Data Science Apprentice Review

I work within the Biostatistics department, and most of my time is spent interacting with my line manager, my team and my project colleagues. Every person I have spoken to so far has been friendly and welcoming. I also participate in external presentations where I talk about my experiences as a data science apprentice. I often find myself writing code for data cleaning, writing tests for data validation, and amending/updating existing code. I also assist in developing websites, dashboards, tools and applications which support other teams with their work. For example, one project I have worked on is data wrangling for clinical trial recruitment. Some coding languages I use are R, Python, SQL and web development languages such as HTML and CSS. One day per week I also attend university and watch a blend of live and recorded lectures.

Upon starting my apprenticeship there was an induction week with both the company and the university. This allowed me to get to grips with how everything works and informed me of what events/modules there would be across the 4 years. From the beginning I was introduced to my line manager and had daily meetings with her. I was also provided with a mentor within the company (a masters student on a different apprenticeship), a buddy within the company (a student doing the same course as me but one year above) and a personal tutor from the university.
The first month or two was allocated for training. During this time I learnt how to use certain tools and applications I would be using as well as how to code using R. I also did some online coding courses are part of self development. Subsequent to this period I joined my manager on a project where I put my learning into practice and did some data cleaning.
With regards to team hierarchy, within my team are some IP students, my line manager and her colleagues and then my manager's manager. Many teams of this structure form the Biostatistics department under Pharma R&D. Some colleagues are placed in teams long-term while others are temporary.
The programme structure, though not perfect, is well organised. My experiences in the company have been great and I have not faced any issues or problems; should any arise I am comfortable talking to my line manager about it. As I am currently working from home, I spend 4 days doing GSK work from home and 1 day doing university work. The university side of things is structured such that one module spans over roughly 12 weeks, with lectures each with and a graded assignment at the end - for the first year.

My employer provides sufficient support with services available for mental health and well-being, company perks (access to discounts from certain retailers), etc. There is also a corporate version of facebook called workplace where employees can interact with like-minded people, network, share updates and interests and ask questions. My first point of contact for any issues is my line manager who is very supportive in providing advice, links, and resources. For anything HR related I have the option to talk to the apprentice programme manager. For anything university related I can ask my mentor/buddy or fellow apprentices.

My manager is quite supportive and helps where she can. From my university there isn't the same level of support, however I do have the option to email my module tutor, personal tutor or course tutor with any questions I may have. If I don't understand something from my lectures I can schedule a meeting my module tutor.

My university content has not directly impacted my performance at my company yet as I have not completed loads of modules yet. However, I can certainly see how my university content provides more context and insight into how and why certain things work. It also introduces me to new areas of learning and develops transferable skills which can be applied in my role when working for my company.

Yes

GSK provides a welcoming and accommodating working environment. You can always find support and there are many services available. The company culture is really good, and the values of transparency and respect make it easy to talk to people and ask questions if you have any. Colleagues are quite supportive too and are usually happy to help out.