Where did you grow up? Can you tell us about your background?
l was born in Sydney, but moved around a bit between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne during my early years, settling in Melbourne by the time I was four. I’ve been here ever since. Throughout my life I’ve been fortunate enough to travel extensively, which I think has been the most influential thing in my life to date. Having had the benefit of experiencing so many different places, cultures and ways of life, it’s helped me to better understand the world.
How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it?
Throughout the last year of my degree, I was fortunate enough to secure an internship with a great business who then offered me a role for the following year. At the same time as being offered this role I was also invited to complete my honours at university. I knew both were amazing opportunities and rather than choosing one over the other, I set out to complete both.
As the year progressed, I knew that the beauty industry was definitely somewhere I could see myself long term, so I began to learn more about the industry. Naturally, L’Oréal popped up time after time and I decided it would be the perfect place to take the next step with my career. Shortly after, I applied for the graduate program and was fortunate enough to be offered a position. I’ve now been with the business for a year and I’m looking forward to continuing my career here for a long time to come.
How did you choose your specialisation? Were you weighing up any other alternatives before choosing this specialisation?
I studied quite a broad range of areas throughout my time at university, however the two areas that really stuck with me as fields that I could have a long-term career in, were sales and marketing. I think throughout my career I’ll always look to integrate both sales and marketing, rather than specialising in just one or the other.
What was your interview process like? What kind of questions were you asked?
Overall I really enjoyed the interview process for the L’Oréal graduate program. Throughout the application process we went through a few different stages of interviews, all with their own focuses and each with different interviewers. While this was obviously a chance for the business to get a feel for how you might fit in and really form their impression of you, I loved the opportunity to do the same of the business.
What does your employer do?
L’Oréal is the world’s largest beauty company with a portfolio that includes over 40 international brands. Our products range from makeup and skincare, to hair colour and technological innovations – we do everything!
What are your areas of responsibility?
In the roles I’ve been in to date, I’ve been responsible for looking after a wide range of areas: developing our point of sale material and educational assets; and working on franchise launches, renovations and even brand-wide campaigns. I’ve been fortunate enough to be exposed to an incredibly diverse range of sales and marketing activities in such a short timeframe.
Can you describe a typical work day? What was the last thing you worked on?
The simple answer is no; there is no such thing as a typical work day at L’Oréal. While I know that answer is always being thrown around, it is honestly the best way to describe this place. Most recently, I’ve been working on the relaunch of one of our core franchises set to go to market early next year, as well as the accompanying media campaign that will tell its story.
What are the career prospects with your job? Where could you or others in your position go from here?
One of the best things about working for such a large, international business is that it is honestly all in your hands as to where you end up. Each division has its own structures, so that marketing in one may be fundamentally different to marketing in another, each with their own unique roles. All in all, L’Oréal really is a place where you can write your own story and have whatever career you want.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Absolutely. While I may have followed a more conventional approach into marketing here, there are great people within the business at all levels. L’Oréal is all about empowering people to use their unique skills and knowledge to get the job done, no matter where those skills and knowledge come from.
What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?
Honestly I’m not too sure, that’s always a tough question. Towards the end of high school before I decided that it was business I wanted to pursue, I was leaning more towards studying law, so I guess that is probably the most likely alternate scenario.
What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?
As interesting and exciting as it can be working on launch and media campaigns, I think the best thing about this job is the people you share it with. The culture at L’Oréal really is that of a family.
Although less glamorous than working out the exact timings of a new TV ad or which influencers we should partner with, the most enjoyable and rewarding part of the job is reflecting on how well the things we’ve done have gone. At the end of the month, being able to look back at the numbers and see that all that hard work and time spent has paid off and that we really did a good job – that’s the most enjoyable part to me.
What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Are the stress levels high?
There isn’t really one big limitation at L’Oréal. The same challenges as with any large-scale international business are present, eg dealing with different time zones [and having] lots of moving pieces and people. As with all things, it just comes down to coordination and management.
Thankfully, I can honestly say I’ve never had to work weekends. I’ve definitely had a few late nights – again heavily tied in to varying projects – however it’s not a constant thing, nor is it unmanageable.
On the whole I wouldn’t say the stress levels are high. There are certain times throughout the year where there’s a lot more going on, which does of course bring with it increased pressure, however even at these times, the amazing support you always have from the people around you help to alleviate it to the point where you forget it’s even there.
Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student?