L'Oreal 12 Month Placement - Marketing Review

The 12 month industrial placement is an amazing opportunity for your development. The responsibility that you are given was far beyond my expectations. Workload is incredibly varied, and the opportunities you get over your 12 months are amazing. What you hear about the culture before you begin is absolutely true - it is an extremely fast paced, entrepreneurial and innovative environment. It is not easy and you will never be bored!

My placement was on a relatively small brand with a small direct team. For this reason I felt incredibly valued in my direct team. There are of course the admin type jobs that fall to the interns.

My personal experience was an amazing manager - she could not have been more supportive and positive about my progress and performance. I was pushed beyond my comfort zones constantly, however knew that I would always have the support of manager to back me up. Honest and constructive criticism is definitely something that you should push for from your manager.

I can honestly say that I did not once feel bored! Workload is constantly high all year round, regardless of the brand that you are on or the division that you are in. The majority of the time this is a good thing - the days/ months fly by. At times the workload can be overwhelming, however you soon learn how to prioritize.

Far more than I would have ever expected. You are thrown in at the deep end, and in terms of responsibility are given far more than what you would think for an 'intern'.

The atmosphere in my small direct team is almost always positive and upbeat. There is a great team dynamic on my entire floor. Plenty of socials/ reward outings are organised to recognize hard work. However there are times when the atmosphere can be extremely tense and pressured, with extremely late nights in some teams. From the experiences of other interns, I understand that this is not the case everywhere.

I was lucky enough to find out about my work placement early (in November). However I know that various interns had as little as 1 day notice before their assessment centre, and as little as one week notice before beginning their placements. This is far too little notice, considering that people have to travel significant distances/ even sort out accommodation for the year. The structure of the placement in terms of reviews/appraisal is extremely clear - with a 'start'/ 'mid'/ and 'end' of year review.

It is not an easy place to work, but is extremely rewarding. Unfortunately it is made to feel like the only way you can progress here is to start at intern level, and work your way up through all the roles within the company. There are a huge amount of employees who have never worked anywhere but L'oreal - for me I'm not sure how much of an advantage this is.

Very good social scene between all the interns. A good combination of organised social's by the committee (which includes both nights out and activities such as trampolining), as well as informal social events out side of work. You are unlikely to see interns who aren't in your division unless you arrange to see them specifically.

What you would expect for London.