One of the great things about Lincoln is the optional professional practice year at the end of the second year of studies. Chloe Mitchell took herself off to GlaxoSmithKline in Brentford for a year to work in there communications department and really learned a lot about the profession and herself. She also realised she enjoyed being part of the organisation so when it came to job hunting Chloe’s eyes turned to GSK once more. But Lincoln grads don’t do things by halves, Chloe was selected to join the GSK team in Hamburg, so this once shy and retiring undergrad now a confident and professional graduate packed up her belongings and moved to new job in a new city in a new country – did I mention she didn’t speak German either?  Anyway, let Chloe take up her story ….

“In many ways saying that my work placement ‘came good’ is, in my opinion, a bit of an understatement. My placement year at GSK not only changed me as a person, it also changed my perspective on what I was able to achieve personally.

All throughout University I heard lecturers and local business people speak about the importance of networking and building a professional network. At the time it sounded cringe worthy and frankly a little daunting, but without the connections I made at GSK I wouldn’t be writing this from Hamburg right now.

I met my current boss when I was on my placement, I met her once in person. As my placement was coming to an end she messaged me to get in contact if I ever fancied working in Germany and she would ‘see what she could do’. So, that’s exactly what I did. We arranged that I would come to Hamburg from June until December so that I could get some international experience. Four and half months in, I’ve just started a full time contract working as Junior Internal Communications Manager for 11 markets across North and West Europe.

I may not speak German (yet) but here’s a picture of me getting into the Bavarian spirit at Oktoberfest in Munich.

Each day so far there has been a new challenge and a new reason to confirm that I made the right choice. I think the saying ‘go big or go home’ perfectly defines my experience of the world after graduation.“