Industrial Placement Student - Biologist Review

I really enjoyed my placement year at GSK. I was allowed to contribute to a very productive and hard working group that initiated new thinking and ideas of a concept that I was then allowed to help understand and develop further. I was trained on a large variety of techniques and had close supervision and guidance when needed or was allowed to work on my own ideas, requiring more independent thinking.

A felt very valued by colleagues. I was included in all meetings a normal employee was and presented in weekly departmental meetings, giving me a chance to explain my work and give my input into an idea, also developing my presentation skills.

At the beginning, i was given full training on all of the equipment I would be using and then supervised closely for the first few months. As my confidence grew, I could then work independently with supervisors working distantly in the lab - they were there if I needed any more guidance immediately.

I was expected to do as much work as a normal employee i.e very busy. I kept up with my placement work as well as my university work so at times it was a bit stressful but if it got too much I explained to my supervisor - there was always ways round it and we found the right balance again.

I was given a lot of responsibility on my own project - I came up with the ideas and took them to my supervisor who said either go ahead or no. I had to present my work each week which was a high level of responsibility and was also allowed to teach work experience and train new employees on some of the equipment that I was very confident in using.

I found that my skills gained from this placement year hugely valuable in my laboratory technique as well as my understanding of working in a large industry. I gained lots of extra skills such as presentation design and delivery, networking and team working. This year will add something extra to my CV which I am hugely grateful for.

Hard working but great fun - there was a great balance and everyone was looking out for each other.

very well set up - training on all the equipment was provided and a project in place for when i started.

My supervisors gave me a lot of advice on things other than just the science including how to go about presenting, approaching new people etc.

It depends on the job climate when I re-apply.

Yes, we regularly organised social events outside of work as well as team building activities within the workplace. Some of the department also joined the onsite badminton club as a team.

It was expensive for some of the larger events as these were in London and the travel cost was a lot - other events were within budget.

Reasonable - mainly pubs but within the same area so we got to get to know new people easily.

Yes plenty of sports clubs in the area.