IT Intern Review

The atmosphere at the office at L'Oreal around the office is always positive and this made my placement highly enjoyable. Everyone is very friendly and will always smile at you in the corridor. This family orientated atmosphere contributed to me enjoying coming in to work every day and motivated me to complete the work.

Throughout the entire length of my placement, colleagues were welcoming, friendly and always involving. I didn't ever have the feeling where I didn't feel valued because I was an intern and not in an operational role. What made it for me was when I started, colleagues were always asking me to go for coffee and on other social events. At the end of the placement I very much felt like a valued part of the team.

My manager was always reviewing my work and providing constructive criticism and praise when it was deserved. Whenever I felt like I needed to speak to my manager about anything, they always listened to what I had to say and acted upon anything I wanted to. Meetings were arranged consistently to discuss my progress and I found these useful and constructive.

At the start of my placement, there was not much work planned for me to do. However, after the initial stage, I found that I was actively involved in important projects across the business and was given a lot of responsibility. After the initial stage there wasn't a day on my placement where I felt like I was not being challenged with the work I was given.

This was one of the best parts of my placement at L'Oreal. I never felt like i was deliberately being given the admin jobs by my team because I was the intern. Both my manager and my team members were keen to involve me on projects where I would be provided with a large amount of responsibility.

Managers and team members were keen to discuss elements of my degree and get me involved in projects related to the area's covered.Training provided was always relevant, as it was either on a system that was used company wide, or another system which is widely used withing the industry. For example, I received full training on a professional Content Management System.

Atmosphere around the office was always positive. This is definitely aided by the young culture of L'Oreal, as lots of the workforce are 20-30 and there are always graduates and interns on each of the floors to talk to and everyone is approachable. Lots of social events are arranged and there is a free bar on the last Thursday of the month!

Apart from the first week where there was little to no work that I was able to do, overall, I feel like the Internship was well organised. As L'Oreal employ a lot of interns, there are definitive processes and procedures in place to ensure that Interns are comfortable in their role and that they have work to do. The intern HR team are also very approachable and are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Overall, i think that in terms of giving you opportunities to develop through activities such as; giving presentations and running training sessions, L'Oreal were very keen to give me this responsibility so I could learn for the future. However, there was a scenario where other members of the team went on a training session relevant to the work i was undertaking at the time and I was not able to attend because of the cost (because I was an intern and my placement year was almost finished).

Employment opportunities and after finishing your internship are positive with L'Oreal. They offer numerous Management Trainee Scheme (graduate scheme) places in 4 area's of the company - Supply Chain, Finance, Commercial and Marketing. Not all area's of the company where internships are offered are there also grad schemes. L'Oreal are also keen to keep Management Trainees on after they have finished their rotations in the company.

The social scene among interns was very good. Towards the start of the placement year there were multiple events run for the interns, for example; nights out in London, Ice Skating and Cocktail classes. L'Oreal also encouraged entry into local 5 a side football leagues, with mixed teams so both men and women could be involved.

The inherent cost of living and working in London is very expensive, however, this will be the same for all companies in the area.If you were a keen bargain hunter there was always something to be found in the area. The salary received for interns from L'Oreal was highly competitive with other companies, so this negated the cost of living in London somewhat.

London is very good for nightlife, there is always something going on whatever the place you are in or the time of night. There are some very nice pubs with amazing beer gardens in the west end and some great nightclubs in the east. Hammersmith, where L'Oreal are based, is very well catered for pubs. The nicest one is the Queen's Head, however there is also a whether spoons for those who are cost conscious.

There were multiple opportunities to get involved with activities outside of L'Oreal. Interns were encouraged to involve themselves in as many activities as possible in order to further themselves. As mentioned previously, i took part in a mixed five a side football league over the winter along with a few of my other intern colleagues.