What's your name and job title?

Ethan Kravietz – Management trainee.

What did you study? When did you graduate?

Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Finance, Economics and Management. Graduated in 2017 from Melbourne University.

Where did you grow up and study?

I grew up in Melbourne and have lived here my whole life. I went to school at Bialik College and went straight to Melbourne University after school. I’ve also spent the last five years volunteering for a variety of not-for-profit organisations in a part-time and full-time capacity.

How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it?

I’ve been at L’Oréal Australia for eight months. I am now in charge of the Independent Grocery Account, managing all Independent Grocers around Australia. I’ve been in this role for two months.

How did you choose your specialisation? Were you weighing up any other alternatives before choosing this specialisation?

I’ve always been excited about sales. You don’t have a business without sales. It doesn’t matter how much work a company does to create, design, finance and promote a product or service unless you have people who can sell. With my experience in fundraising for not-for-profit organisations, and starting my own business and trying to sell our services, I had a strong idea about what it was like to be in sales. The work is hard. You need to be resilient. You need to have strong people skills and a drive to continuously improve yourself. You need to be tactical and think ahead. You need to be good at time management and people management. You essentially need to have all the core skills required to run a business.

As a young professional, I wanted a graduate program that would give me the opportunity to gain and practice core business skills. I wanted a program that would enable me to have autonomy and make my own business decisions, and the L’Oréal Sales Graduate Program was perfect.

What was your interview process like? What kind of questions were you asked?

The L’Oréal Australia interview process was challenging. After submitting a cover letter and resume, you are asked to do some online testing. If successful, you move to a video interview.

As a male who does not use beauty products apart from Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner (this was before working at L’Oréal, now I use the staff shop to buy so many other products), I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to answer questions about the beauty industry. Before doing these tests I did my research and walked into a few beauty stores to learn. After passing the video interview, I was invited to an assessment centre. The assessment centre’s structure changes each year, but when I did it in 2017, there was a mixture of group tasks and individual tasks, followed by an hour-long interview with senior business managers, if successful. From there, I was lucky enough to be invited for one more interview with two more senior managers.

The questions were focused on figuring out what kind of person I was. They didn’t care that I knew nothing about foundation or mascara. They cared about my values, my experience, my attitude and my ambitions.

What does your employer do?

L’Oréal manufactures beauty products, with the aim of providing beauty for all through our 36 global brands. Why? Because you’re worth it!

What are your areas of responsibility?

I am currently in the Consumer Products division at L’Oréal. I am responsible for managing all Independent Grocery accounts around Australia, across all of our beauty categories. As an account manager, I have relationships with buyers from the businesses we sell to, and develop plans and strategies to ensure the accounts flourish.

Can you describe a typical work day? What was the last thing you worked on?

Every day is different. I’m sure everyone says that, but it’s true. One day, I’ll be creating a strategy and selling my vision internally to get approval from the relevant internal stakeholders and the next day, I’ll be at my clients’ offices presenting the strategy and working on how we can make it a reality. Other days I’ll be working with the Supply Chain team to make sure I have enough stock, another day I’ll be working with Marketing to brainstorm what we can do to grow our brands.

What are the career prospects with your job? Where could you or others in your position go from here?

Being in sales is like running a business. With this mindset, you could literally go anywhere. Within the business, you can climb the ranks to the position of senior business manager of multiple accounts or become the sales director. From there you could even become a general manager. You could even move to other functions within the business or even other divisions. Outside the business, you could move to other Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies or you could do an industry move.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes! Of course! It doesn’t matter what background you have. You need to have strong interpersonal skills and be really approachable, confident with numbers and able to think outside the square.

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

No idea. Probably a Rockstar.

What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?

I love the autonomy I have. If I have an idea and can justify it from a business perspective, the business is happy for me to pursue it. I get a lot of satisfaction from speaking to people, understanding what challenges we have, coming up with an idea to improve the situation, and then executing it.

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?

L’Oréal is a fast-moving company. Lots of things are always happening at the same time. The stress levels are super high and so are the expectations. You must be resilient. You need to be ready for high stress and occasional long hours. If you can succeed at L’Oréal, they say you can succeed anywhere. It’s not a walk in the park.