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- Melissa's profile
Meet our people
I joined GSK in 2006 as a Finance Graduate.
View my diary to read about my typical week:
How long have you been at GSK?
I joined the three year rotational scheme in September 2006.
What made you apply to GSK?
Well apart from passing GSK House on the M4 every time I went home from University! I wanted to combine my scientific background with learning new business acumen. I thought GSK would be the best place to do this. It also has a fantastic reputation, and also working for a company like GlaxoSmithKline makes you feel like you are doing something worthwhile by helping people to have a better quality of life all over the world. I barely even considered other companies.
What made you apply to the Finance Development Programme?
I wanted to get involved in business and had not had much experience before. Finance was the preferable choice for me over other functions because I have a very logical and numerical mindset. It is also quite academic in the sense that you have to sit lots of exams and then apply this knowledge to your day job.
...working for a company like GSK makes you feel like you are doing something worthwhile... 
What was your first role?
My first role in GSK was a global overview of the company’s IT systems, working in Corporate IT Finance. It was a great way to understand the business from a global perspective, and was also able to get involved with project management and managing their expenditure.
What have been your subsequent roles?
UK Pharma:
Working in a market was like working in a small business and was a really fun & friendly place to work. I was able to get my fingers in all the pies but I particularly enjoyed supporting the Integrated Healthcare team on how the NHS is changing and therefore how the business needs to change with that. It’s the heart of GSK really.
Future Group, Consumer Healthcare:
I really wanted to spend some time in Consumer Healthcare; GSK has some fantastic brands and this was a great place to get to know these tangible products better and all the TV advertising surrounding this - something I couldn’t really see in UK Pharma.
The Future Group focuses on Innovation – and we are closely linked to consumer healthcare R&D at Weybridge. My brand is Breathe Right. I work on the profit and loss for new innovations and have formed close working relationships with the ideation and innovation directors. It is great to work with someone so creative and I have learnt a lot from them.
What kind of support do you get?
While I was doing my exams, I got tremendous support in terms of study leave and college. Managers are always really helpful as well as fellow graduates if you have questions or need advice.
Managers are always really helpful as well as fellow graduates if you have questions or need advice.
What is the company culture like for you?
GSK is a very large and complex organisation, therefore providing many opportunities to work in different business units that are like their own companies themselves. People here are very friendly, and there is a relaxed but professional culture. There is a lot of support from management and the teams that I have worked in, both in the current role and for future aspirations. We have our own graduate scheme co-ordinator who is also very supportive.
