NAME: David
JOB TITLE: Prospects in Procurement Associate
UNIVERSITY: University of York
DEGREE TYPE: Politics BA
LOCATION: GSK House

How long have you been at GSK?

Since September 2005. I'm just coming up to the end of my second year in the procurement development programme and have one year left.

What made you apply to GSK?

I took a year out with the charity Lattitude which runs a business partnership scheme. Through this I was invited to an open day at GSK called 'GSK Revealed', which talked about the various development programmes on offer as well as giving a good background to life at GSK. I really enjoyed the day, which prompted me to apply for the procurement scheme.

What made you apply to the Procurement Development Programme?

Procurement is exciting because you get to meet a large amount of people and you are given a lot of responsibility early on. I saw the variety offered over three years as providing an excellent overview of the business. Procurement is about creating close relationships with the business and delivering a service which gives them best value from their suppliers - making that difference really attracted me to the scheme.

What was your first role?

In my first role, I worked in R&D Procurement, based on the Ware site for 12 months. This role was aligned to the R&D organisation. I sourced a number of products and services, where I was the team leader. The types of products and services I sourced included medical devices, laboratory supplies and consumables, laboratory equipment servicing and data management and clinical services.

What have been your subsequent roles?

My next role has been working in the Global eSourcing Team where I use technology to source products. It's more like a consultant role, working with Procurement professionals to enable them to get the best result for them and their customers. A key part of the technology is the advising and setting up of auctions. In my 12 months I've probably supported over 200 esourcing events. What's great about this role is not only that you are responsible for delivering results on a daily basis, but also that you can be innovative using the technology to deliver.

What kind of support do you get?

Support is very good. It comes mainly through my line manager and area director, who acts as my 'development manager' and regularly goes through my Personal Development Plan, which lists my objectives for the year and my developmental goals. I also have two mentors. They offer a good insight into other areas of procurement and can offer advice as I progress through the different placements.

What is the company culture like for you?

The culture is fairly relaxed, which gives you confidence to interact with people on all levels and to put forward suggestions which you know will be listened to. It is not at all hierarchical.

What is your work/life balance like?

My work/ life balance is very good as it is an objective in my personal development plan. Obviously there are times when you have to work extra hours but in general I leave work at 5 and am left to enjoy the evenings and weekends!

Additional comments:

For my project during my gap year, I went to China for 6 months to teach English in a secondary school. This was based in a small city in Jiangsu province. After the teaching placement I went travelling for three months across South Asia.

Once my gap year had finished I went to university in York to study BA in Politics where I decided to specialise in politics of development. Therefore, in my last year I studied Islam and the Middle East and did my dissertation on the effects of the economic reforms post Deng Xiaoping on Chinese politics.

It was through Lattitude's business partnership scheme that I was invited to an open day with GSK. I went to the open day (called GSK revealed) and was impressed with the procurement graduate scheme. I therefore applied and following an online test, assessment centre and interview, I was offered the job.

I am now in my third year of the graduate scheme. I started off doing Research & Development (R&D) procurement in which I supported a wide range of R&D projects. In my second year I worked in the Global eSourcing Team which uses technology to make buying faster, smarter and better. This utilised tools, for example, online auctions. In my current year (third year) I am working in consumer production procurement, which means that I spend a lot of my time working on the new consumer brands coming through, for example, new variations of toothpaste.

My graduate scheme has given me a lot of experience very quickly and through a number of courses I've improved both my technical and generic skills. My Chinese link from my gap year has continued, as I study Chinese in my spare time (both conversational and business). I hope to utilise this in the future.

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