What it’s like to get onto a grad scheme at L’Oréal

Brushing shoulders with celebrities and working with some of the biggest names in beauty is just a typical day for Nottingham grad James Langdon.

The Product Design grad won his place on the grad programme – also known as the Management Trainee Programme – after working a year in industry for L’Oréal UKI on a digital marketing internship.

James said: “I worked on Maybelline marketing for my first rotation, it was during London Fashion Week. I met quite a few celebs at the launch party for fashion week.

“They are quite down to earth people and actually do love the brand which is nice. It’s difficult to find that connection and collaboration.

“During London Fashion week I was working on a mascara called Great Lash that is over 40 years old. One is sold every minute, and so we wanted to capitalise on its popularity to make it the mascara of Fashion week”

L’Oréal products are well known for being ultra feminine, however being one of the largest beauty companies in the world it’s often easy to forget L’Oréal owns some of the biggest male brands in the world.

He said: “After working Maybelline I then went onto the Luxe Division – to work with L’Oréal Designer Fragrances like Ralph Lauren, Cacheral, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Viktor and Rolf and Diesel. On the grad scheme I got to work across all the brands, rather than just one.

“When I started here I did get a lot of people saying you will be working with a lot of girls, but it’s actually really diverse when you arrive and I loved that.

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“I also knew it would be fast paced, and it has been, but it just means you get to enjoy more projects and more responsibility which is fantastic.”

Apply to work for one of the biggest beauty brands in the world.

James said: “There are lots of roles, I originally applied for visual merchandising and they said actually you’ll be better suited to digital marketing. I’d advise anyone applying to look at all the roles, see the specifications – there’s so many different ones.

“The great thing about it is that I could be in marketing now and in two years down the line I could be in commercial. You can move across and they really encourage you do that as it’ll actually be better for the business.”

James says the networking with different departments and floors was the best part of the graduate scheme.

He said: “You’re on a completely different floor with new people on each rotation. So you know half the people in the building before you start your actual job.

“You get to interact with all the learning tools too – like how to manage your inbox better, how to present better.”

James now works on the New Business team, a “start-up” division within L’Oréal UKI working with the international team to launch brands for UK consumers.

He said: “It’s an exciting time as you can be building a brand from scratch . It’s really a collaboration between us and the international team. We’ve got some great brands and one has just launched from the professional market into the UK mass market – Essie – the nail polish brand.

“Essie is a real “love” brand. You speak to people about Essie and they love it. It’s quite quirky, a lovely nail polish – a great formula and great brush!”

Day-to-day James also manages the supply chain and works with focus groups to research and test products.

James said: “I love the innovation they have here and the entrepreneurship. Everyone’s really outgoing and willing to chat about anything. There’s a lot of sharing involved in the company which is great and people wanting to help other people out – there’s a real collaborative nature we have here.

“I’ve been able to be part of a brand so quickly and so early on in my career. Actually running a brand on its own and building up brands to go live is amazing.”

For anyone thinking of applying to the L’Oréal UKI Graduate Programme James advises to just be yourself and always ask questions.

He said: “When I applied with my degree I thought, “Oh no they won’t even listen to me,” but they like to see something new and that you have that different way of thinking.”

“Show off what your talents are and if you try and be someone else that’s not going to come across great.”

Find out what it’s like to work for one of the largest beauty companies in the world, apply for L’Oréal’s Graduate Programme.