PR Intern Review

During my whole year here at L'Oreal, there has never been a day I've really dreaded coming in. I've loved my role, and will be really sad to leave. My internship has taught me so many transferrable skills, such as good communication, confidence, agility and organisation. I worked across five skin care brands, and really immersed myself in the brand philosophies of all of them. I was given so many opportunities during my placement, such as helping to organise and attending events, product sampling during London Fashion Week and managing brand social channels independently.

I definitely feel valued by my colleagues, especially the two others in my team. My ideas are always listened to and appreciated, and I have always been given responsibility for my own projects. The interns are definitely valued in the division I worked in, and were always given the opportunity to speak out.

Working for my manager was an absolute pleasure. She offered me constant support and always encouraged me, especially in the areas that I felt less confident. My manager is one of the main reasons I enjoyed my role so much, and I have learnt so much from her. She would always offer guidance when I needed it, but would also allow me to complete tasks independently, trusting my judgement.

It did vary throughout the year, as there would be times when we as a team struggled with the amount of work being requested by the different brand teams. Working across all the brands did result in there never being a lack of tasks to complete or projects to get involved with. When the third member of our team joined in January, I did find that some of my regular tasks were passed over, but in turn this allowed me the freedom to get involved in new projects.

I was given the perfect amount of responsibility, which definitely increased over time. I have always been included in all the communication between our various agencies and brand teams, but was not necessarily allocated a lot of the work. As my placement went on I started to take on my own projects, and make decisions for myself.

Some of the skills I developed such as good communication, organisation, and confidence will assist me in all situations. However, the role I had at L'Oreal was not what I expected it to be, and so has ended up being quite irrelevant to the degree I am studying at university.

The atmosphere in the office was great! The division I worked in was small and had a real family culture. Everybody got on with each other, even though people were continuously leaving and joining the business. The office was quiet at times, when lots of employees chose to work from home, but in general it was a really comfortable and friendly place to work.

The placement was well organised once I had started my role, however I did find it frustrating before hand not knowing what my role was until around a week before the start date. To then find my role was completely different to what I had expected did throw me, and I wish I had had some more notice. We had to fill in regular MAP forms with our objectives, and this was really useful to look back on my progress during the year.

I felt the company did invest in interns, ensuring we were always included in any team training or activities. We were also given full inductions to all of the new software we would be using during the year, as well as sessions to remind us of any tools we had forgotten how to use.

Very appealing! The graduate scheme that the company offer is an amazing opportunity, offering exposure to so many aspects of the business within a year and a half. There are so many areas of the business I wish to explore further and the management trainee scheme would challenge me in ways I couldn't anticipate.

Definitely. During my year I lived with two other interns from L'Oreal which immediately expanded my network as we were all from different areas of the business. The company set up a Facebook page for us to connect before we start, and there is a committee that organise regular socials during the year once we have started. We are also given the opportunity to shadow other interns which offers great insight into other divisions.

Living and socialising was very expensive, but it was London! I did consider living with my dad during the week about an hour commute from work but decided I wouldn't get as much out of the year. I am glad I decided to live with other interns from L'Oreal as I think it made the experience that much more memorable.

The nightlife was good and we were often encouraged as a division to go for a drink after work if there was a celebration. Working alongside other interns always meant there were people to spend time with after work. Central London was only around twenty minutes from work making it easy to travel in, and the regular socials gave plenty of opportunities to enjoy the nightlife.

There weren't many opportunities that I spent time with my division outside of work, except the other interns. We all took part in Citizen Day, but that was technically during work hours. I did enjoy spending time with other interns during my free time, and definitely made some really good friends during my year at L’Oreal.