Marketing Assistant for Risperdal Consta Review

I felt that the placement was 100% beneficial to my development both personally and professionally. I got the opportunity to work for a large multinational company in a great working atmosphere and I was able to develop some important business and personal skills that I can apply to my final year of university and my working career after that.

As Janssen-Cilag has a great pedigree of employing placement students, they really engrossiated us into the business and included us as part of the overall team. I was given important tasks that both I and the company felt would enhance the value of the brand and the company and generally worked well with all other employees at the company.

Guidance initially was in the form of a two-week handover training period with the previous student in my role. Although I found this satisfactory, it did still take time to find my feet in the working environment, especially having come from a much different university environment. My managers however were always very approachable, always willing to answer questions and clear with their guidance. However it could be quite daunting to begin with.

Obviously throughout the year, the times I was busy would fluctuate between busy and not-busy. However there were very few times where I found that I had absolutely nothing to do. There were a few times where I found that I had rather a lot to do however I would certainly prefer that to being bored at my desk. Also if my workload was a bit thin I found there was always room to come up with ideas for projects or assist students on other brands with their tasks.

I found throughout the year I was given very important projects to do which were really valued by the brand team and the company. I felt that I was given an appropriate amount of responsibility that really helped me feel like a team-player.

I strongly believe that the skills I have developed on placement have helped me immensely to assist in my future career at university and in work. I have been able to improve my organisational and personal skills as well as gain experience in office working, meeting with suppliers and interacting with others as part of a brand team that I simply would not have had, had I not gone on placement. These skills I can utilise in my final year of study and my future career.

Being in a company with roughly thirty other placement students made it very easy to fit in. The working atmosphere was superb as it mixed professionalism with a friendly, social atmosphere. Everyone in the office was friendly, approachable and willing to talk and it made the job that much easier and more enjoyable.

The company had distinct roles for each of its placement students and all permanent employees were used to working with students which made it much more beneficial for both sides.

The company gave me the opportunity to develop many personal skills both by way of optional entry into courses (such as training in Office 2007 or First Aid) and in the projects they gave me. I feel that they invested a lot of time and effort into their placement students to benefit both the student and the company.

As I found out on my placement, there were many former placement students that had returned to Janssen-Cilag in permanent roles. This has encouraged me about the prospects within the company.

With thirty or so placement students working at Janssen-Cilag there was rarely a dull moment with nothing going on. Despite we were all in a professional environment, it was fun to work with them all. Outside of work it still felt similar to university as we would all socialise, have parties and go out together.

I personally lived at home for my placement but the cost of socialising in the area was fairly cheap.

High Wycombe itself had quite a few pubs and couple of smaller clubs. It was generally a good night out.

The company ran activities such as a squash league and a football game at the local leisure centre each week. There was also a free gym in the building. There were various shopping malls around the Wycombe area with cinemas, restaurants etc.