Laboratory Scientist Degree Apprentice Review

I am a Laboratory Scientist Degree Apprentice which involves carrying out experiments in the lab and then writing reports for these. I am currently involved in carrying out solubility screening for projects which helps projects find more efficient ways of doing chemical reactions. 20% of my time is for university study, in which I am studying for a Degree in Chemical Science.

I have primarily developed my time management skills further, learning how to balance work with university study. I have also developed my confidence and communication skills as you are given a lot more responsibility and have to learn how to manage yourself. I have also learnt so many lab skills and developed my chemistry knowledge a lot further.

I really enjoy my job and the work I do is absolutely fascinating. Thinking that the small part I do in my job can influence really important decisions is still surreal to me. The company culture is very positive, and the Employee Resource Groups we have, allow discussion around really important topics which encourages people to be open-minded.

The programme is generally very well-structured. There is a fairly clear path of what I will be doing and lots of opportunity for development. My induction was good and gave me the basics I needed, however, I would have really liked some more training around basics of the lab as I had never been in that kind of environment before.

There is a wide variety of places to go for support. My manager and mentor support me through all my work-related concerns and there are really good support systems available for other problems as well. Generally, people are always willing to help and there are many people you can go to for support.

As our course is distance-learning, it is difficult to feel personally connected to your tutors, however, the study materials and content of the course is generally good. We have termly reviews with a skills coach which are really good to check in, and are much more personal, which is good to get individual advice.

My qualification is generally good at providing me with the knowledge I can then apply in my role. The units that are specifically for Laboratory Scientists are really good to relate to the workplace and do help me understand the business further. It can be difficult being in a technical role but not having much of the knowledge yet, but I know this will be developed over the 4 years and my qualification will massively help with that.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has not been a huge amount of opportunity for this. However, I took part in a Virtual Bake Off recently, and have been involved in apprentice social events when I first started. I look forward to when things start opening again and this is more of a possibility.

Yes

The company's global reputation and it's nature of being a great place to work, really does make me proud to work at AstraZeneca. The work we do helps patients globally and it's that the keeps everyone working so hard. The company is always striving to be better and it's speak up culture encourages an open and diverse workforce.

Show how passionate you are about what you do. Science is what drives all the work we do and you have to show you have that you are passionate and willing to work hard to make you stand out. Collaboration and team work is also a huge part of being successful and demonstrating this, is a great skill to have.