Marketing Apprentice Review

Competitor analysis, team support, data analysis, project management, point of sale material, retailer activations/event management, online hygiene/creatives

I am really pleased with the amount I have learnt over the past 2 years. L'Oreal has pushed and supported me in the perfect balance, which has developed my skill set and abilities more than I could have ever anticipated. The level of responsibilities is daunting at first, but offers so many opportunities to develop, and there is always someone to go to for advise if you are feeling out of your depth.

My time here has had its ups and downs with both work and uni work posing challenges and it has sometimes felt a little overwhelming. However, the opportunities are worth every bit of the stress and I wouldn't have it any other way. I have met the most incredible people at work and uni and really couldn't have done it without them. The high pressure environment makes the high's even more exciting.

The degree was structured but the work side of things didnt feel structured at all. In L'Oreal's defence, this was the first cohort of apprentices and the business was still trying to understand the best way to do things. More induction to how work and uni interact would be beneficial to future apprentices.

We didn't hear much from HR over the 2 years of our degree and had very little visibility with regards to next steps until our final months. However, within my direct team my managers have always been massively supportive and I felt as though I could always go to them if I needed more support.

Our uni tutors took us under our wing like their own and would always go over and above to ensure they supported us in the best way possible. They always made themselves available whatever the day or time. There is absolutely no way I would have done as well without them.

To be completely honest there was very little that I learnt in Uni that helped me in my every day work. All of the apprentices have completely different roles so it is very difficult to find a topic that applies to even the majority of us. I feel as though real life business is very different to the theory taught. It would be great to be able to chose modules more relevant to our role, however I'm not sure we would have done as well if we werent all studying the same topics, as we relied on the support of our peers a lot.

There are social activities on a regular basis and sometimes team building activities which are really enjoyable. I believe there is a football and netball team for interns but apprentices are often very separate. It is unclear what 'group' of employees that the apprentices sit in, and they are often left out of intern and full time staff events as they do not fall under either.

Yes

The opportunities this job provides is incredible. The responsibility is more than I could imagine and it has pushed me to grow so much. I am now more capable than I could have ever expected to be at this age and have so many opportunities ahead of me. The people within L'Oreal are all very talented and the best people to learn from.

Be yourself, the interview process really takes into account team fit. Be smiley and keen, the interviewer is looking for someone who is easy to work with and will make their life easier. Do not be afraid to say you do not know the answer to something, everything can be learnt with hard work and a good attitude.