From Intern to Fulltimer: Making a mark in international brands
Trust- undoubtedly the coolest part of being an intern at L’Oréal is to feel that you are trusted by your team! With learning starting from Day 1, you’ll find that you really have freedom to develop your own ideas and have a real impact on the teams you are working with.
We caught up with Kevin, Product Manager at our Mixa brand, to learn more about how he has moved from an enriching internship to a full time marketeer. How exactly do you make an internship just the start of your career with us?
Kevin, give us one fun, outlandish fact about yourself!
During my first week of my internship at L’Oréal, I played a little role in a digital video ad for Mixa. I did not work on this brand but the team needed some extra-actors. The video has been released on youtube a few weeks after. For my friends, seeing me in a skin problem Youtube ad was a lot of fun.
About one year later I have joined Mixa team as a brand manager. I am on the other side of the camera now. Time flies at L’Oréal!
Tell us a bit more about your background and your path to L’Oréal!
I was born and raised in Normandy but my parents now live near Marseille, in the south of France (which is rather convenient when I visit them during the summer!).
About my education, I am graduated from a business school with a master in entrepreneurship. I have always been interested in fast moving consumer goods industry. This is why I spent most of my gap year discovering this industry by doing two 6-months internships: the first one as a trade marketing assistant for a food brand and the second one as a brand manager assistant for a dairy company.
Just before joining L’Oréal, I was in India for an exchange semester. It’s a unique experience I highly recommend to anyone, provided that you enjoy very spicy food! The least I can say is that it was quite an adventure. The country and its people where full of surprises.
What inspired you to apply to L’Oréal?
As I have a passion for marketing, I wanted to end my studies with an internship in a renowned consumer goods company. L’Oréal has always been on my top list and I could not think of a better place to develop my knowledge and acquire all the skills necessary to successfully start my career.
I had a really good feeling with the HR recruiter and we came to the conclusion that a position within the Consumer Product Division marketing team would be a great fit — which the interview with the team confirmed. Cultural fit is very much valued within the company! They told me about the way of working in the company, the scope of my missions that I would be able to lead a real project with autonomy. I was seeking for responsibilities and new skills. At the end of the interview I knew L’Oréal was a perfect place for my final year internship. Cultural fit is very much valued within the company, and sought after during your interview.
For someone that have never heard about your role, can you explain what a Management Trainee in Marketing does?
The Management Trainee program, or Pépinière program in French, is more or less like a marketing talent incubator. A pepinière conducts several experiences during a short time in order to improve skills, acquire knowledge and enable a stronger marketing profile.
For example, I started my pépinière as a sales representative for 3 months. I took the opportunity to learn many things about the mass distribution, the relationships with clients, understanding some operational things that prove very useful when you want to be a brand manager!
Then, I joined the LASCAD marketing team and I am still part of the team now as a brand manager for Mixa.
To wind up the pépinière marketing program is an amazing opportunity to discover jobs that are not directly marketing-centric but that are still essential to be a good brand manager: sales, digital, merchandising. What a better moment to be envolved in such experience at the beginning of your career!
Tell us about your most challenging project so far?
The biggest challenge I have faced as an intern was to present a product development project for my brand and its activation campaign. It was both gratifying and challenging because I had to be as effective as possible to share my product idea and to convince the other to launch it. And receiving all the feedbacks from the other managers helped me to improve myself and to know better my development axis for further missions as marketing team member.
How was your experience of being an intern at L’Oréal?
I really enjoyed my experience of being an intern at l’Oréal !
The coolest part is to feel that interns are trusted! It is really important for me to be considered as a real team member, to feel useful. And within my team, I know that I can have a real impact on the brands I am working on and this is the best feeling ever for a marketing intern!
Another great part about being an intern is the opportunity to work with many different people. When I am working on a project, I may have to cooperate with other departments: sales, development, finance and legal. This is very useful to improve your network but also to very well understand the backstage of a product launch.
What’s surprised you about working at L’Oréal?
The way we work is focused on human contacts and interactions more than formal communications or process. You do not necessarily need an official meeting with a date set in your calendar to come and share with a co-worker ! Every one is very available.
I love this working approach because this is very efficient, it generates time saving and this is above all more human.
What do all the people that you have met at L’Oréal have in common?
That they all have an entrepreneurial spirit! L’Oréal is a global company but sometimes it feels like I work in a start-up because everyone can share ideas, and really make them happen by convincing managers. We could easily think that in a global company, every decision is a top-down decision. But uou won’t find that at L’Oréal, each idea deserves to be heard and this is always the best idea that will be chosen- whoever proposes it!
This is the reason why entrepreneurial spirit is something people have in common within this company.
What are the 3 key successful points in order to go from intern to fulltimer?
Be passionate and curious!
This should help you to think out of the box and go beyond expectations. With passion comes curiosity, which is a real advantage to succeed during your internship. That is especially true in marketing, as you will board all missions as many opportunities to learn new things. You will then do your best to achieve your goals and go further!
Last but not least, do not be afraid of talking to many people because everyone in our company is passionate and would be really happy to share their knowledge and to help you to improve your skills.
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Has Kevin’s story captured your imagination on a career at L’Oréal? Then check our carees site and discover the amazing oportunities we have in our 35 iconic brands:
