Visual Merchandising Review

Working at L’Oréal has been the experience of a lifetime. What surprised me most when joining was the fun and young, yet professional environment. This placement has given me the opportunity to learn unbelievable amounts and has given me the tools to gain real workplace knowledge whilst also working on projects that I am genuinely passionate about as a consumer. The structure of the company allows you to build a strong connection with your team, making it possible to network with other brands and wider teams The role has given me the ability to be creative and experimental with my ideas, whilst simultaneously learning about the responsibilities of those in higher positions to me, providing me with goals to work towards for my own career/journey.

I feel that interns have a genuine role at L’Oréal, you are treated exactly the same as every other full time member and your opinion is really valued. In my role, I have vast amounts of responsibility and control over my work load which also results in me gaining recognition from high up members of the company. Team members will assign you key tasks and expect you to manage it, which is great for both your career and personal development. My team in particular are like a family; everyone quickly knew my name and recognised me - I truly felt I was welcomed with open arms

I have weekly catch-ups with my line manager in which we discuss completed, ongoing and upcoming tasks. She always asks me how I am finding things and offers additional support if needed. She offers advice on how to solve a problem I may have, however, she will let me learn from that situation and let me handle it myself as much as possible. My manager has continuously encouraged me to attend trainings on software I had not previously used, which has resulted in the task now being a lot easier – this was something that I really wanted to achieve in my placement and she gave me the means to do this. As an intern, we were also trained on workplace etiquette and skills. I found the training in how to conduct yourself in meetings, how to handle to-do lists and how to interact with different personality types particularly useful and put this into practice regularly.

L’Oréal is as fast pasted environment, meaning I am always working on new projects, which I love and I have gained a varied experience and no week is ever the same. There are busier times of the year, however, managers are always there to support throughout. The key to the placement is prioritisation, by mastering this the job is a million times simpler and with the support of my manager, I grasped this within the first few weeks. Due to my job role, I am working out of head office a lot making my workload challenging at times, however, being out of the office has pushed me to explore new places and meet new people!

I was given huge amounts of responsibility, primarily my role was to create animations, to go in over 80 stores, from beginning to end. This involved making legal changes to visuals, which can have sever negative repercussions if not done correctly. I was also tasked with making all design changes and creative concepts including how to execute the animation in store; this meant that what I designed was seen across the UK in all of the stores. Finally, I handled budgets for projects and approved finances for campaigns. Overall, I feel incredibly grateful for the vast amount of responsibility I’ve been given this year, it has allowed me to learn so much about how a large scale business, like L’Oréal, operates and also taught me how to manage my own workload autonomously.

My internship at L’Oréal has developed my communication skills and team working skills as I have learnt how to speak to varying levels of authority effectively and learnt how to work as a team to ensure we are cohesive with our campaign messages; this is something that is transferable to university projects and future workplaces. I have also developed my presentation skills by presenting several times to external agencies and management. These situations taught me how to design effective slides also how to communicate my point clearly in a limited time period, something that is constantly required in university assessments. The training we received on work etiquette and organising workload is something that I will carry throughout my future careers, this very simple knowledge ensures that you always appear professional and gives you a good basis for when you get a graduate job. By being an intern at L'Oréal you are one step ahead; you have a highly respected brand on your CV for life and you leave university with valuable practical knowledge from your placement that others may not have - it is the perfect addition to a degree.

L’Oréal encourages employees to be sociable; An open plan workplace naturally forms a relaxed but professional atmosphere. Conversation stays focussed when necessary, but downtime and casual catch ups accommodate a healthy balance. I feel at ease inviting interns, graduates or managers for lunch or a quick coffee. Every floor in the office has a kitchen and collaboration space which everyone uses to meet up with others to eat lunch or grab a coffee or they visit a large cafe on the top floor which offers a wide variety of subsidies meals. The stuffy office stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. Regular social events also play their part with monthly drinks or a team lunch.

L’Oréal have a very well established internship program. The application process is very clear with a clear step by step process. Before you start, they add you to a Facebook group so that you can begin socialising with fellow interns. When you arrive you shadow your previous intern for a week which gives you time to learn the basics. The first few weeks include a wide variety of training to help your transition to the workplace which are all arranged by HR. You have an assigned Human Resources contact that you can contact at any time throughout your placement if needed.

There are several well established platforms set up in which you can access trainings. One option is the online trainings platform which provides hundreds of courses you can do in your spare time. These are really varied in topics and range from very specific in-depth subjects to more board overviews. I personally wanted to widen my marketing knowledge so I found an online training on digital marketing which I was able to complete in my own time and my own speed - I am hoping to use the knowledge gained from this in my final year studies and in my future career. Another platform allows you to book trainings which take place with a teacher in the office. These are more face to face learning, allowing you to meet new people and the chance to ask questions.

L’Oréal offers interns the exclusive opportunity to apply for the management trainee scheme which is 18 months long and guarantees a job when completed. This scheme offers the chance for you to rotate around the businesses every six months, gaining experiences in different brands and sectors. It also includes one off stream role which allows you to try something new and further your knowledge. The other option is talent track when interns can skip to the final application process of a job after they leave.

There is an committee which is a group of fellow interns who arrange regular socials and sporting events. These are a combination of nights outs and day activities, for example, we went to watch the horse racing for one event. Our team and division often organise social events, including an amazing Christmas party. The interns also host a Christmas ball which always has a cool theme - this year was on a boat along the Thames. This provides a time for you to socialise and catch-up with fellow interns and have fun!

London can be very expensive to live in but with a wide variety of choices for housing, it is very easy to find somewhere within everyone’s budget. I would suggest looking at a variety of locations - I lived 20 minutes away from Hammersmith in Wandsworth which meant my cost of living was lower, it was the perfect location with a direct commute by bus to the office. Ultimately, there is so much choice, with every area having a unique personality, it would be difficult not to find a place which suits you. With such good transport connections, even living in the ‘cheaper’ boroughs won’t stop you socialising or getting to work.

Hammersmith has a lot of pubs which are great for socialising after work. Nearby places, such as Clapham or Shoreditch are better for nightlife and bars but as previously mentioned, with well established transport networks across London, these locations are easily accessible. London has some of the coolest nightlife locations in so you won’t be short of choices. If nightlife isn’t for you, there are plenty of tourist attractions and museums to see.

The intern committee also organised external charity events which you could take part in as well as help organise, for example a run to raise money for Movember. Every team also takes part in ‘Citizens Day’ in which you have a day out of the office to volunteer and help give back to the local community/environment. There is also the opportunity to join the L’Oréal sports teams that compete against other local teams, these sports include football and netball.