GSK Assessment Centre Invite

I applied for the GSK Data Science Degree Apprenticeship and got invited to an assessment day at Stevenage in 2 weeks - so I was wondering if anyone has experience at an assessment centre with GSK (or at any other company) and would be really grateful if you could suggest a few tips and what to expect.

It will be my first time going to one so any advice would be massively appreciated!!

Did you get in?

Yep, I got accepted !!! 😊 Looking forward to starting this September. Data Science at Stevenage.

Oh is it? I got accepted too, same site so we must be in the same Whatsapp group chat lmao

I applied for the GSK Data Science Degree Apprenticeship and got invited to an assessment day at Stevenage in 2 weeks - so I was wondering if anyone has experience at an assessment centre with GSK (or at any other company) and would be really grateful if you could suggest a few tips and what to expect.

It will be my first time going to one so any advice would be massively appreciated!!

Hi, I've got an assessment centre in a few days for the same apprenticeship. I'm in the same situation that you were in and I was wondering for any tips and what to expect.

Hi,

I’m a 1st year lab apprentice at GSK Stevenage, if you ever have questions feel free to message me

unfortunately I cant message yet as i created my account today lol.
Is it alright if I ask you on here?

Yeah sure, go ahead, feel free to ask me anything

Im assuming you had to do a presentation on something your passionate about?
I was unsure of what to do as Sport (football/cycling) fits this but its not really relatable to this apprenticeship. You dont have to say what you did but should i try and use something that links and would using chemistry be a good idea?

So basically I did mine about recombinant DNA technology but after talking to some other apprentices I realised that many people have done it something personally relating to them, like a girl I know did it about beekeeping but I think yours sounds sensible, if I’m honest I did A level chemistry and I think I’d find it hard to say I’m passionate about chemistry

Keep it simple and do your presentation about something you know you can speak confidently about. Remember that you cannot use visual aids like a computer or anything, if you do a PowerPoint presentation you will have to print it out beforehand and I would print two copies, one for you to read from and for the person watching you

Aah I thought it would be something like a PowerPoint presentation as it says in the email, you have to send it to them. That's good to know.
It says the length of the activity is 4 hours but I assume you don't take the full time up? Do they ask questions about the course itself or are they more personal and are there any activities where I have to be really prepared for and if so, what could I do? Hugely appreciate this.

Okay let me just try to remember the different activities I did. Please note that I applied for a lab scientist (biology) role therefore yours maybe different.

Group assessment
-They bring up case studies and you discuss in a group and target the problem they are proposing
-Advice = Be engaging, remember to communicate your opinion whilst also encouraging the contribution of others, try to speak as much as possible and lead the discussion BUT don’t talk rubbish, make sure it’s relevant

Individual tasks
-After the group assessment you’re taken individually by a staff member and they expose you to a scenario (read from a piece of card), you rotate to about 3 different scenarios
- Advice = Try to be professional in your answers and suggestions, make sure you know what GSK values are as they often expose you to scenarios involving their core values, make sure you know well about GSK and where relevant you can basically show off your knowledge

Practical assessment
-Involves a simple experiment where you create an aqueous calcium carbonate solution at a specific concentration (please note that your experiment may be different) It involved doing calculations working out the mass of calcium carbonate needed for that specific concentration and the use of stripettes
- Advice = Be calm and if you’re nervous maybe read up on general lab safety, they’re really friendly and helpful, just make sure you’re not nervous

Presentation
-A quick presentation lasting about 5-10mins and involves questions
-Advice = Pick a topic you really are passionate about and make sure you’re confident in answering any questions on it

General group discussion
-All apprentices come together and the group task is finalised
- Advice = Make sure you know the background of GSK, our values and any specific medicines we have, if you get the opportunity mention it as it will look good

Thank you very much for this. I'm doing the chemistry one so it will probably be a bit different. Plus mine will be remote over teams whereas I think yours was in person with the practical stuff. Mine seems a bit different with stuff like the motivation section (have to discuss my motivation for the program and what I can bring to GSK).
I really appreciate your help with this and hopefully I'm successful in getting the role.

Yeah it sounds like yours is going to be quite different due to covid (I did mine just before the first peak!! - mid-March)

I hope you get in.

can you ask your manager if graduates can apply for apprenticeships please

The apprenticeship is open to everyone but it is designed for people who have recently finished A levels/ level 3 qualifications - during the apprenticeship you get a foundation degree which you later upgrade to a bachelors so if you already have your BSc then I don’t know why you would want to do the apprenticeship?

Alternatively we have a graduate programme called the Future Leaders Programme which allows graduate to rotate in different departments (and I think gain a MSc aswell? Not sure)

We also have a PhD programme if that is of interest

because I'm a failure and not good enough for grad programs 😂 so thinking doing Apprenticeship to get foot in doors

Thank you very much for this. I'm doing the chemistry one so it will probably be a bit different. Plus mine will be remote over teams whereas I think yours was in person with the practical stuff. Mine seems a bit different with stuff like the motivation section (have to discuss my motivation for the program and what I can bring to GSK).
I really appreciate your help with this and hopefully I'm successful in getting the role.