Lab Science Apprentice

Why did you choose to do an apprenticeship with GSK?

There are a few reasons that I decided to do an apprenticeship instead of going to university to start my career. As you are applying for an apprenticeship, you are not expected to know much in the way of science, so the application process is skills and strength based. It is a great opportunity for you to get to know GSK and whether you think that it is somewhere that you can see yourself working, as well as for managers to understand if they think that you demonstrate the values and GSK culture to become an apprentice here. From the start, it is clear that GSK has an invested interest in your career and future. As an apprentice, you are encouraged to take development days – these are days where you spend a day shadowing a scientist in another area of the business. This not only allows you to network and experience in a different aspect of R&D, but also allows you to explore what you might want to do for your next rotation or at the end of your apprenticeship. These are both things that I donʼt think would quite be the same in uni.

My apprenticeship is so much better than I imagined it could be. When I was applying, even though the application process was tough at times, I still had that stigma in my head that apprentices did meaningless work and that apprenticeships are for those that wonʼt make it to uni, but it couldnʼt be further from that. In my team and my department in work, I feel genuinely valued and I am often encouraged to do things and apply for things that I wouldnʼt otherwise think I could, but I am always supported so I never feel out of my depth. My colleagues are always happy to answer my silly questions (for the first time or the hundredth) and if I need it, I feel really comfortable to reach out to someone for questions about my uni assignments.