E-Commerce Intern Review

Supporting the commercial activities of the ecommerce team, as well as the activities of our direct to consumer websites. On a day to day basis this involves a wide variety of tasks, from Promotional Event Analysis, through to month end reporting on key KPIs as well as implementing new processes, such as the process to launch new products with retailers

I have learnt many new computer skills particularly on office suite but also on commercial application programs such as salesforce and google analytics as well as skills for navigating corporate life, and being effective in that enviroment (which trust me is often harder than you'd think, you have no choice to play the game unfortunately). All super transferrable and valuable skills I can take on with me in life

No. Your managers will no doubt try to dress up the stuff they're asking you to do as a super important responsibility, but anyone with half a brain can see that they're not going to trust an intern with anything serious or interesting. You have a LOT of accountability though. Every proper worker there relies on your menial boring grunt work in order to do their interesting and mentally stimulating work.

L'Oreal as a company are not supportive whatsoever. They can't even bring themselves to pay for a month of both you and the intern you're replacing, so that you can be taught the job properly. You get a week, 5 working days, to be taught everything to do with the job and then the intern you're replacing leaves. It's very, very cheap of a multi-billion £ company to do imo.

Horrible. Everyone is fake nice to each other all day long. You'll learn how to deliver any kind of negative response to a question in a way that's super sensitive to everyone's delicate self-esteem. You can never be real and you can never be yourself. You have to develop this persona that is happy and bubbly all the time and never has a bad word to say about anyone.

I enjoyed seeing what corporate life was like. I enjoyed living in london. I enjoyed making friends with other interns and the social life we shared together. The only part of my placement I didn't enjoy was the actual placement, which was terrible for all the reasons discussed, you're chewed up and spat out, given loads of accountability but no responsibilty, and the working environment is 1984 type stuff, a dystopian nightmare

No

You'll learn a lot, but don't think for one second that there's a future for you at L'Oreal... Every. Single. Person. with "director" in their job title or anyone who is any kind of leader in the business, is french (with the exception of finance). As an English person there is a very clear ceiling and L'Oreal don't even bother trying to hide it, I've heard senior leaders laughing about how they are only going to fill senior roles with people brought over from Paris.