Marketing Intern Review

I absolutely loved my time working at L'Oréal! My team were supportive and welcoming throughout the entire year and I was constantly provided with new opportunities to develop my skills and review my goals. The HR team work extremely hard to ensure they place each new employee into the right team and I honestly couldn't have been happier in mine. I was lucky enough to have been placed under a brilliant manager who took the time out of her day whenever I needed her, no matter how busy she was. This was something that really surprised me, as previous to my placement beginning I assumed that due to the size of the company I would feel a bit lost within it. Couldn't recommend it enough!

I always felt like a valued member of the team and was never treated like an intern. Every member was extremely welcoming and would make a conscious effort to involve us in tasks and include myself and the other interns whenever possible. The team saw it as their responsibility to ensure we each got the most out of our year, and so would often ask our managers if they could bring us along to anything particularly exciting in their schedules.

I was lucky enough to experience two managers whilst working at L'Oréal, and could not praise either highly enough. Though they varied in their approaches as managers, I felt constantly inspired by their hardworking and 'can do' attitudes and ways in which they led their teams. In addition, both ensured I was involved in every aspect of our projects and activations, always stopping to ask me for my opinion and make sure I developed my skills.

I was extremely busy throughout the whole year, which I think was partially due to the role I was in. As a person I like to be constantly doing something and so this definitely worked for me. Honestly, occasionally I did feel overwhelmed, however, as previously stated, my managers would always take the time to sit down with me and rearrange my schedule. Not once did I feel like there was no one I could turn to for help. This was a great learning experience for me, as I was taught new ways to organise my tasks, which I will be bringing back to University with me.

I was lucky enough to be given a great deal of responsibility during my placement. I was eased into this, and given time to find my feet, however there was definitely a point about four months in that I was thrown into the deep end. I would say my level of responsibility was definitely governed by my own actions and development. I felt very comfortable asking my manager for more work, or expressing an interest in a certain area of the work.

I honestly cannot express the level in which my confidence has grown over the previous year. Before starting my internship, I didn't believe in my own ideas and opinions, and definitely would not have put them forward in a group setting. When I first started, I discussed this with my manager, and we agreed this would be a goal for me to work towards. As a result, I was always offered the opportunity to present within meetings but never pushed towards this, and nearing the end I presented to the wider team.

The atmosphere in the office was always extremely friendly and welcoming from day one, with a weekly division meeting being held. This meeting brought all employees together, meaning were were always kept in the know about what was going on throughout the wider division and encouraged to involve ourselves where possible. However, there was a definite divide in divisions throughout the office, and we were not necessarily encouraged to mix with members of other divisions.

From the start, the internship was extremely well organised. We were eased in at the beginning with a two week handover period, whereby we shadowed the individual currently in the role we were taking over from. This allowed us to learn on the job, getting the support we needed before taking continuing alone. However following this, we were gradually given more and more responsibility, given three sit down reviews with our manager throughout the year. These meetings allowed us to stay on top of our progress and work towards personal as well as professional goals.

As previously discussed, the three reviews throughout the year provided the foundations for our personal development, as we were able to set goals we could then work to meet. In addition, there were numerous training opportunities throughout the year, from excel to working on our presentation skills. We were encouraged fully to attend as many as possible, and my manager would actively clear my day if she was aware there was a training I was interested in.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are extremely appealing. Following your internship, you are provided with two application options; the management training scheme or an entry level position. Whilst an entry level role is just that, catering to those who are more sure of the specific career path they wish to enter, the management training scheme gives you the opportunity to move around the business, completing 3 X 6 month rotations. One of my favourite things about working for L'Oréal is how flexible the organisation is. I was constantly made aware of the array of opportunities ahead of me, and not once did I feel like my career path would be limited if I was to stay on.

There was an extremely good social scene throughout the company, between interns and wider colleagues alike. During my placement, I attended many intern nights out and my wider team would always make an effort to include us in any team days out or drinks etc. I think this intern community is largely helped by the fact that not a huge amount of interns are originally from London. This meant that everyone was in the same boat in terms of not living in their family home, which brought everyone together.

London is renowned for being extremely expensive, and so it was definitely an expensive place to live and go out. As I live fairly close to London permanently, I wasn't shocked by these prices, however, I know friends of mine who had moved down from up North found the change pretty drastic. Despite this, if you do your research before hand, working out the places with a good happy hour etc, it is most certainly doable. I would also say that the salary L'Oréal provides you with reflects the fact that London is an expensive area.

The Nightlife in London is absolutely brilliant, and Hammersmith has extremely easy connections to central London. There is always something going on and wherever you are in London, you can always find somewhere for a drink or something to eat. Though there are a few bars in the area surrounding the office, the connections from the tube station are so good that you aren't at all limited. In addition, with a railcard, travel is relatively cheap and available until extremely late.

There were definitely opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, such as yoga classes and team days out. Although these opportunities may not be as extensive as the numerous other benefits you get through working at L'Oréal, I never once felt like I needed anything else. L'Oréal are very conscious of the importance of having a healthy work-life balance, and once I left the office I wanted to be able to use my free time elsewhere.