Veronica’s New Job...

Rather than register for a traditional three-year Bachelor’s Degree, Veronica registered for a four-year Bachelor’s with a Year-in-Industry, which sounded like a great way to get some practical experience before graduating. I assumed that the university would help her secure a position, but I was wrong as she had to find her own job. While she could have applied anywhere in the world, after contacting a few US companies, she discovered that their internships were structured differently than the one-year positions offered by companies in the UK (primarily, the UK positions pay a living wage and US internships often do not). After several interviews that resulted in rejections, she secured an offer that led to her relocation to West London in late June. 

Jimmy and I caught a bus to visit Veronica at the global headquarters of GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the world, where she is the only IP (Industrial Placement) working in the Sustainability Department. The building was quite impressive with the ground floor set up as a street with restaurants and shops for the employees.

Veronica was very excited about taking us to the ramen restaurant, which was very nice for cafeteria-style dinning. She’d hoped that she could show us around her department, but that wasn’t allowed. However, we did go to an upper floor cafeteria to have dessert with her boss. I'm thrilled that Veronica has this great opportunity to get real world experience. Hopefully this will help her further narrow down what she wants to focus on for her Master’s and future career as I suspect she’ll walk away either loving or hating corporate sustainability.