What it does: L’Oréal is a French multinational cosmetics company which manufactures hair care and colouring products, sun protection, skincare, make-up, and perfume products.
Best known for: being the world's largest cosmetics company in terms of revenue, earning approximately $29 billion annually. A household name in the cosmetics industry, L’Oréal is known for its internationally renowned beauty products and its catchy signature phrase declared repeatedly on TV ads and plastered in magazines, 'Because I'm Worth It'. Famous brand ambassadors which include Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Beyonce, and Freida Pinto are part and parcel of its claim to fame.
Staff stats: 86,000
The good bits: Working in a globally renowned company offers a mark of prestige. Graduates may expect extensive benefits, opportunities for international mobility, networking, job advancement, extensive training, and a racially diverse workforce.
The not-so-good bits: Insiders often criticised the company's long work hours, heavy workload, and fast-paced environment which may affect work-life balance.
L’Oréal's origins can be traced to 1909 when French chemist Eugene Paul Louis Schueller developed a hair dye formula named Oreale, which he sold to Parisian hairdressers. Scheuller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France), in July 1919, with a focus on research and innovation in the field of beauty. What started out as a company of three chemists evolved into the world's largest cosmetics company with a team of 82,000 in 2018.
Today, L’Oréal is an industry leader in hair colour, hair care, make-up, skincare, sun protection, and perfume products while constantly innovating in fields of nanotechnology, dermatology, pharmaceuticals, toxicology, and tissue engineering. The company operates six research and development centres in France, China, Japan, India, and the US.
In 2019, the company achieved its best sales growth since 2007 at 8% with all of its divisions presenting marked growth. As of 2019, L’Oréal, a Fortune Global 500 company, has a market value of $153b.
The hiring process varies from role to role. Graduates are advised to submit their CVs online through the company's careers page. Once submitted, applications are reviewed by local recruiters who assess the candidate's skills, professional experience, and background. Recruiters also check if the applicant's potential, motivation, and competencies are in line with the company's corporate culture.
Promising applicants will then be invited to an initial telephone, video, or face-to-face interview where an HR representative uses a combination of behavioural and situational-based interviewing. Applicants are advised to study the company's background, mission, vision, and values.
Candidates who match are then invited to a series of more telephone, video, or face-to-face interviews where hiring managers ask job-related questions that predict the applicant's likelihood of success at L’Oréal. Applicants may also take this time to ask career questions and get a better feel of the company.
L’Oréal Australia's Management Training Program is open to permanent residents of Australia or New Zealand. Graduates from any degree may apply, but the company puts a premium on good academic results. Candidates must be ambitious and passionate with good communication skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and an ability to work in teams or take on leadership roles. The program involves rotating through six-month-long assignments in various functions and business divisions. Participants will take on projects under the guidance of the company's top performers. Interested graduates may submit their applications through the company's careers page.
Most insiders rate the company's salary as either high or average. The company's extensive benefits get the most praise. Regardless of where in the world graduates work, benefits may include a variety of health insurances, flexible spending account, life insurance, retirement plan or 401k plan, performance bonuses, maternity and paternity leave, work from home options, fertility and adoption assistance, generous vacation leave, sick day leave, bereavement leave, employee discounts on L’Oréal products, mobile phone discounts, company social events, legal assistance, and tuition assistance.
Fringe benefits may include allowances on L’Oréal products, five weeks annual leave, profit sharing, early finishes on Friday during summer months, life insurance, salary continuance, flexible work arrangements, onsite gym and cafe, superannuation, performance bonuses, a variety of health & wellbeing programs, invitations to internal launches and events, and potential overseas work placements.
L’Oréal's pool of workers mostly share the same qualities, thanks to its meticulous recruitment process. Here, graduates are most likely to meet colleagues who have an entrepreneurial spirit - those who are independent and open to challenges and adventures. The preference for entrepreneurial is part of its embedded values and has always been embodied and encouraged in its management style. With a workforce that consists of 150 nationalities, inclusivity and diversity are also integral to L’Oréal, a quality that is reflected in its recruitment practices and office policies.
L’Oréal's corporate social responsibility is expressed through its sustainability program: Sharing Beauty With All. Started in 2013, the program is a series of commitments towards sustainability towards 2030. Ahead in the transformation towards a model low-carbon enterprise, the company has reduced the C02 emissions of its distribution centres and plants by 77% between 2005 and 2018 while production rates increased to 38%.
L’Oréal has been classified by Equileap as the most gender-equal company in Europe, second globally, among 3,000 businesses.
L’Oréal Australia has partnered with TerraCycle to create a recycling program for used personal care and beauty packaging. The company's free Beauty Products Recycling Program has recycled over 220,000 used beauty products since 2016.
L’Oréal's prestige, long list of benefits, job advancement opportunities, and extensive training are its main draws, and graduates looking to build a fulfilling career will enjoy their tenure in this globally renowned cosmetics company. Though its remuneration and career growth opportunities are attractive, graduates are advised to prepare themselves for arduous work. Most insiders consider the company's fast-paced work environment and heavy workload to be principal causes for their leaving - a drawback for graduates who value work-life balance above anything else.
We are L’Oréal.
"L’Oréal Australia is part of the L’Oréal Group – the world’s largest pure beauty company with over 100 years of history and experience. We are a passionate team in a growing market, working to deliver our mission of Beauty for All through our local portfolio of 26 brands.
L’Oréal was founded by a scientist and we have always focused on cutting-edge research and innovation. Our innovation now also centres around the opportunity that the worldwide digital transformation provides and we are leaders in connecting beauty and technology.
Our business is energetic and vibrant, underpinned by strong ethical principles and our belief that financial performance and responsible business go hand-in-hand. We are driven each day by our six founding values - Passion, Innovation, Entrepreneurial spirit, Open-mindedness, Quest for excellence and Responsibility.
Our Graduate program is the foundation for building our future leaders. It is challenging and fast-paced with the opportunity to get hands-on experience of the inner workings of a successful, market-leading FMCG company, as you collaborate with and learn from some of the most passionate, creative and intelligent people you’ll ever meet.
Your rotations may take you across our varied areas of business, including but not limited to: Marketing, Digital, E-commerce, Sales, Category Management, Merchandising, Supply Chain and Finance. Is there a better way for a motivated and entrepreneurial Graduate to experience L’Oréal in full? We don’t think so!
Some of our previous Graduates are now launching new brands. Some of them are spearheading process improvement projects that will be implemented company-wide. Some of them have helped invigorate the role of digital marketing for our brands. Some of them have project managed E-commerce portal launches. And some of our previous graduates are now high-flying expats working across the world!
One thing they all have in common is that they were able to make a profound impact on the business. We take great pride in our Graduates and as such, we invest heavily in their training, support and development.
Here are some of the key features of our program: