Visual Merchandising Intern Review

I had an amazing time during my placement. I was really fortunate being given a role that I enjoy with a team that are super friendly and really supportive.

I was really fortunate to have a super friendly and supportive team. You often forget that you are an intern. After the first few months you can really feel your own progression - this is made even more apparent by the amount of trust your colleagues give you.

As there are many other interns within the business there is a good support network between you and HR. I also felt supported by my team as we have weekly catch ups to go over any work I am unsure about.

I have definitely gotten busier as time has gone on. As you become more comfortable in your role you are entrusted with a heavier workload and more responsibility. As long as you keep on top of your work whilst ensuring you meet deadlines the workload should never feel unbearable.

As time has gone on I have been entrusted with a heavier workload and projects with a greater amount of responsibility. There is also always the opportunity to get involved with more projects if you show the interest and take the initiative to look for these.

There are skills that I have developed, which although useful, are not directly related to my degree. (photoshop and indesign skills for example.) However, these will only be beneficial for me for a career in marketing. I feel the skills I have learnt here will be useful in my final year of studying. My ability to time manage and organise have definitely improved. I would admit that I don't believe my first and second years of Uni gave me skills/ knowledge that are exactly transferable. However, this may be due to the nature of my role more than anything else. Either way I feel the nature of L'Oreal is that most things you need to know you will learn throughout your time here. Training opportunities also allow you to expand upon this if you so wish.

As there are so many people working in the office I feel the atmosphere would depend on which department and team you end up working with. My team are super friendly and social so there's always a good atmosphere here. There are also collaboration areas as well as the large cafeteria which are really social and fun areas.

After receiving confirmation that you have a placement offer from L'Oreal you are then told you will be contacted directly by your line manager (the time this takes depends completely on your line manager). After you have this email from them you have the opportunity to learn more about where you are and which brand you will work for. Once you've started and set your objectives with your line manager you have a good idea of what your workload will be and what your responsibilities will include. For the most part the nature of your role really depends on the objectives and tasks given to you by your manager. I always felt comfortable with how my internship was organised but I know when managers change role or leave the company this can change the nature of your role completely.

I felt the skills I developed were mostly self taught and developed over time. However, for certain skills, such as excel basics or time management skills you can attend training sessions to develop further upon these - it is mostly up to you to find these sessions to attend. The only topics difficult to find training for are role specific skills such as learning to use adobe software etc.

L'Oreal offer a grad scheme which you can apply for around mid-end of May (for marketing, commercial, finance and supply chain roles) If you are interested in an alternative role/entry level roles rather than a graduate scheme, you can apply for 'talent track' where they will contact you with opportunities for entry level roles after you graduate.

There are many social events organised for the interns and grads within L'Oreal. These are organised by other interns and range from clubbing nights out to quieter tate modern events so there's often something for everyone. Depending on your team you could also be invited to nights out or events with them.

As you're in West London everything tends to be quite expensive although L'Oreal often try and find deals with clubs to cut down on the costs of any socials organised internally. Again the costs of living are pretty high - the only real way of avoiding this is living further out of London and stomaching a potentially horrific commute into work.

Hammersmith is quite central and really well connected so there are countless options for nights out and things to do. Many of the interns also get together to find housing to rent so if you can't afford a London night out you can often find someone having a houseparty nearby.

There were tons of opportunities to get involved with activities. Although as these are often organised by fellow interns this can depend on the events they organise. We had football clubs, running clubs, netball groups and charity organised events which you could sign up to. As well as the range of socials organised there was often something for everyone.