Commercial & Marketing Intern Review

No one day is the same at L'Oréal, especially working cross-functionally, therefore my tasks each day are different depending on what projects I am currently working on and what my priorities are for the week. One day I could be designing in-store planograms, creating banners and liaising with agencies for an upcoming launch, the next I could be raising and tracking credits for our distributor partners or setting up national and bespoke promotions. I love the variation that I have in my role as it allows me to accelerate my understanding of the business as a whole and develop such a broad skillset.

Yes, definitely! Working across Commercial and Marketing has allowed me to learn so many new skills and further enhance existing ones through both on-the-job learning as well as numerous training courses I have attended. I would say the top 4 skills I have developed in my role are problem solving, commercial awareness, presentation skills and Excel. L'Oréal has an incredible learning culture and provides every employee with access to their interactive learning platform where you can really take charge of your own development and upskill yourself in numerous areas. L'Oréal also offer you the chance to enrol yourself in up to 3 Coursera courses per year (for free!) from a wide range of courses across hundreds of universities worldwide.

Yes, I was given a huge amount of responsibility throughout the whole year, far more than I first anticipated! My responsibilities significantly stepped up after the first 6 months of my internship once I had gained the trust of my wider team to make accurate decisions. There were many occasions throughout the year where I took full ownership of projects which required a great deal of autonomy as well as adaptability as they were often outside of my immediate remit. As stressful as it was at times, taking on so many different projects and responsibilities, it was always incredibly rewarding upon completion and highly beneficial to my development.

Since day one, my whole team could not have been more welcoming to me as an intern, treating me with kindness and respect. I was lucky enough to have had 2 Line Managers over the past 12 months. Both of them had very different management styles and techniques which was a fascinating experience from my perspective. We would have 1-2-1 weekly catch-ups, where we would discuss my workload, current and upcoming projects as well as providing feedback and going over my personal development plan. Both Line Managers supported me in a proactive manner when I had any issues or concerns and always ensured that I had the support that I needed to resolve these. Additionally, I was keen to further my development so took it upon myself to find a mentor to develop certain skills that I thought could be improved.

Since we were working from home for the majority of the year, I would say the culture was more focused towards work than it perhaps would have been if we were working in the office every day without covid restrictions. Before I started my placement the workplace culture and office ‘buzz’ was always something that I had heard about from other employees and past interns, therefore it is a shame that I did not get to experience the full L’Oréal culture in this way. Despite the unfortunate cancellation of numerous in-person events, socials, and parties everyone did make an effort to connect virtually which was the best it could have been given the circumstances.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year and cannot believe how quickly the past 12 months have gone by! My team were all really good fun which made them a joy to work with. They were particularly supportive at the start of my internship, making me feel at ease whilst I was onboarding from home which made it much easier for me to settle in. Although my placement year was very different from my expectations, I couldn't have asked for a better year given the circumstances and I would do it all over again if I could! I would love to come back to L'Oréal at some point in the future and carry on my journey as I know I have so much more to give, and certainly more to learn!

Yes

My main advice is to just be yourself. L'Oréal really value authenticity so just be true to yourself and show your passion for the role/ function you are applying for. Do your research on the company as a whole, as well as having a rough idea of some of the brands that sit within each division. To prepare for the interview I would suggest looking at the 5 core L'Oréal competencies and prepare some examples of times you have demonstrated these. As nervous as you may be, try to remain calm and relaxed at the assessment centre. All of the HR team and assessors are so friendly, they just want to get to know you better as a person, they are not trying to catch you out. L'Oréal is incredibly fast-paced, so I would say there is not a huge amount you can do to fully prepare yourself for it. The only thing I did before I started was complete a LinkedIn Excel course, which I would recommend if you are not so confident in using Excel.