New Product Developer Review

This placement was simply the best decision I have ever made. In my second year of university, I was unsure as to whether to take a placement year or not but I am so glad and thankful that I did. I worked for one of the biggest companies at the forefront of my relevant field of interest and so gained massive amounts of experience in all areas I wanted.

Throughout my placement, the staff at my work where friendly, encouraging and inspired me with confidence. They developed me not only as a worker but as an individual and were always there to listen if I had any problems with my projects or if I just needed some general advice.

My manager was brilliant! I cannot explain how much she helped me during my placement. I started my placement quite shy, down on confidence and it was all a bit daunting to be working in such a big building for a big company. My manager took me under her wing and was always there to give me a helping hand but appreciated that I sometimes needed to develop on my own so she was keen to not micro manage me. This style of management was brilliant and allowed me to become much more confident and gain as much experience as I could from my placement.

My job role was brilliant in the fact that I in a sense managed my own workload. I was sometimes a manager of projects and then other times I worked on projects with other project managers. I was part of a team which worked efficiently and effectively to deliver our goals. Day to day the balance was perfect for me, and this allowed me to capitalize on the experience and learn so much within the year I had.

Over time on my placement I began to be given more and more responsibility which was a great way for me to develop into that job role. I had to opportunity to actually manage a few projects myself and so this was a great opportunity and a real sense of satisfaction when you deliver the project to a high standard.

For sure the skills and attributes that I developed on my placement will essentially be the core skills I take forward into my final year at university and ultimately be the backbone for my future career. I developed such a vast array of skills and as a results I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take a placement year.

The general atmosphere was always welcoming, friendly and fun. The staff made the job for me as they were a great team, who always knew how to have fun but were always committed to their projects and the overall success of the business. The office was an open office so everyone could speak to each other very easily and "hot desking" meant you were always sitting next to someone new and so made it easy to make friends.

I believe the overall work placement internship was extremely well set up and it allowed me to fully make the most of my placement year. By having a set manager it meant you always had someone to talk to. The project structure meant that over the placement there was the opportunity to get involved in many different project types as well as working with a number of external companies (which allowed me to broaden my contacts for the future).

The company invested so much in me as an individual. They were always challenging me and driving me to gain as much experience in the company as well as giving me many opportunities to visit factories, external suppliers and other sites. The regular feedback sessions with my managed developed me personally as they allowed me to identify my strengths and weaknesses and adapt and improve throughout my placement.

The job was brilliant for my placement year and I really would one day like to go back and work for this company. However, at the same time I would also like to travel the world a bit and see what other opportunities are out there so as much as I would go straight back I think it is important to keep my options open and just see what the future has in store.

On my placement year there were a group of 13 students. From day one we all hit it off and from then on we were always socializing outside of work. Playing sports, going for a few drinks at the local pub, having nights out and we even went on a ski trip with everyone during the January of our placement which was an all round great trip and something I will always remember.

I am studying at the University of Leeds and originally lived in Huddersfield so the north is very cheap compared to London. I was living in Brentford during my time at GSK and so I would say that the cost of living is comparable with the location. I could get a tube into central London and it would take me 30 minutes so to say that I was living this close to central then the cost of living is what I expected. The cost of socializing was actually not too bad as there are many free parks and museums in the local area as well as golf courses, nice pubs and good priced shops.

The nightlife in the area I worked was very much pubs (nice pubs). This wasn't a bad thing however, as most of the students and I loved a good pub night down in Kew where there are some great pubs on the river and on Kew green.

Yes there were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. For example, the IP Unite scheme held several events including a bowling night, nights outs and an end of year boat party which were all great opportunities to get involved and meet new people.