Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

A wide range of responsibilities in the Pharmaceutical Microbiology lab. I do a little bit of everything (see below). We are a GMP lab which means we are very highly regulated and a lot of paperwork is done.

I do a little bit of everything from the microbiological testing of pharmaceutical products (Preservative Efficacy Testing, Endotoxin testing, Microbial Limits testing (TAMC, TYMC, specified organisms), to internal environmental monitoring, to water testing, to report writing and data entry, to talking to clients, to general housekeeping and sample disposal, to ordering media, to bacterial identification, to running the lab when my boss is on annual leave.

A typical day runs from about 9am to about 5pm, and weekend working is extra and frequent.

The variety of testing and tasks that are involved.

The workload can be very demanding as we have tight deadlines to continuously meet.

It's a practical job that is quite hands on and in an area of interest for me.

Time management, organisation skills, prioritisation.

A lot- everything I know / do I have been trained for by the company. I work in a GMP lab so it is a very regulated environment.

Just worked for RSSL.

Not sure really!

To get your first job you need a good CV and a bit of luck!

Don't be to disheartened if someone advertises for "experience necessary". Some companies will take you on straight out of uni as then you can be trained exactly how they want, rather than always saying "in my last place we did it like this..."