Tanya Rangi is a current Chemistry student at King’s College London. In this entry of Global Placement Stories, Tanya Rangi talks about her time on placement and the perks that come with the job!
Why did you want to do a Placement?
My main reason for doing an industrial placement was to explore possible career options outside of a lab setting and to gain an insight into what it is like to work in a large pharmaceutical company.
What do you/your team at the company do? What is most exciting about working there?
I am currently on placement at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), working in the Project Management Excellence (PME) team as a project analyst, focused on improving the efficiency of pipeline drug delivery. The most exciting aspect of my job is learning about the research and development that does into getting a drug to market and being able to positively impact the lives of millions of patients around the world.
What’s the environment and workspace like? Working hours? Any nice perks?
Being based at the GSK headquarters in Brentford and having visited the Stevenage site, I can say the working environment is at GSK is great! The building at GSK House (GSKH) is certainly big and easy to get lost in! The on-site facilities are also a great perk of working here with there being an on-site gym, supermarket, a hair salon and even squash courts! In terms of working hours, I typically work 9:00-5:00.
What would you say are the 3 biggest things you’ve learnt on your placement?
- Time management: learning to balance my time between completing work projects, meetings, independent learning.
- Networking: it is important to get involved in events outside of day to day work. For example I regularly attend networking events which is a great way to meet people from other areas of the business and learn about their roles.
- Presentation skills: this is a very valuable, transferable skill that I have developed through presenting within my team and to larger audiences of project managers.
How did you pick the placement and what would your advice be to people who are thinking about choosing a placement?
I personally started my placement search looking at sites such as ‘Bright Network’ and ‘Gradcracker’ as well as attending online career talks through Kings. My advice to people thinking about doing a placement would be to start applying early and be aware of application deadlines. I would also recommend using the Kings CV checking service.
Why should other students go on a placement?
I think that students should do a placement to gain insight into the world of work and try a career in a particular industry. Other benefits include the opportunity to get hands on experience and training. There is often also the chance to get fast tracked onto a graduate programme at the end of your placement.