Visual Merchandising Intern Review

At first I struggled adjusting to the size of the company and all of the different brands owned by L'Oréal, but after a couple of months I really began to enjoy the day to day life at the company. I think the time it took for me to settle into the company took longer than I expected, so once I began to settle into the company I really appreciated the culture.

My direct team always made an effort to include me in meetings and team activities; they were very appreciative of my work and the effort I would put in to completing requested tasks. Colleagues working for the same brand seemed to appreciate and value the contribution I was making to the brand.

My manager carefully explained each task when I first started my placement. When starting the task, I would therefore feel very capable of completing it by myself. If I had any questions, I always felt comfortable asking my manger or other members of my team. The only thing I would have liked more frequent guidance on was feedback on how I was performing with regards to my objectives.

On a daily basis I would be in and out of meetings which would not only help to break the day up, but also keep my work load regulated. I would have a regular and steady workload on a daily basis and was never short of a task to do. Around certain times of year there was a slightly increased work load due to seasonal events, but this was never more than I was capable of handling.

I was given complete autonomy in any projects which I undertook, which made completing these projects easier and more rewarding. Some tasks would require checking over by my manager/supervisor before final completion which I appreciated due to the importance of these tasks. The overall responsibility I was awarded was perfect in my opinion.

There was multiple training events provided by L'Oréal. All of these were not only beneficial from a general knowledge point of view, but also moving forward in my degree and future career. The law training provided was especially useful and I feel that this will be extremely beneficial to me in my modules in final year.

The general atmosphere in the office was very calm and relaxed, but at the same time everyone was very hard working. One thing I noticed whilst on my placement was that the culture at L'Oréal appears to be 'gossipy'. Personally I did not like this aspect of the company culture.

The internship was structured and organised very well. All communications regarding the internship were made through HR and were very clear. If I had at questions, there was always a contact in HR available to answer my queries. The internship also links up very well to the graduate scheme, making it an easy transition to make after graduating.

We were provided with a good volume of training on arrival at L'Oréal, about the company, their brands and also legal and technical training. This is provided to all new comers to the company as a standard training. There is an online training portal which you can log onto at any time to sign up for additional training courses, or take online training courses.

The graduate scheme is very appealing due to it feeding into a full time employment job at L'Oréal at the end of the process. If the graduate scheme is not for you then they have recently launched a new scheme to enter the company after graduation, where by HR work with you to help find you a job within the company.

As there were a large number of interns who were on the same course as myself at university, I had a large group of friends at the company. We would often go for lunch together in the canteen, as well as go for drinks and / or dinner after work.

The cost of living and socialising is what you would expect for anywhere in London . . . over priced. This did not taint the experience in anyway, however I would recommend living with parents or relatives if possible in order to reduce financial worries and fully enjoy your internship experience.

I never experienced the nightlife in the area which I worked as I did not believe it to be very good, and in addition to this I found it too expensive to enjoy myself. I would recommend going into central for a good nigh time experience which is worth the cost.

There was an intern committee which organised events outside of work, such as running club and intern socials. These opportunities were very limited though and often seemed to be events which the intern committee themselves wanted to do and not what the larger intern community were interested in. Overall it was a little disappointing.