Work Experience student Review

I was on an arranged work placement from my university at the local Boots pharmacy. Since this is the degree I currently study, I was asked to shadow the pharmacist, observe patient-pharmacist interactions and ask any questions about their role in the workplace. I also looked into organising shelves, and handing out prescriptions as per the pharmacist's instructions.

Yes, almost certainly. Despite having some previous experience in a dispensary following work experience back at home, seeing what it is like to be in a much bigger dispensary was certainly interesting. There was a much larger variety in patient types (age, ethnicity etc) than I have seen before, and I definitely developed my communication skills as a result.

I enjoyed this programme to a quite larger extent. There were many opportunities for personal development (e.g. communication skills when serving patients, or getting the chance to ask any questions regarding the course and how it relates to the workplace with the pharmacist). However, there were times when it felt like some of the pharmacy technicians didn't value my presence, which was rather disappointing for such a large firm.

As mentioned above, there were certainly times when I didn't feel valued at all. I don't know if it was Boots' policy or just the way in which the technicians acted, but it certainly felt like I was in the way, and that was largely down to not being given many roles to fulfil in the early days. However, all the pharmacists that were around at the time were very open and friendly (as expected), which was nice.

Not very well structured in my opinion. The pharmacist wasn't expecting me, which was definitely down to the company as I had informed them of my visit the previous day. However, after a few days of not doing much and not being valued, I was given a much clearer idea of what was expected of me, and so eventually there was a structure of sorts to the programme.

The University (who shall not be named for privacy purposes) definitely did their best to make the process as simple as possible, by providing us with phone numbers and addresses. However, some of the phone numbers did not work, and some given were for the wrong branches or past employees of Boots. There was advice available at hand though if needed to get through the placement without harm.

At the start, there was definitely very little support. The technicians were only interested in completing the tasks in front of them (although in hindsight I suppose this is expected at such a large and busy store), and didn't think to provide any guidance or advice about the workplace. After a while though, some of the pharmacists were certainly helpful, and guided me through the tasks required by myself in much depth.

Since I was on work experience, there was no salary involved. However, the university covered all travel costs, which was very thoughtful of them.

Since I was on work experience, I am not aware of such opportunities so cannot comment further on this question.

No

Although the placement was extremely useful towards the end, and provided me with a fair amount of opportunities for personal development, the way in which I was treated at the start was rather disappointing for such a large and prestigious firm. If there was more support available and more value for work experience students then I would certainly recommend Boots, but sadly that wasn't the case in my experience.

I would highly advice Boots work experience applicants to ensure that they get in touch with their allocated supervisor as early as possible, and to make sure that the store are well aware of their presence, and thus provide sufficient support and value since you are giving up your free time. Ask them kindly to make sure that they have a fixed role for you from the start.