Marketing Assistant Review

M placement was very enjoyable from the very beginning of starting the job. It was great to meet so many different people in all varieties of departments and is a very friendly and comfortable place to work in.

Being an intern at GSK isz very valuable to the company. Although there are so many of us, each department has a selected amount of interns that in some cases like mine are highly valued and treated like a permanent employee. I got to work on the main projects and had many opportunities to manage my own parts of the work.

Every placement student has a manager who regularly meets with you and guides you through the process and the work you have to do. Whenever I needed support, I could go to anyone in the team and not just my manager which made me feel very comfortable to work around.

Your daily schedule is reliant on the amount of work you are given by different people. You could have a different amount of work every day depending on what you are working on and how much you can finish in that day so it doesn't overlap onto other days. Since I was working on rebranding most of our products, I was involved with all the projects which meant I was constantly busy which was good as I never got bored!

My team developed a strong sense of trust and confidence in my work which meant gradually throughout the placement I was given more and more responsibility with the work I was given. Within 3 months of being there I was given a huge role in our rebranding process and was critical to the project!

I can't express enough how great a placement year is. Out of your 3 years studying at uni, you will learn the most skills in your placement year by working in industry. Real-life work in a company is the most valuable time you will get that will help you to bring the skills you learnt to your last year at uni but also finishing a degree with a huge experience of working in the real world. I learnt so much about myself, my ability to work, what I can or can't handle and will definitely take this on board in the future when studying or working.

In project crunch times, the office can seem a bit tense/dull but everyone is so friendly and you can just go up to anyone and talk to them whenever you like. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and everything is open planned which doesn't make you feel claustrophobic, We even had monthly 'cake days'!!

The work and expectancy changed weekly. I would get work from a range of managers which meant my structure changed all the time. There is a big group of interns at GSK and a special intern programme is set up there which is very organised and you can meet lots of people through these events :)

At the start of the placement, the previous intern trained me and told me about everything. As it is such a big company, sometimes your manager won't have all the time in the world to help you at the beginning but once you get into things, your development grows with time.

Getting a graduate scheme or permanent job with your company after your placement year is not guaranteed but its not unheard of. You have to prove yourself and go above expectations to really shine for a place after your placement :)

Interns usually meet within the same department or at other corporate events but you can also meet on the facebook pages and communications between interns. It also depends if you are living with other interns, living at home, or living close to other people you know. It's up to you how social you want to be!

I lived at home for the year so I didn't have many expenses (only travel). Whereas other interns I knew had to move to London which meant most of their salary was going on rent and food! London is very expensive...

GSK is in West London where there's nowhere to go out in the night, apart from the local pub after work, so you'd have to go into central london for nightlife :)

There were many corporate events with my team during the year and social events with other interns but the best is to go into central london for any other activities :)