“I Pitch & Meet 2020” Event: International Students Had Three Minutes To Chat To Employers

International programmes students (MBA, MSc, Master) at EMLV are expected to engage in an internship with a company set in France. In order to facilitate their task, the Corporate Relations Department invited all Non-French students to a special event at the Pole Leonard de Vinci on Thursday, 30th January. Just like the speed-dating concept, the “I pitch & Meet” event allowed students to talk about themselves and to chat to employers in just three minutes.

Every year, MSc International Business and  MBA students at EMLV are invited by the Corporate Relations Departement of the Pole Leonard de Vinci to attend a speed-matching event with the partner companies across multiple industries. This year, the students met about 20 companies, who are seeking diverse talent, in 3-minutes intervals. The companies that were present to the event were Oracle, Capgemini, Safran Engineering Services, Alten, Axa Tech, and others partners, such as : Actility, Atos, Avanade, Bertrandt, Braincities Lab, Comeet, Data&Data, Findit, GFI, Moneta Alexis Foundation, Nexans, S4M, Speaking Agency.

Speed matching: a speed self-pitching exercise!

There are many ways to sell yourself succinctly to score your dream internship or job, but the elevator pitch – if done properly – can be the difference between a successful application and a lost opportunity.

More than a tool that international students use in job interviews or at career fairs, the capacity to build and present short narratives about their best career-self has become the differentiating factor for many experienced and aspiring professionals wanting to impress their peers with their expertise.

An elevator pitch should not be a reiteration of the CV, but a narrative that shows how the accomplishments listed on the CV can serve your professional project and the company you’re interviewing to work for.

“For those who will attend the next events, I would advise them to work their project first and to craft their pitch accordingly. One minute is enough for them to present their CV, what they have to focus on, is to define their internship interests”. (Vincent Rinner, Graduate Recruiter EMEA Oracle)

Whether you pitch yourself at a networking event or in a job interview, in order to sell yourself to a professional, you need to sell yourself to yourself first.

“It wasnt’ difficult, for me. I worked for three years in the technical field, I have been involved in digital marketing, so I can use all those skills. I have been “into the thing”, I have been directly involved in projects with deadlines, and for 3 years, I had several positions. I have a real-time experience; so I’m very confident I can do the tasks that they are expecting from me. I’m having confidence in myself. I can present my skills the right way if I have an opportunity.” (Vendath Pulipati, MBA Student)

Many times, portraying yourself with a sense of self-confidence and self-knowledge will open the door to endless career opportunities.

 “Our main goal was to help them become better and just to understand that they have to be relaxed and to sell themselves in the right way, so that we can have an opportunity to go further with them. For most of them, that was the case, and some of them were super good actually, and one of them really attracted my attention, to be honest. At the end of the representation, I just asked for his resume, and I said to him: “Yeah, I want you in my team.”(Maxime Penard, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Avanade, Innovative leader in digital and cloud services, business solutions & design-led experiences via Microsoft technology)

At the end of the event, students mingling with employers and school officers during an informal networking cocktail shared reflections from the day.

“The event was amazing, I was very nervous before entering the room. They were very helpful, very nice to me. I saw Sodexo, the company that I want to work for, and my pitch was very “productive”, they took my CV and I was very happy. I presented my background, and why I came here, from Brazil to France, and then I started talking about my career experience, and my communication qualities: I like human relations, public speaking. So I would like to work in a commercial or business development.” (Andressa Marques Sardinha, MSc International Business at EMLV)

Making a good first good impression during a job interview doesn’t have to be a challenge for EMLV’s international students. The MBA and MSC programmes are designed to provide our future managers and digital consultants with the managerial and analytical skills that companies expect to perform in the digital age.