of staff considered me to be a valued member of the team. I felt particularly valued by my study teams who addressed all study-related queries directly to me rather than other permanent/more experienced members of staff and at one point I was even asked not to leave by a colleague!

During my placement I had two different managers as unfortunately my initial manager left the company for personal reasons. However, both managers were a constant source of support and guided me throughout my placement. I also found that the changeover between managers was overlapped which was something I found incredibly useful. In addition, both managers supported me from a personal aspect as opposed to just providing work-based support.

During my placement, workload varied on a daily basis and I found that on the odd occasion I was fairly quiet - particularly in the first half of my placement. However, this was simply due to nature of the placement as early phase clinical trials may be postponed or cancelled at any time. I found that my colleagues always had additional work that I could take on at any time. Overall, I usually had a lot to keep me busy - but never too much!

In the second half of my placement, I was given two clinical studies to run which is a huge amount of responsibility. However, I had constant support throughout my year and plenty of training to allow me to feel comfortable with this amount of responsibility.

This placement has been extremely valuable in developing the skill set that is required for any career path such as written/oral communication, presentation skills, analytical skills, problem solving, researching and many more transferrable skills. I feel all of these skills will aid me with my final year of my degree and will definitely improve my overall performance. This placement also presented the opportunity to work on any skills I felt personally needed improving.

Generally, the atmosphere in the department was quite relaxed. Although all staff were focused on completing work, everyone was very friendly and willing to chat about work or life outside of work. Lunch was always a great opportunity to get to know fellow colleagues and there were numerous social events throughout the year.

As the department I was working in had many students before, the placement was very well organised. During the first few months of my placement, a variety of introductory presentations were held to introduce the company, the world of drug development, and individual roles of the members of a standard study team. These presentations alongside the extensive training provided a fantastic foundation for the responsibilities each placement student takes on. The remainder of the placement was then focused on performing in the role just as permanent employee would.

GlaxoSmithKline invests a huge amount into each student in terms of personal training and development making me feel valued by the company as well as by my team. I have only given the placement 8/10 however as I felt I missed out on a few opportunities as a result of the current economy and tight budgets though overall I felt GSK gave me the best possible personal training and development that a placement could offer.

I would jump at the opportunity to work for GlaxoSmithKline and have applied for a graduate scheme with the company. However, the graduate schemes are extremely competitive and have very few places so a place is not guaranteed although placement students are able to submit applications through a Fast track application scheme, presenting an advantage over other applicants. In terms of a permanent position, the department I worked with is not currently hiring therefore it may be difficult to move straight back into a similar role following my graduation.

I was based at the West London Stockley Park site during my placement which had a total of approximately 16 placement students. As a result of the small number of students (compared to Brentford and Stevenage sites) and our geographical spread, we did not socialise every week. However, after-work pub visits were fairly frequent and we arranged monthly events such as celebratory nights out or barbeques. I also lived with fellow placement students who I socialised with on a regular basis.

As with all housing within greater London, a house in West Drayton was not the cheapest rental accommodation I have ever lived in but it was very reasonable for the proximity to central London and size of the property. Socialising was very cheap in the immediate area but socialising in central London was much more costly as you would expect. Despite this, you can find the odd pub or club which has 'cheaper than the standard London' prices (look out for student discount!). Travel into London from West Drayton was fairly cheap providing you purchase an oyster card (and link any student rail cards you may have).

Nightlife in West Drayton and the immediate surrounding areas is simply dire and I would not recommend any of the clubs. However, Windsor and central London are very good nights out and very easy to get to from West Drayton rail station. The only problem with these places is getting back. From Windsor, the last train tends to be before midnight but a pre-booked taxi is very cheap. There are several options with returning from central London: make it to the station in time for the last train (times vary throughout the week), get the first train back the next morning or attempt to ride the night buses. I would not live in West Drayton again and would suggest exploring Ealing or other areas for housing unless you don't want a long commute.

Within our department, there were many social events arranged throughout the year (usually in London) including charity events. Placement students were also offered the opportunity to work with the events committee organising events throughout the site and to work with the various GSK communications teams; for example to launch the GSK Olympic games initiative and the McLaren-GSK partnership.