Marketing intern Review

Overall, I loved my placement at L'Oréal. The people I met, the responsibility I received, the amount of things I learned was incredible. In terms of my professional and personal development I got more out of it then I ever could have imagined. Doing my placement here was one of the best decisions I ever made. The only downside I'd say is that you do get A LOT of work which can sometimes feel overwhelming and that the company in general is quite chaotic which makes it difficult to stay organised and top of things.

My team was genuinely the best team I could have hoped for. Everyone was so kind, caring and helpful. I never felt uncomfortable asking for help and everybody was always happy to give some guidance. We shared so much laughter together and some of my team members have become very close friends to me. My manager was absolutely incredible and someone I'm sad to be leaving soon. Everyone is very welcoming from the first day and it really helps you settle in.

I was given a lot of guidance from my manager and other people in the team. If you need advice about something, people are always happy to help (even if it is someone from outside your team). You will never not know what you are doing though you will have many situations where you feel out of your depth and need to be a problem-solver.

I was very busy on a daily basis. Though that is something I really like (I would much rather be too busy then be bored at work), I will say that I never left work on time and often came in earlier. The contract states 9-5 but in my position there was no way I could have done just that. My hours were closer 8-6 though I would sometimes stay until 7/8. People don't necessarily expect you to stay late but it was necessary for me so I could get all the work done. So if the 9-5 work hours are very important to you, L'Oréal is probably not the right placement.

I was given a hug amount of responsibility. You really become part of the team and my manager always said 'I don't treat you like an intern but like a product manager'. This is not a company where you will just be bringing coffees and photocopying. You're doing a real job with real responsibility.

I don't feel like the skills I learned will be particularly useful for university, simply because university is very theoretical and the skills I learned at my placement more practical. However, for the future the training I received at L'Oréal will surely prove invaluable for the future at any other company.

Great atmosphere, very comfortable. It's an open plan office so people are generally easily accessible.

The whole placement was very well-organised. It's a huge company that has a had a placement scheme for a long time so you could tell people were very used to it and everything worked pretty seamlessly.

We did receive a lot of training though a lot if felt unnecessary or not useful for the role. There are definitely things you can't go to because you are an intern but in general the training was pretty good. I would have wished that we would have gotten more opportunities to attend conferences on our role and/or industry.

There definitely are employment prospects within the organisation. L'Oréal has an established grad scheme for which they now only recruit internally (i.e. you need to have done a summer internship or placement to apply for it). Additionally, they have now also created the Talent Track which allows people to apply who do not want to go through rotations. Although there are definitely good employment prospects, it is still very competitive with over 100 interns and a small number of grad scheme places available.

The social scene amongst interns is fantastic. Because we are so many, it really creates an intern culture and there were many opportunities to get to know fellow interns and go to social events. Some of the friends I made will remain friends for life and I am very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to meet so many new people my age.

It is central London so it is very expensive. The salary you receive does cover living costs but budget is still very tight. Personally, I managed to find a flat very close to the office that wasn't too crazy expensive so that turned out fine in the end though it is a question of luck.

It is London so the opportunities are endless. The city is so incredible and there is so much to do, a fantastic place to live. I had the opportunity to get involved in so many things and started new hobbies and picked old ones back up. A really great year in terms of personal development also.