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- Joe's profile
Meet our people
I joined GSK in 2008 as a Purchasing Graduate.
View my diary to read about my typical week:
How long have you been at GSK?
Since September 2008.
What made you apply to GSK?
I was a member of AIESEC, a student charity organisation, which is sponsored by GSK. As a former AIESECer, I was invited to attend GSK Revealed, a recruitment event held each year, where I learnt a lot more about the company and its people. The people I met were warm, friendly and it appeared that the opportunities to develop both personally and professionally as a graduate at GSK seemed well matched to my personal aspirations for my career.
What made you apply to the Purchasing (Procurement) Development Programme?
I knew very little about Procurement until I attended the GSK Revealed graduate recruitment event. I learnt at that event that procurement was a service based function which is involved with many varied parts of the business. The work, therefore, seemed to be constantly different and challenging with projects being conducted across different brands, business units and even countries. It interested me as a function which seemed to enable its graduates to get highly involved with different areas of the business on a project-by-project basis without ever feeling too tied down to a particular area.
...the opportunities to develop both personally and professionally as a graduate at GSK seemed well matched to my personal aspirations for my career. 
What was your first role?
Supporting the European Commercial & General Procurement team.
What have been your subsequent roles?
Next year I'll be going into our global systems team working on our electronic procurement sourcing activities.
What kind of support do you get?
From a learning and development perspective we have constant support from a full-time member of staff who aids us through the graduate programme. On a day-to-day basis I have constant support from my direct line manager who has worked tirelessly to find suitable projects for me to work on for the team. Broadly, however, I work with different members of my team on different projects and everyone is ready and available to offer help and assistance as and when I feel I need it.
On a day-to-day basis I have constant support from my direct line manager who has worked tirelessly to find suitable projects for me to work on for the team.
What is the company culture like for you?
The culture of empowerment is probably the most pertinent element of culture I've observed at GSK in my first six months. Whilst there is clearly backup and support whenever I've felt I've needed it, the company is very keen to empower each and every member of its work force to work in their own way, manage their own time and approach issues as they personally see best. I've felt exceedingly trusted to conduct my work on my own and have never felt that I'm being checked up on. This is a culture I respect and flourish within.
