Visual Merchandising Intern Review

I very much enjoyed my placement at L'Oreal. Although it is very demanding and stressful at times it is rewarding and it very suited to certain types of people that can handle a very fast paced, high pressure environment. I bonded well with my team, and had a lot of responsibility which has helped my learn and develop a huge amount during these 6 months.

Interns at L'Oreal are not taken for granted and are definitely treated equally to permanent members of staff - especially as there are so many interns throughout the business so people are used to the process. L'Oreal is a tough environment with some large characters and personalities which can at times be challenging to manage, however my team were extremely supportive and we bonded really well which helped me a lot during my time.

My manager was very supportive and we had regular catch ups to monitor my progress, check my work load and just generally raise any issues. I found my manager really approachable and easy to talk to even when I did have problems, as well as providing good feedback regularly for me to build skills and progress at my role. Working in such a small team helped with this as I had a lot of contact with my manager and they always made formal time for me too when needed.

Daily work load definitely fluctuated for me however most days I would be very busy. Some days just 9-5 and some until 8pm but it really does vary depending on upcoming deadlines and so on. I think it is very dependent on job role and team, but supporting a small team of 3 I have been very busy during my time, which for me is a good thing as I don't like to be doing nothing!

I was given more responsibility than I would have ever expected during my time on placement - right from my first week I was key in the execution and delivery of a large project. I have been taking the workload from my team so doing work and projects that they would have been doing themselves otherwise and managing end-to-end projects with other areas of the business and people at all levels.

I am not sure whether my learnings will aid the rest of my degree study, however I know that it has prepared me well for graduate life and being in such a fast demanding environment means that hopefully I will feel more confident and comfortable in wherever I pursue after university, able to take things that are thrown at me in my stride.

The general atmosphere is relatively casual which at first is surprising for such a large company however everyone is very busy and you can see that people are working hard. It has a very good face-to-face culture so people tend to go up to desks and chat rather than book meetings, or go for coffee to talk things over rather than via email. People work very hard at L'Oreal but the atmosphere never feels super intense or dull as it is quite social.

Internships are so frequent and core to L'Oreal that the scheme is very well established. We were however promised skills sessions which didn't end up going ahead which was disappointing, however handovers and HR inductions etc are fairly seamless as this is a generic process. I feel the placement is very heavily influenced by which team you are placed with, as this determines the work load, role, training etc that you experience whilst on the placement.

I haven't had any formal training sessions since being at the company - this may be different for year long interns however my placement was only 6 months. I have learnt a lot of skills though from the day-to-day work I do and am so much more knowledgeable about the industry from on-the-job learning. In terms of personal development this has been driven between myself and my manager rather than the structure of the placement itself as such/

The graduate scheme is a very attractive opportunity but is definitely tailored for a specific type of candidate which is hard to pinpoint. It's an extremely competitive process and there are limited spaced available, however it is a good program and allows movement around the business for a year with a good starting salary.

There are a lot of interns in the business so there is a good social scene particularly with fellow interns. There is an intern committee, with a social sec who organises nights out and other activities. I've often gone for lunch with other colleagues and there are sometimes other events for the wider division/business.

London living is renowned for being high in price, and as the office is based in Hammersmith this is hard to avoid. My flatmate and I opted for a close location so have paid a fairly high rent because of this however if willing to commute further I'm sure costs could be lower. Socialising is also famously expensive but really down to where you choose to go and how frequently - it is definitely manageable.

Nightlife in Hammersmith itself is poor however there are multiple bars/pubs nearby that are often busy on Thursdays/Fridays. However again as it is London there are so many places to go out that wouldn't be too far from this area and not hard to find a good area for a night out, whatever kind of night is wanted.

There weren't too many activities outside of work. The intern committee did organise socials and events around once a fortnight however I personally didn't take part in many of these.