“The people. Everyone is super nice and helpful. It’s also really fun learning new techniques, particularly on the practical side. University focuses on theory rather than lab techniques, so it’s been fun developing my skills and feeling like a proper scientist.”

“Getting to work on products that are in the development stage is pretty exciting and provides variety to the work we do.”

“Getting selected into the internship and then getting offered a permanent position in Quality Control after my internship ended.”

“Getting the opportunity to be part of different development forums. It’s nice to know that hard work is recognised by being recommended for different roles – and that motivates me to want to work harder.”

“Working as a team with experienced scientists, learning from them and getting properly trained with technical skills.”

“Being part of such a great team and having a really nice work environment.”

“It’s shown me that career development is a definite possibility here at Douglas and is encouraged – there are many people I know personally who have moved around to different teams or parts of the company.”

“Douglas has helped to show the many different roles that are available in a pharmaceutical company. It’s helped me decide about what type of role I want in the future.”

“Interning at Douglas has given me the opportunity to experience work life and realise the next step after undergrad is not always postgrad. I’ve realised how important experience is, it’s shown me jobs that I didn’t even know existed and really opened my eyes to potential opportunities in the future.”

“There are pretty exciting opportunities for career growth for me going forward – many of which wouldn’t require returning to uni which is what I had previously thought was the best option for me.”

“The work in general surprised me, just because going in I really had no idea what working in a commercial laboratory would be like. I definitely thought it would be more scary so it was a pleasant surprise not to just be thrown in the deep end soon as I started.”

“I was surprised about how many Standard Operating Procedures we had to be read at before we could actually start shadowing people in the lab.”

“I didn’t expect the relative freedom that I would be given once I completed training and moved into an analyst role. I sort of expected that my working day and tasks would be more regimented, but I think it’s really cool that it’s up to me to plan my work.”

“How welcoming and kind my colleagues were. Everyone has been encouraging and willing to teach me and look after me.”