Industrial Placement Student at GlaxoSmithKline Review

I have enjoyed gaining experience of what a real working environment is like. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) provides a welcoming environment for new starters which helped me to settle in quickly and feel relaxed. The large community of industrial placement students at GSK also contributed to my experience and I feel it would not have been the same otherwise.

I have had the chance to present my work on a number of occasions and discuss it in one to ones with my supervisor and other colleagues. The work I have done is always taken seriously and appreciated. However, I feel that if I had been part of a project team rather than working on my own project the work I was doing would have been of more value to others directly.

My supervisor has always been available and approachable if I had any questions or needed help with anything. Throughout my placement we have had 1 to 1 meetings every two weeks to discuss any issues or concerns. However, in between these meetings if anything came up I was also able to discuss it at the time.

This varied dependent on the point in the year. Most of the time I have had lots to be getting on with to keep me busy. However, there has been a few weeks when there was little for me to do and I did find myself getting bored.

I have been trusted to design and execute my own experiments independently which meant I was solely responsible for these. I did however seek guidance on a number of occasions when designing the experiments. I would also check with my supervisor before continuing onto the next stage of my project.

I have gained invaluable experience of how a large pharmaceutical company works. I now have experience in a lab environment and feel much more comfortable and at ease than I did before I started, which will help me greatly in my final year lab project. I have learnt how to analyse data and think critically about things which will also help me in my final year studies, as well as in any future job whether it be science based or not. Most of all it has given me an incite into future careers that are open to me.

I am based in a large hot desking office. Everyone is generally friendly and there are regular office conversations. People often bring in food gifts after a holiday or birthday and encourage everyone to help themselves which makes you feel welcome and part of a team.

Everything has run very smoothly since I arrived, people were aware I would be starting and had things such as a laptop and starter pack ready for me. There were a few issues with getting me started on a project, however due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry this was unavoidable. I was never forgotten about when this was happening and my supervisor ensured I had work to keep me busy.

There was no specific training scheme before I started like some departments. However, I was guided through anything new that I had to do before being left to do it by myself and there were always people around who were happy to help me. We have had the opportunity to attend training courses on scientific writing and on presentation skills which have been very useful.

Although I would be happy to come back and work for GSK the chance of me getting a graduate job are slim in the area I would want to work in. They do offer a variety of graduate schemes but they are not however in the research and development area. I have however been put onto a direct entry scheme which means if a suitable job becomes available I will be contacted.

There is a large community of industrial placement (IP) students at Stevenage as well as across the other GSK sites in the UK. There has been a number of events organised for Stevenage and all of the sites to join together. These included a Christmas ball and a boat party on the Thames. There is also a good atmosphere among the IPs in the work place, we all get on well and eat our lunch together most days.

I do not live in Stevenage as I commute in from home. However, I have been out socialising in Stevenage with fellow placement students. The cost was average, not too expenisve but not really cheap either.

There is limited nightlife options in Stevenage and the surrounding area - one club. However, there are good links to London Kings Cross and Cambridge is not too far.

I did not live in the area so cannot comment greatly on this. However, I know that friends have joined the gym and sports teams in the local area.