Business Development Intern Review

The combination of a fast paced working environment with an interactive networking culture meant that I could thoroughly enjoy my work placement at L'Oreal. The responsibilities of my role allowed me to immerse myself across all aspects of the business and develop upon various skills i.e. data analytics to presenting.

At no point did I ever feel undervalued by my colleagues. Due to the nature of the placement scheme, a large proportion of fully operational employees were once interns themselves, meaning that an interns work and time is always respected and appreciated.

My manager was always pushing my personal development, ensuring that I had clear objectives so I could have a focus when coming to work everyday. My manager and I caught up weekly to prioritise my workload and to make sure that I had full support when completing tasks.

The nature of my role meant that I had some weeks that were busier than others and therefore, some weeks were definitely more stressful than others. I had weekly/monthly tasks to complete regularly and the remainder of my time was spend doing ad hoc work, which could be urgent or due in the next few week, meaning that my daily work massively varied which definitely kept it interesting.

During my placement, the level of responsibility given to me gradually increased as I got to grips with the business and the category/market I was working in. However, due to the standard of entry to the placement scheme, you are expected to have an entrepreneurial spirit and to take opportunities when you can and this is encouraged by your manager. So if you want responsibility, it is there for the taking.

I have definitely gained skills that I will have for life whilst working at L'Oreal. The skills i developed from presenting monthly along with analysing data on a daily basis will be something I will be able to use not only in the completion of my degree, but in almost any work place environment.

The atmosphere was always good when coming into the office due to the lovely nature of my team and my manager. I felt comfortable asking questions and speaking to various members of my division. However, during busy times the office can sometimes become quite hectic and stressful.

The placement was run very well. I received training from day one, highlighting what was required from me and what I should expect from L'Oreal back. Being reviewed every 6 months meant that my progress was always being monitored and all interns are contacted regularly by HR to keep them in the loop regarding the graduate scheme and other aspects of the business that we should be aware of.

The graduate scheme now only recruits internally from interns, meaning that it is a great path to a job after University.

Due to the sheer number of student that get onto the internship scheme, there was a great social scene with people from all over the UK/International. There is also an intern committee with a social sec, meaning that fellow interns organise social events for the cohort to get involved in.