I completed my placement year at a pharmaceutical company called GSK, where I worked as a Clinical Statistician. I worked on several projects where my role was to analyse and present clearly the raw data collected during a clinical trial to summarise key features about a drug such as the safety and efficacy of it in patients. I also aided development decisions to ensure clinical trials were well-designed and that reliable and accurate scientific data was obtained. I loved my placement as I had so many opportunities alongside my day-to-day work to give back to the community such as running STEM sessions, volunteering and joining the women’s network committee!
I couldn’t recommend doing a placement year enough – it’s a brilliant opportunity to test what career you might like to pursue once you graduate as well as being the best way to gain transferrable skills in a proper working environment. The biggest change I noticed in myself was my confidence and personal development as throughout the year I pushed myself to take on new projects and experiences.
Because of my experiences during my degree and on placement, I was able to secure a graduate role at Deloitte, one of the “Big 4” accounting firms, as a Data Risk Analyst with the aim to pursue Data Science.