Category Management Intern Review

I have loved working at L'Oreal. Overall the work I was given was challenging and has enabled me to make real progress and develop a wide variety of skills. There was large amounts of support available for interns and from a social perspective the company went over and above to ensure interns were given opportunities to interact and socialise with one another.

Occasionally I was set work that I felt undermined my capabilities, however in general the projects I completed added value to the business and as such was valued by those around me.

I had weekly catch ups with my manager to go through my workload and priorities however on a daily basis my manager was regularly available to ask questions and support me wherever needed. In addition to this the team was also a great support and also available for help at all times.

It was rare that there were periods where my work balance was perfect, more often than not my weeks were either incredibly busy or very quiet. I regularly volunteered to pick up extra workload on quiet weeks to avoid being bored, however there were occasions where my workload was so small that the days seemed to drag slightly. I appreciate that having incredibly busy weeks is common in such a fast paced industry and therefore was expected and still more than manageable, although I would have liked to have been able to pick up more work on quieter weeks (occasionally when I asked my offer was dismissed or I was told there wasn't anything to do).

In some parts of my placement I was given great amounts of responsibility and allowed to take full ownership of the projects I worked on. As the placement is equally a supporting role some of the tasks you complete give less opportunity for you to take ownership, however these gave opportunity to develop a skill set just as much as the larger projects did.

The skills I developed at L'Oreal I will take with me both in my final year at University and for the rest of my career. I feel that the skills this role has exposed me to are invaluable and as a result would recommend the intern year at L'Oreal to any student.

I LOVED my team! We always had great banter and every day was a fun one. There was never a dull moment, everyone was so kind and welcoming,

As a whole it was very well organised.

I was given the opportunity to go on some training days with my team, and the HR department put on some training sessions for the interns. However feel this aspect could have been improved slightly as there were a couple of occasions where I would have like to have been involved in training however there wasn't the budget for it.

There is opportunity to apply for the graduate scheme and from this often there are opportunities for permanent roles within the business.

There was an intern social team who organised nights out for the interns however these weren't very regularly and therefore it was difficult to make all of them.

The salary does not allow for a great social life, over half of my salary was spent on rent and unless you live within walking distance the cost of travel really adds up. I would recommend saving up before you moved to London as this has made the experience slightly easier for me, as well as the maintenance loan from student finance.

If you don't mind the cost/travelling quite far then there is something for everyone in London. Particularly as the night tubes are now open you don't have to spend a lot of money on taxi fares, however the journey's to certain areas can take quite a long time.

In my experience I didn't come across many activities outside of work, however I wasn't particularly looking so therefore didn't see anything. I imagine if you looked there are a large amount of activities to get involved in around London.