Laboratory Scientist Review

I am a Higher Laboratory Scientist Apprentice in Chemical Research and Development. Day-to-day I manage my workload and complete crystallisation experiments which provide data for a number of pharmaceutical projects. I interact with other colleagues in different departments and roles in order to do this and ensure my work is suitable and provides the data required by the chemists who work in process development. I am also responsible for various equipment maintenance where this is required of me as well as managing the time that I dedicate to university work.

As part of the programme I have completed training which involves problem solving and strategic methods of working around issues in and out of the workplace. From this, I am going to complete a project which I see through from beginning to end and then ensure that the solution I come up with is sustainable in the long-term. As well as this, for my university degree I have completed a health and safety course and will have to complete other additional qualifications in the future for my university studies.

This programme is the best thing I could have done for myself. The work is engaging, interesting and challenging but not to the extent where I feel it's impossible. I always feel like there's someone there who can help me if I need it and that the environment itself is very encouraging of personal learning and growth. I never expected the programme to be as good as I am finding it so I am happily surprised with how things have turned out.

I feel that my immediate supervisor appreciates and values having me as he tells me fairly frequently that I'm doing a good job and that the information I am gathering is useful and is being implemented where it is needed. I am currently working on some small projects which are not so spoken about so these are not as recognised outside of the area I work in though I am sure that when the information is to be shared that I will be given the recognition I deserve.

The structure of my programme is made fairly clear, though there have been some changes made in recent years which have meant that induction was not carried out properly when I started and it took a while for us to meet with our university contact. Other than this, we have been provided with a list of the modules we will be completing over the course of the degree, as well as a book of competencies with review points where we will determine our progress. There is a fair amount of structure but I feel there's some miscommunication between my employer and the university.

There is opportunity to communicate over email and forums with tutors from university, though face-to-face visits are very uncommon. This can make it difficult and means that there are inevitably a number of miscommunications. Overall we have a reasonable support network but I would appreciate a greater emphasis on the face-to-face contact with a tutor.

The employment company I work with (Cogent Skills) have been the route of some miscommunications due to changes in management and so we have lacked support for a few months. This is, however, now picking up and we have regular visits where we can raise any concerns. They have always made it clear that we should raise concerns where there are any and that they have support lines available where needed.

My salary meets my costs well as I still live at home with my family and only pay fairly low rent to my Mum which includes food. I spend most of my money on travel as I drive 35 miles to and from work each day, though this is easily covered by what I earn. I still manage to save a reasonable sum each month on top of my monthly expenses so my salary is plenty for what I need.

Outside of work every person who works at Pfizer has opportunities to attend schools as a STEM ambassador or attend careers fairs which advertise both Pfizer apprenticeships and work experience schemes. This has been really interesting for me as I would have benefited from this when I attended school. The company also has local community and charity events fairly regularly which everyone has the opportunity to attend.

Yes

Pfizer have been amazingly supportive of me when I was starting out. They have always seemed very understanding of the apprenticeship requirements in terms of the time I have to dedicate to my studies and will make sure I always get that time, even when there is a large amount of project work to be done.

Your application has to be as tailored to the role as you can possibly make it. On your application and on the assessment day you must seem as enthusiastic and keen as possible because that's the best way to stand out. At the assessment day they have already seen your qualifications and experience, on the day they just want to know about you as a person and how you will be to work with. Make sure you make it clear you value the opportunity of the apprenticeship as well as the future opportunities it will provide and where you hope it will take you. Looking forward always makes you appear more interested.