Marketing Intern Review

Overall I have enjoyed my year placement and can reflect on the amount of skills I have learnt which can be applied for not only in L'Oreal but in any job that I go into. In my role they work you hard and often involves long hours in a day, but it is rewarding once a task is complete and I had a good support system behind me to help me out when I was stuck.

Towards the start of the year I felt as though I was more valued by my colleagues in the team, this was maybe because I was visibly improving every day and this was noticeable in the smaller team we had then. In the past 4 months I have felt less valued but I feel this is down to having a larger team and also switching between different brands.

I have received a lot of support and guidance at the start of my internship by my old supervisor. This was really helpful to guide me through what I can do to improve. I still receive general support and guidance from my new supervisor but this is limited as they are new to L'Oreal.

How busy I have been has varied massively during the year. There have been times at the start of the year when we had a smaller team that I thought I was overworked and couldn't get on top of all my tasks. However, since then I have worked hard on my time management and feel like there is a nice balance to my workload, especially since we have a larger team now.

I was given a lot of responsibility in my role from the start of my placement, coordinating important projects for the brand. However, since having a full team that is larger than it was at the start of the year I feel as though my responsibility has diminished and I am no longer in charge of big, exciting project and instead I am working to support the team with the less fun elements to these projects.

I think the skills I have learnt this year will benefit me massively in any future career that I decide to pursue. L'Oreal has taught me so many vital skills such as time management and communication which are easily transferable to any job. The job has taught me a lot about discipline also which will be so important when it comes to my final year of studies.

The atmosphere in the office has been good. With the Garnier team I think there is very good morale within the team and this is reflecting in our weekly connect sessions. The purpose of this is for all the team to meet in our General Manager's office to discuss all the great things that are happening with each persons brand. These are motivational and leaves everyone with a positive frame of mind.

I think with the fast pace of L'Oreal the work placement can lack a bit of organisation and a lot of the planning is very last minute. This makes it difficult to adopt the L'Oreal way of working which is expected from day one. I like to describe my experience as 'being thrown in at the deep end' describing how busy I was at the start of my internship. However, the way that L'Oreal works forces you to build on all your skills immediately and prevents you from staying in the shadows. Whether this be communicating with people you have never spoken to before or taking leads on important projects, you can learn a lot about your own ability during the course of the year.

Personal training and development was available at the start of the internship for all new interns. A lot of this was very beneficial for me in the first couple of months. However, after about 4 months, not much training is on offer as you are judged to know your role and your responsibilities well enough. There has been some interesting training sessions on offer since the first couple of months but not for general skills such as excel.

I think the graduate scheme is something that appeals to me. Being in the same brand for the whole year can become repetitive and doesn't give me the chance to experience any other brands. With the rotational nature of the graduate scheme, I will be able to experience different brands and different roles inside L'Oreal which could influence my future career path.

There has been a number of interns socials organised by the interns themselves. I have been to a couple but a lot of the time the participation rate has not been that high and some of them are poorly organised as the invite comes just days before the event. However, the team works hard to organise them and it's a great opportunity to meet other interns outside of work.

I don't live in London so the cost for me living at home was considerably less. However, the cost of drinks in bars and clubs in London is very high. This can sometimes put me off going out too often.

I haven't experienced much of the nightlife as I live far away from the office. However, I have been to some intern social events which have been fun and they are usually every month. But overall the nightlife is great in London and there is always some fun to be had wherever you go.

In London there is always things to do outside of work. In terms of company arranged event and activities they haven't been that often and do not get high participation.