Technician Review

My role at charles river involves running weekly biochemical screens, cellular screens and covering cell culture for various cell lines. I also manage my own tasks and keep up to date with training tasks and new equipment. Sometimes we also attend project meetings with clients and the department.

I have had the opportunity to develop my skill set massively. Since joining i have learnt how to develop my own assays and manage my own projects. As well as be learning new scientific techniques which will be invaluable in my future career e.g. cell culture and screening methods.

The work is very interesting and allows you to challenge assumptions along with discussions with your project team. The company culture is very welcoming and allows you to interact with various modalities and personel with expertise. I would definitely recommend charles river as a great place to start your career.

the apprenticeship degree programme is very well structured both in house and through the university of kent. The on the job learning allows you to experience a year in three different departments and the kent learning is layed out on a week by week basis, making it easy to follow.

Charles river offer alot of support with the course by assigning you a mentor and a manager to regularly keep in touch with about your work. The other apprenticeship team members are really helpful and will always point you in the right direction where possible, allowing you to develop well.

university of kent is a really helpful training provider, they provide off site learning modules and one to one talks which aid the moodle work. You will also be able to email lecturers asking for support and can regularly catch up with staff in the reviews, set up every 8 weeks.

my qualification helps me achieve what is expected of my role as it provides the background knowledge to the techniques used in screening and cell culture. The theory provided by the course acts a base for skills and new technical skills to be based around which opens the door for new opportunities.

There are plenty of social activities to get involved in e.g.team lunches and days out to the pub. There are also extra STEM activities which allow you to go to near by schools and inspire the next generation of scientists and talking about your career to younger people.

Yes

charles river offers alot of new opportunities and room to excel in a career you enjoy working towards, aswell as promoting good company values which improve the experience of working in the industry. They also recognise hard work and seem to appreciate peoples efforts when working towards the wider project team.

Advice i would give to people applying for an apprenticeship at charles river is to be passionate about the work you will be involved in, and volunteer for extra events if you feel it would benefit you and develop your skill set. I would also have an idea of where you wanted to work in at the end of the programme so you can tailor your apprenticeship towards learning relavent techniques.