Supply Chain Intern Review

Overall I really enjoyed my placement year. I felt comfortable with my colleagues from day 1 and although my role was challenging at first, I was supported a great deal. The environment was fun, exciting and fast paced, making it a great place to work. I worked 9-5 most days, and pre-coronavirus, I usually worked from home once a week. Work-life balance is highly valued and I really liked this. There was also a lot of events and socials to get involved with outside of work.

Highly - I was treated like a full-time employee and developed some great friendships throughout my placement year.

I had multiple supervisors during my placement year. Both had an approachable management style and gave me a great deal of support, challenging me when needed.

Due to the nature of my role, and the responsibility I was given, work could be quite demanding at times. However, I actually really liked this about my role. I always had something to be working on so the day never went slowly as such. I also developed great time management and prioritisation skills which I know will be useful in the future.

My role was a full-time, graduate position, meaning I had a lot of responsibility. This is the great thing about a placement year at L'Oreal; you really are exposed to real work, challenged from the start and have the opportunity to make an impact on the business.

My placement was very different from my degree, so the technical skills I developed will not really assist me for the remainder of my studies. However, I developed a great deal of transferable skills and commercial awareness, which I would not have gained from my studies.

Although the work was fast paced, the actual atmosphere was calming. My department was quite small so it was very welcoming.

I was given access to the L'Oreal learning programme, which included three free courses on Coursera. I regularly participated in training sessions outside of my day-to-day; these were both role-specific and personal development sessions.

After the placement year, you are able to apply for the Graduate Management Traineeship. This can be quite competitive but the opportunity is great!

There is a lot of interns hired within the business, and as a result, there is a fab social scene. The intern committee organised events and socials throughout the year which were great to be involved with.

London can obviously be quite an expensive place to live. Having said this, the intern salary was sufficient to cover rent, enjoy socials, London life, and retain some savings.

There is always lots to look forward to - themed events, staff sales, Christmas parties and the annual volunteering day.