Lab Scientist Apprentice Review

Working as an analytical scientist supporting drug development with my mentor, working with analytical and preparative chromatography to purify samples from chemists. My responsibilities are to support this service. I am also completing a project involving testing a beta instrument this year. I have consistent meetings within the apprentice community and my department for personal development.

Yes, I'm learning how to run multiple analytical instruments using various applications. I'm also developing my lab reporting skills. My role encourages me to be curious and ask lots of questions, which is celebrated by my peers. I've also developed my teamworking and networking skills, and am working on my presenting skills.

I really enjoy my programme. At work, I am trusted to maintain high standards and organise my own day-to-day tasks. I can choose to develop certain interests within my apprenticeship alongside my usual responsibilities. Adjusting to online learning and the workload took time, but the degree programme is great.

It is well organised, I enjoy the residentials set by the uni for networking and having in person uni experience. I know what I am going to be doing each year and what is required of me for my degree. My work is less structured but that gives opportunities for me to choose what I would like to achieve.

A fair amount of support. I like that I am trusted by my employer to do my own thing instead of being micromanaged. There is investment in personal development but some of it seems like a waste of time. There are multiple people that I could reach out to if I needed help.

A lot of uni work is independent, lecturers teach in different ways. Consistent webinars are put on for going through work, but a lot of understanding of course content has to be done outside of this. Lecturers are usually good at responding to emails but it can take a while.

The work I do doesn't apply to the course very well, but the organic chemistry module does apply in helping me understand some aspects (eg. chirality) that are useful to my work. The course does broaden my chemistry knowledge, which could be useful to explore in the future.

There are lots of extracurriculars; AZ has a lot of employee groups that you can join. The apprentice committee does run socials also. Within my department, there is a cake rota which is good for people that enjoy baking like myself. Depending on your role, you can attend internal and external conferences.

Yes

Benefits to working for a large company, being able to have more agency within your day-to-day, good company support, apprentices mainly have good job prospects after the programme, the uni course at MMU is useful and depending on your role can help a lot with your work.

Your CV is really important, so use informational but concise statements that say a lot about your experiences, and be positive! Use the STAR technique in your interview and think of some experiences you can use as examples for common interview questions. Do research on the company values and how you relate to them.