Category Management / Business Development Intern Review

Overall my experience as a 12 month intern at L'Oreal was amazing. I entered the job not knowing what to expect in terms of experience and enjoyment; however left with a wide variety of experiences to arm my CV with looking towards the future. Interns at the company, or at least in my role, are given plenty of responsibility and are able to produce tangible work that adds value to the business.

I felt incredibly valued by both my immediate and wider team as over time my experience and performance widened my network within the business and also increased the volume and importance of the work I was given. You are definitely treated as a peer as opposed to beneath the rest of the workforce.

The HR team do well at L'Oreal to provide an over-arching framework of support and guidance alongside a mid-year and end of internship review process. Additionally my manager and I would catch up weekly to discuss my workload, development and objectives for the internship.

Business honestly varies much like the job does. As you are not completing the same menial tasks on a weekly basis, your workload reflects the business of your job and as such there can be weeks of intense but manageable work and other periods of downtime as the business slows down.

I was given more responsibility on my internship than I could have ever expected. Whether it was presenting to company directors, leading a plan with a retailer or flying abroad to present by yourself - L'Oreal fortunately gave me increasing levels of responsibility that made the job a healthy continual challenge.

I believe that the skills and work ethic I have developed whilst on placement will firstly help me in my studies next year as I am now used to working harder for a longer period of time in the day. Whilst from a skills perspective I believe my CV has benefited incredibly from my time here.

The office atmosphere was a combination of professionalism and fun. There is often plenty of chat going on with everyone getting involved but this is mirrored by periods of concentration for others. Everyone within my wider team has felt like a big friendship group so the atmosphere was great!

With the large number of applicants and active interns that L'Oreal has, it is no surprise that the internship set up is professional and articulate with plenty of up front training to assist integration.

The company heavily invests in intern training at the beginning of the programme, there are opportunities to learn when guest speakers come in e.g. snapchat, facebook etc but the training investment is definitely front-weighted.

Future employment prospects at the company are great, obtaining a placement spot helps to put your foot in the door for a place on the management trainee scheme. Equally once in the business you can see a clear career path that appears fast moving and rewarding with the ability to go abroad.

The facebook group made for successful interns is a great platform to make friends before you start and find housemates to live with. Once at work there is a committee created like a university society with a president, social secretary etc. The quality of the social scene then depends on how active the committee is.

Cost of living in zone 2 London is as expected quite expensive, rent is quite high and potential candidates must consider having to pay a large portion of money upfront to cover initial rent and deposit before you receive your first monthly pay.

Hammersmith is conveniently located on two busy tube lines that cover the majority of London, there are plenty of bars within Hammersmith and nearby Fulham that are regularly visited by people from work. Kensington and Chelsea also provide more premium drinks offerings and clubs.

At L'Oreal there are a number of business-wide opportunities available including citizen day where everyone completes charity work with the option for a further day paid to volunteer. As interns there are also options to get involved with some of the Kids in Science work the company does. Meanwhile sports teams in football and netball provide an active option outside of work hours.