When I entered EM Normandie, I didn't yet know what I wanted to do later. This lasted until my third year.
Other students told me that the field of finance was interesting, so I decided to go in that direction. I did a year of work experience at KPMG. I felt that this field did not correspond to me.
For my second year of work experience, I decided to change companies and become a management controller at Hermès. There were no positions available but I was offered a position in governance in the IT department.
I really liked this job because I was in contact with a lot of people. I felt that I had real added value.
My professional project quickly turned towards the job of IT consultant in the luxury sector, because that's what touches me and interests me.
Finding your way
I joined a fairly young team, which suits me. It's important for me to be able to go out for a drink with my colleagues and take the time to talk. This creates a sense of closeness and makes the work more interesting on a daily basis.
In an IT department, you get to know all the players. In the luxury sector, we go to the shops and warehouses to provide IT solutions to these players.
I like this mobility and the fact that I see different things every day. At KPMG, even though we had different clients, we were more or less doing the same tasks, namely producing an income statement.
Finding your bearings quickly
At EM Normandie, we learn well. We are prepared to ask ourselves the right questions and to understand our environment. That's what matters most in order to progress.
It is not possible to master the technique in all areas. What counts is having the tools to quickly increase your skills.
Working in a consultancy firm
At Hermès, I worked with consultants from Adone Conseil. I saw that they were working well and that they were looking to recruit. So I applied for a job with their firm. The idea of working with different clients interested me.
I have been working there for a year and a half. It's going very well and the atmosphere is good. I've already worked on two different assignments for two luxury houses.
I would recommend that anyone who wants to get into this field should start in a firm because you work on a variety of assignments. It is quite formative. You can choose the assignments that interest you without having to change companies.
At the forefront of technological innovation
I am currently working on a project for a luxury brand. We are developing an application that aims to improve the in-store experience. There is a connected mirror in the shop that detects the items tried on by the customer and projects them onto the mirror. The application proposes looks that complement the item tried on by the customer and thus make additional sales.
We have been working on this project for 8 months and it will soon be deployed in France and around the world.
This product launch phase is quite stressful because there are usually problems to be solved. But the roll-out remains an interesting period because we travel a lot. We also have to find solutions in case of problems.
There are a lot of players in this project. I am in charge of testing the application. As soon as a new version is released, I test all the app's functionalities with the team I'm responsible for. We check that everything is functional. If it's not, we notify the development team so that a fix can be made.
We also manage the entire deployment of the app, i.e. scheduling the delivery of the hardware to the shops and deploying the app to each of the sales locations.
The luxury sector
When you are contacted by a luxury house, you are attracted by its prestige. What I really liked about the luxury sector was the search for excellence. This concerns not only the final product, but also all the stages that precede it. We give ourselves the means and the time to ensure that everything is perfect.
As a young person, it is very formative to work in this way. Young people generally like things to go quickly. By being supervised, we learn to add other elements to make our work better and to go to the end of what we can do.
What I like about luxury is its quest for perfection.
Creating a board game
When I was on expatriation in South Korea with some friends, we created a board game during a party. When we came back to the Caen campus, we played it with other students. Many people encouraged us to market it. We were often asked where it could be bought.
So we decided to go for it. There were four of us from EM Normandie on this project.
The game was released four months ago. It is an evening board game with the city of Caen as its theme. A board features the motifs of the city of Caen. There are also mini-games to get to know each other over the course of an evening.
We have deployed this game throughout France. We sell it directly and on Amazon. It's going well, we're happy! Interviews in which we participated should appear in the coming months.
Keeping strong links between students
We all live in Paris now and have kept very close links. In particular, I am sharing a flat with one of my friends. Another friend who was a former roommate in Caen lives quite close to us.
Last weekend, we got together with about twenty former students from EM Normandie.
We see each other regularly even if some of us are not best friends. There is a good atmosphere at the School, which creates a positive dynamic.
With my group of close friends that I met at the School, we see each other every week. This allows us to make progress on our common project.
Taking risks
When you are young, you are not afraid to fail. I think you shouldn't hesitate to apply for quite original jobs. You don't necessarily have to listen to what others say. What they think is "the royal road" is not necessarily the ideal road for you.
I advise you to go for what you are attracted to and if you don't like it, you will always have time to change afterwards.
