Marketing Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at L'Oreal. I was granted a huge amount of responsibility to make brand critical decisions and felt valued as a member of the team. The employees are great, and are always available to give you a helping hand if you need it. It provides a great platform for learning and developing whichever skills you choose to focus on during your year.

I felt extremely valued by those employees I was surrounded with on a daily basis. I truly felt as though my opinion was valued in my brand, and in my division. As your skills develop throughout the year, you are rewarded and trusted with greater tasks which you own, and thus people come to you for your expertise on those subjects.

The clear structure of the placement details a plan of progression throughout. Setting objectives and re-assessing them throughout the year to check whether you are reaching those tasks you initially set out to. Aside from the formal review system, I had weekly catch-ups with my direct manager to go through my daily tasks. This amount of contact was enough, however I always felt comfortable enough to ask for more guidance when I felt I needed it.

Very busy. The responsibility I was given was beyond what I expected, and therefore there was always something to be doing, or working towards. You begin to learn autonomy in that, even if you are not set tasks, there's always something coming up which you could work on or produce content for.

Lots of responsibility. This was not on small mundane tasks either, but largely in relation to key decisions such as launches, animation moments in the year and business processes. I worked for one of the smaller brands and teams, and therefore the breadth of my role was larger than I anticipated which meant that I got involved in a range of activities, which has really stretched my skill-set.

I hope that the information I've learned this year will inform my studies for my final year and enable me to put things into perspective when considering marketing concepts, or management theories. Additionally, from being challenged this year I feel that my skill set has improved and I think that this will benefit me when seeking a job following University.

There was a really positive atmosphere in the office. There are lots of young people which make it really lively. There is a focus on career development in the office, which means that many in the business started as interns or grads, and therefore understand what you are going through.

There is a clear plan for interns in L'Oreal. There are key trainings which are organised in your first couple of weeks, but also throughout the year to develop you as an employee. The clear review system ensures that you are getting out of the year what you want, and keeps the business up to date with your actions.

In your role, you learn key tasks which are applicable to any job, inside or outside of the business. There are optional trainings which you can request to take such as Photoshop and Photography, however they are not that regular or advertised that clearly. If you want to be trained, its best to ask.

The large cohort of interns and grads makes it easy to build friendships in the building. There are lots of people which go to the same university, or ones nearby, of which will remain in contact next year and in the future. The nearby pub is a must every week