Hajra shares her day to day experience of being a laboratory scientist. She works for GSK and studies with the University of Kent.
In the video Hajra explains why she chose to do an apprenticeships and what being an apprentice involves.
‘The excitement comes from the fact that everything you’re doing has potential to save lives and give someone their health back’ – Hajra Bibi
‘My apprenticeship lasts for three years and it is a high level apprenticeship so you work towards a university degree, whilst working full time’
Gaining skills in GSK labs, Hajra explains that ‘I work in the screening group and that’s basically screening a large panel of antibodies to its target, generating data and handing it over to the rest of the team to make decisions’
‘When I first started, I couldn’t enter the lab without the supervisor present. Purely because I didn’t know how the lab operated…but now after being here for about two years, I’m a lot more comfortable in my role. My supervisor is a lot more confident in letting me do a piece of work independently as well’.
‘I’ve always been a person that prefers to do things hands on. I’m more practical so I had that opportunity through doing an apprenticeship… you really get stuck in. You gain so much experience and actually do valuable work’
GSK is a science led global healthcare company specialising in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer goods that save lives and treat diseases that are currently not being treated. GSK is one of the industry-leading employers in partnership with the University of Kent.
The University of Kent has been delivering higher and degree apprenticeships for more than five years, working closely with industry-leading employers including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Unilever.
Are you interested in becoming a Laboratory Scientist?
To register your interest email apprenticeships@kent.ac.uk.
For more details about our Laboratory Scientist Higher and Degree Apprenticeship programmes by following the links of our current apprenticeships page: https://www.kent.ac.uk/apprenticeships/current-apprenticeships.
You can also use the government’s find an apprenticeship service to search for current vacancies: https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch