Updating Results

L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand

4.2
  • 50,000 - 100,000 employees

Daniel Bidgood

The other grads and I were also allowed earlier in the year to fly over to Melbourne to meet and learn alongside our Australian counterparts. The week was amazing and one that I won’t forget.

What's your job about?

I’m currently the Management Trainee for the Professional Product Division (PPD) at L’Oréal New Zealand. This is my final rotation after spending the last 6 months working with the Luxury Division (LUXE). As L’Oréal is such a vast company, our grad programme aims to let us understand how different divisions operate through experience.

During my time with LUXE, I was involved in a range of different activities. I was involved with PR which included attending a few PR events for new launches such as Lancôme Idôle. Another major aspect of my job was to work closely with the online brand manager and senior retail brand manager where one of my projects was to create the launch plan for the new Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Dew fragrance. 

With PPD, I work with the Group Brand Manager for Redken and Pureology. Here my work involves tasks such as designing artwork for promotional campaigns or planning new launches. Additionally, I’ve been given more exposure to digital as well, where I work closely with all the other brands in PPD with their EDMs.

It's great to have a variety of different tasks during the day and experience the full process of what a product goes through before it reaches the customer’s hand.

What's your background?

I’ve always lived in Wellington since I was born. I attended Hutt International Boys School and then went to Victoria University afterwards to study a Bachelor of Commerce Majoring in Marketing and Management. I started applying for jobs in my final year of university, and of which I was lucky enough to be offered a position at L’Oréal. Once I finished university in 2019, I moved up to Auckland to begin my role in 2020.  

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, I believe someone could do my job if they have the willingness to learn and an open mind. Of course, having marketing knowledge will help but isn’t a must because I believe you can learn as you go. At L’Oréal, everyone is willing to help you and make you involved in many different parts of the organisation. As a result, you’ll learn what is expected of you to perform. In terms of characteristics, what I mentioned before is key in my opinion. Having the willingness to learn will give you the capability to deliver any of the multiple responsibilities given to you and by having an open mind will help you think in different perspectives for marketing related tasks.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

What’s great about my job is that I get to be involved with a range of different brands. For example, my day could consist of me creating EDMs for Kérastase with the new Genesis launch, preparing artwork for Pureology Christmas packs and later in the day, I could be working on eCommerce task involving Redken.

Additionally, being a part of the grad programme is amazing as well. The exposure the grad programme gives from rotating between divisions has given me a better understanding of the organization. The other grads and I were also allowed earlier in the year to fly over to Melbourne to meet and learn alongside our Australian counterparts. The week was amazing and one that I won’t forget.

What are the limitations of your job?

There’s always going to be limitations you may experience at any job. When I first began working at L’Oréal, one of the first things I noticed was the L’Oréal lingo. There are many different abbreviations across each division that it can become a bit difficult to understand what you need to do. Eventually, you’ll get it, but it does take time. 

For responsibility, you’ll get your fair share as a graduate which can be overwhelming at first but the experience on taking many responsibilities will be beneficial in the future.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

  • Be more involved at university. Whether this is through your class, tutorial or signing up to clubs, being active and interacting with others will help with future endeavors. 
  • Make sure you have some downtime by getting a hobby or signing up to clubs. You need that separation from study to enjoy your time at uni.
  • Don’t waste your time at uni. Use it to meet new people and learn. In the end, you’ll see that hard work will pay off.