IT Apprentice Review

As I have only been in the company for just over 3 months now, and I came into the company without an assigned position, at the moment I am trying out several different areas within the R&D IT, Solutions Delivery and Integration (SDI) team. As I am not fixed to one role yet, I have spent time with several different people within the department looking at different aspects of IT, introducing me to a variety of software.

Since being at GSK, I have developed my general business skills massively! This includes knowing how to write formal emails properly, host live calls and present in meetings. As well as this, I have already begun to learn the basics in severall different pieces of software used by the R&D IT SDI team.

From day 1 I felt very welcomed by my team, everybody always seems to be up for a chat and give help when needed. There is a great team moral within the office with regular "Cookie Breaks" and the occasional social.

At first I believed I wasn't really going to be of much help as I didn't reall have the skill level to join in with everyone elses tasks, but over time I have started to build on my knowledge by picking up the smaller jobs, and I believe this has been recognised by my manager, as I have now been enrolled on two, week long training courses in the upcoming months to further build on my knowledge!

Due to a change in training providor, it has taken me several weeks to get into the training. But now that we are up and running the programme seems to be very well structured, with regular meetings and multiple points of contact if you were to have any questions.

At least once a month I meet with my training providor for a general catch up on how things are going, alongside any scheduled training days and regular emails.

Within the first week or so I was introduced to the majority of people in my office, I was assigned a mentor, a custodian and paired up with a second year apprentice as my 'buddy'. So I believe the company supports you very well, especially when firstly settling in.

Personally, I live quite close to where I work so travelling costs for me are relatively cheap. The site canteen can be seen as costly by some, but nothing too expensive! But with discounts on GSK products such as Maximuscle, Panadol, Aquafresh, Sensodyne and many more there are plenty of savings to be made at the site shop!

GSK are forever running events in the local community, so if that's your thing there is plenty to get invovled with. Personally I have signed up to the STEM Ambassadors network, whereby which I will be visitng local schools as part of a team to help promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). In addition to this, at the Ware GSK site where I am based, there is a sports and social club which provides a discounted bar, an astro pitch, tennis courts, squash courts, a gym and more.

Yes

- Great company to work for - Good job prospects - Gain qualifications whilst being paid

The assesment days can seem very daunting at first, but just give it your all and ask as many questions as you can! From what I've seen so far everybody I have spoke to within the company is more than happy to help you!