Service Specialist Review

I have throughly enjoyed my placement year at GSK and I feel really privillaged to have secured a placement in a Global company. I worked within a Business/IT role supporting an e-learning application for GSK employees, I was given real projects which allowed me to develop upon the skills I gained whilst at University. GSK employees around 320 placement students each year, which provides a great student platform to network.

I worked within a team of 10, with my colleagues being based in India, Poland and Brussels. It was important for all of the team to feel connected and so we made sure at our monthly team meetings we all had video, which helped develop a working relationship. I I always felt valued by my colleagues and was never treated as a student, I was given real work and was provided with challenging tasks whilst at GSK. I was given a lot of opportunity to lead and faciliate meetings which helped me improve my skills and all my colleagues were very supportive of this.

I worked very closely with my Manager at the beginning of the year and so I was provided with a lot of support and guidance. Half way through the year I had a change in mnagament due to my current Manager securing a new role, this change in management provided me with a lot more independence, due to my new manager being based abroad. I was able to take a lot more repsonsibility for my work with my new Manager not being around as much, therefore I became a lot more decisive.

My workload vaired throughout the year, I found January was my busiest period however this depends upon your team and the type of projects that are running. I always had work to do but I enjoyed the periods where I was being stretched and challenged with the volume of work, this helped me priortise my workload.

I was provided with a lot of responsibility during my placement year, I had a good manager who encourgaed me to get involved and take responsibility for a lot of projects and tasks. He was continuously pushing me to achieve my best which I was really grateful for. I also volunteered myself for 'Events Director' for the student community, which involved organising events throughout the year. With these two roles, I was always busy and had a lot of responsibility but ultimately it comes down to how much effort you are willing to put into your year.

I was able to develop my skills in IT/Business and reflect upon the knowledge/skills I had gained from University, I was also provided with the opportunity to complete the ITIL exam. This placement year has provided me with an insight into my future career path and the type of organisation I would like to work for. I have not only developed my technical skills but my interpersonal as well. My confidence has greatly developed, I was able to present to different audiences illustrating my various projects/tasks. Working at GSK for the year has developed me grately as a person, the skills and experience gained will help me complete my dissertation and final year modules.

GSK is a fantastic company to work for and I have throughly enjoyed my placement year. The drees code is quite informal and so the atmosphere is relatively relaxed, everyone I have met has been extremely welcoming and helpful. The office has 'hot seats' which allows you to move around your department, getting to know other employees on your floor. The office is extremely busy during certain times of the year however you will find paricuarly over the summer, the office is a lot quieter.

My placement was extremely well organised, I was provided with a lot of information before I started including what to expect during my placement year. All IT placement students had the opportunity to attend an "awareness day" before starting your placement year, where you were able to meet your Manager beforehand and ask them any questions you had prior to starting. This also gave me the chance to meet other IT placement students, so I knew a few people before starting.

I was able to undertake 3 days of training for ITIL and obtained a certificate at the end of the training. My Manager was very supportive in me getting involved in a lot of voluntatry activities which were offered throughout the year. This all depends upon what you would like to get out of the year, I asked my Manager if I could also take the Prince 2 exam which he was more than willing to support me on.

There are a lot of opportunities to secure a Graduate scheme at GSK, within IT along there are 3 different schemes. I am also aware of a lot of previous placement students who have taken the direct entry route. I have throughly enjoyed my placement year at GSK and would love to come back and work here after my final year at University.

It was my responsibility along with my team to organise social events for the placement students, the events we held included Christmas party, Boat Party and various nights out. I was thankful for the large volume of placement students, which made the year a lot more enjoyable. I have made a good group of friends, which I will stay in contact with after GSK and we often organised smaller events/nights out amongst ourselves.

I paid £430 a week living in a flat 15 minutes from work, which is a resonable price for London. Nights out in London are quite expensive, espeically compared to University prices and so we often found places near work which offered happy hour.

There isn't that much in terms of nightlife where the office is based, we often went to the pub which is a 5 minute walking distance from work. There is however a tube and train station nearby and so when we chose to go into London it would take about 30-40 minutes, we would often go out on a Thursday or the weekend.

My department organised a few activities outside of work i.e. pub quiz, christmas party, summer event, BBQ