Labs apprentice Review

I work as an apprentice lab technician within the Active pharmaceuticals department. I work with liquid and powder forms of pharmaceuticals . My day to day role is made up of shadowing the lab technicians, analysing and testing batches and taking care of day to day tasks. I am also given independent tasks to take care of myself and manage which helps me develop my own understanding of tasks.

I have developed many skills during my time, from an understanding of the processes involved in testing and manufacture to basic skills such as communication and understanding how a workplace environment is run. I am always developing my skills and learning new ones in the work place and in college.

I fully enjoy my programme,the experience is better than I thought it could have ever been, I am learning what I am interested in, developing my workplace skills, lab based skills, theory and manual skills. I also enjoy college as it gives me the theory to backup my manual work. I am learning, getting experience and getting s comparative wage.

I feel fully valued by GSK, I am made to feel equal to everyone and am trusted to do tasks by myself and be involved in important projects. Every opportunity is given to me and and I feel this helps push me further than I normally would myself. My ideas are listened to and sometimes used, making me feel a valued member of the team.

The organisation of the apprenticeship is very Good, I am put on rotations to see all the deprtments every 3 months, allowing me to learn all the different areas of the labs. My course is well tailored to what I need to learn and allows me to do the best I can. College can sometimes be a little less organised than work but i always am able to ask for assistance if I gave problems and they are always quickly resolved.

My training provider does not always support me as best I can and sometimes problems take a while to be resolved unless they are serious, generally with these problems my manager at work is able to normally sort these problems out and get the college to do things quicker.suppprt could be better but is enough to get me though all i need to do at college.

My employer fully supports me, I am always being given unique opportunities and chances to test myself and put myself out of my comfort zone, from stem events like the big bang to school apprenticeship talks. If I ever have problems they are always quickly resolved and I cannot fault this.

My salary is more than adequate for my age. After paying all my expensive for the month such as fuel and food I am able to save money as well as have a good social life with my disposable income left over, for my age it is more than adequate and I feel I am very lucky. I also am given perfmornce related bonuses which really are a nice addition to have each year.

I am always being given opportunities outside of work, I am given numerous stem events such as the big bang to help run and be involved in. This year I was involved in 3 apprentice talks at local schools and was also involved in an industrial cadets course helping to deliver a 6 week project with a team from a local school. These events really help develop my confidence and communication skills.

Yes

I have always wanted to have a career in biology working in the labs and my apprenticeship has really helped me get my career started, I have been able to gain invaluable experience, knowledge of the workplace as well as qualifications at college, all while earning a competitive salary. I would hope to be able to carry on with GSK full time after my apprenticeship ends and carrying my career with this brilliant company.

Make sure to put as much information down on your application form as possible. This will be the first thing that GSK will see about you and it is the first selection process, make sure to sell yourself and fill every box fully with all the information about yourself as you can. Don't be afraid to use as many examples from your life as you can to related to the questions as this helps GSK understand who you are and what you are like.