Luxe Customer Supply Chain Executive Review

The first half of my placement I enjoyed but found it very challenging as I was working on my own a lot. As the role developed it became easier to interact with other teams in the business. I thoroughly enjoyed the second half of my placement at L'Oreal. I felt more a part of the team and included when working towards an overall goal.

As I became more involved in the team I felt I was valued more by my colleagues as they came to rely and trust me. Over the year I have felt ore comfortable within the team and more confident to interact with them. Teams are very welcoming to new starters and would rather you ask questions that sit there in silence!

Within my role you are treated the same as a full time employee from the start. It is a huge change and can take a while to adapt to. Support is generally given when asked however sometimes support was required and it could not be found. I think it is important that when starting this placement to build a strong relationship with your manager so that you don't worry about asking for help.

This role has been extremely busy as more responsibility has been added over the year. Currently I am in the office from 9-6pm to be able to manage my workload. The role consists of constantly actioning tasks and proactively thinking about anything that could come up. There was very little downtime and going on trainings caused stress as the work can pile up when you are away.

There was a high level of responsibility given. The role is a full time position within the team and you are expected to manage the same tasks as those who have the full time position. You are expected to cover for the team when the are annual leave as well to ensure that the business is not put at risk.

Skills this year has developed: - how to chase for results - to manage a high workload - prioritise projects - communicate efficiently over email and in meetings - excel skills, creating trackers and spreadsheets for the team - VBA skills, creating new macros for the team to improve efficiency in workload

The general atmosphere is busy. On most floors there is a lot of movement and quick turnarounds. However on Fridays the building is very quiet and empty as most people work from home. Their is not much communication between divisions however within divisions there is a high emphasise on working as a team. Christmas will be the most stressful time of the year. There is always a bit of excitement around the office when there is product sales.

Overall I think that for the role I am in now there could of been more training. Especially with use of systems such as SAP as this would help with the transitions from intern to intern. For the first half of the placement my role wasn't clearly defined and there were no constant day to day tasks that could help build confidence within my role.

The company gave us basic brand introduction and training in excel that were mandatory. This gave us some tools that we were able to use in our day to day jobs. Further SAP training should be developed to train the teams so that everyone can pull from the same knowledge base. There is the ability to take 3 courser courses which I would recommend as they allow you to gain training in other fields as well. I took the excel for VBA course which was essential to y project work. This was not recommended by my manager and was something I did in my own time so I could complete my projects.

There is the opportunity to apply for the graduate scheme if you want to. The L'Oreal Grad scheme only selects from its pool of interns so you would have to apply for the internship if you were interested in the graduate scheme. There is also the opportunity to do talent track from the internship. This is for those who feel that the management training scheme is not for them and they would rather an entry level role.

There is an intern committee who run socials on average every 2 week. These weren't very popular within my division. However generally between interns there was a good social scene and it was easy to make friends with your peers. There is also the opportunity to join sporting teams for L'Oreal who regularly play against the interns at Disney.

My rent is currently £600+ a month however my wage is enough to cover this cost. It is difficult to afford to regularly socialise especially out in London as weekends are more expensive. However there is good areas to live in close to the office that are reasonably priced. I would recommend living closer to the office as a commute is never ideal.

There is a lot of areas within Hammersmith for pub, bars and eating. The Apollo is just opposite the office and the lyric theatre is just down the road. I think it is worth exploring what the area has to offer before heading into central as there is still more to explore!

There is a citizen day once a year for each team. This where the employees can go out and help within the community. L'oreal has yearly sale for the staff to come and buy discounted products. L'Oreal also runs promotions with local salons and shops to get discount on hair cuts and colour.