PR Assistant Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at L'Oreal and felt that I was given copious amounts of responsibility that helped benefit my future career. The company itself was incredibly keen to encourage interns to network and so many events were set up to do so. I felt as though L'Oreal really understood the balance of how we, as innovative individuals could contribute to the company and brands we worked on, as well as how L'Oreal could help each individual with gaining knowledge and experience that could benefit them in the future. My time at L'Oreal flew by, I had the most amazing time and would love to come back!

My colleagues at L'Oreal were so friendly and very interactive. This meant that I managed to make lots of new friends as well as build a great network that may come in handy for the future. Everybody was so welcoming when I started and I felt really integrated into the team immediately. Social events were constantly arranged so that not only did I get to know the jobs people done, but also got to know each individual as a person too.

The team that I worked alongside were fantastic at offering my advice and generally being supportive and encouraging. My line manager really understood what it was like to be in my position - offering advice and giving me tasks that reflected her experience of starting her career also. I really feel like she has helped in numerous ways to kickstart my career and get my 'foot in the door' so to speak. When I had any questions or queries it was made clear from the offset that I could go to her for anything, which really made me feel comfortable in my role.

In my first week the internship kicked off a bit slow, this was because my line manager was out in meetings almost every day and so I didn't have too much set for me. The next week my manager sat down with me to set some clear objectives that I would run with throughout my entire time at L'Oreal and then I would be given tasks throughout the day also. There were days when I was SO busy that I didn't have time for lunch, but that was my decision - my manager would never expect me to work without a lunch but I want to get the most out of my time at L'Oreal and so done so. I consistently had tasks to do and so was never sat twiddling my thumbs. If I had finished a task early then I would email my line manager and she would find something else for me to do.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility at L'Oreal. On a regular basis I had direct contact with important press contacts and journalists, which meant that not only was I representing myself, I was also representing L'Oreal - a HUGE responsibility. I was left to use my own initiative when it came to contacting such important contacts and so didn't have to constantly check in with my manager. She trusted me, which meant that I could run projects myself.

I truly feel that this experience has benefited my future career hugely in the PR industry and made me more efficient at what I can do. I have developed upon existing skills such as presentation skills, communication skills and organisation which generally makes me a better employee.

The general atmoshphere in the office was very friendly and supportive. It felt as though I was part of a team as well as a family where we all played a huge part in a very successful outcome.

The overall internship was organised very strategically and at any one point I knew exactly what I had to do or where I had to be. The application process was incredibly rigorous but made it feel like so much more of an achievement once I had found out I had the job.

I feel as though the company offer a huge amount of opportunities to develop even further. I regularly attended workshops where I found out more about different sectors within L'Oreal, which expanded my knowledge about how a company works as a whole.

I absolutely would love to return to work for L'Oreal. They offer graduate schemes and trainee schemes amongst the interns and so to apply for it would be a waste. Managers and HR really encourage you to apply.

We had a committee that organised social events with fellow internship students, whereby there were weekly events including nights out and coffee gathering where we all got to know each other better.

I chose to commute from my home town and so it was incredibly expensive for me to commute. It would have been cheaper for me to live next to the building that I worked! The are in Hammersmith is fantastic for socialising - so many restaurants, coffee shops and bars that are fabulous to attend.

The nightlife in Hammersmith was quite limited, but there were plenty of surrounding areas a short tube ride away that were fantastic to go out in.

There were many opportunities to attend activities outside of work including sports events, fun activities and social drinking scenes.