Scientist Review

The job has a very steep learning curve and allows you to obtain a variety of different skills which will be useful when applying for jobs in future, learning so many different skills also means that you are always trying something new until you find something you enjoy. There is always the opportunity to move around the department and get a feel for what areas may best suit your skills and interests which means you will always enjoy what you are doing.

The people that I worked with were very inclusive and from day 1 they were inviting me to work events and private events outside of work. Everyone made a huge effort to involve me in discussions regarding the future of our department and always sought insight from someone who has not been in the company very long to discuss what could be done better. Everyone I worked with was happy to discuss ideas and really include me as part of the team, I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with.

My supervisor and manager had a long meeting with me on my first day to explain what project I was working on and have a discussion about what I was going to do in the project, I was giving input from this first day but was always guided by my supervisor and manager if I struggled with anything. They were always available to answer questions and give feedback on any work I had performed. Also prior to any presentation that I would give there was always an offer to practice with my supervisor and get some input/advice before presenting to the whole department. In such a large company you always have someone who can support you no matter what area you are working in, this allows you to ask for assistance when you need and not get stressed if you do not know what you are doing as there is always someone who is there to help.

There were busy periods and quiet periods depending on what experiments needed to be run and what stage we were at in the project. I would say there was a very good balance and in the quiet periods there was always extra work that could be done, or it provides time to learn more about different techniques or do research into the area that you are working in. There was one negative about the number of meetings that occur, most of these can provide valuable input into research that different members of the department are performing, however some meetings seem to be irrelevant and in busy periods these can get in the way and lead to unnecessary stress.

From my first week on placement I was running experiments on my own. I was very quickly relied upon to run experiments on my own which contrubited hugely to the project targets and influenced key decisions within the project, this allowed me to learn how to present and explain data in meetings and in departmental presentations. I was involved in setting up my own cell-based assay and this was used as one of the main screening tools in our project. Whenever giving input in meetings people always listen and often they will look into your idea and act upon it.

The amount of skills that you learn are all down to how many you ask to get taught. This placement was very good for learning and applying new skills and has provided me with a lot of experience in different techniques and has given me training on how to use lots of different pieces of equipment. Most of these skills are easily transferrable to other areas of scientific work and will assist greatly in my final year of my degree and potentially my PhD. Learning such a range of skills and also being shown how to apply them definitely helps when looking for jobs and showing that you are capable to work alone ina lab with a range of techniques.

There was a clear working atmosphere in the office area, however that is not to say that it is a dull office. People are always willing to chat(especially on Friday afternoons!) if you need to have a break from work, and most people in the office have a tea break at 10am and 3pm, and lunch at 12, so this means that you are never short of breaks. It is an open plan office so sometimes can be a bit noisy if a few people are having a loud conversation, but most of the time it is a low level of background noise. The office has a good environment with lots of people interested in different things, so there is always something to do (gym on site for sports) or talk about.

The placement was very well set up, I was given a clear job description at the start of the placement and told what project I would work in straight away. I was also told that if I wanted to then I could move around the department, although this is mainly when I have a bit of extra time to move around as the project work is priority. It took a few weeks to get all of my forms sorted for the agency and to organise my travel expenses and timesheets, but after the first month everything went smoothly.

There was a lot of training in the first few weeks, both into using equipment and general safety training. I have only taken a few training courses which are not compulsory to my job. I would say that they invest in you up to the point where you can work independently, but there is not much voluntary training that you can undertake as a contingent worker. However there are many seminars and lectures available onsite which can provide you with information in a variety of different areas, all of which are free of charge, so that is useful.

There are reasonable future employment prospects within the organisation, however they usually look for very experienced employees and therefore are much less likely to employ a graduate. However I feel that making an impression and showing that you understand and can input into their work can stand you in good stead for a job in the future. It definitely helps when applying to a job to have worked in the company before as you can get very good references from within the organisation.

There was a very good social scene. Within our department there were ~12 students split across 3 main groups, which means that we were always in contact and organising events outside of work. The other collegues who weren't students were also always inviting me to events outside of work and this meant that most of my time I was able to fill with either student events of other social events with collegues. One of the big positives of having a gym on site means that we are able to organise football events or other sporting events with other students and collegues.

As I lived at my home I do not know the cost of living in the area, however the cost of socialising was not very expensive, although lacked a variety of places to go on a night out.

The nightlife in the area was nothing special, although as there were loads of students there was always something to do in the evenings, and most weekends you would be able to find a group of people who are willing to go out.

There were loads of opportunities to get involved in activities, as there is a gym onsite there is always an option to go there after work/lunchtime. People at work are always suggesting activities that they have done since living in the area, so it is good to speak with a lot of people about things to do. There are also a lot of things that you can do with work and if you speak with your manager they will tell you which activities are available for non-permanent employees to take part in.