Maxime talks about his course and work-linked training experience
Introduce yourself
Hi, I’m Maxime Baudry, and I’m currently a student at INSEEC Grande Ecole doing a Master 1 in management as part of a work-study programme at Bpifrance.
I decided to join the Grande Ecole programme because I was told it would be complicated and I like a challenge, and also because it’s the highest diploma you can get at this level in a business school.
What was your background before joining INSEEC Grande École?
After passing my scientific baccalauréat, I decided to do a BTS NDRC (sales force) because I was passionate about the sales profession. I did two years of work-linked training with Peugeot, because I needed to stop being 100% at school and get my foot in the door.
After this experience in sales, I developed a passion for entrepreneurship. That’s when I decided to do the third year of the Bachelor in Entrepreneurship and Franchising at INSEEC, with the aim of acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to be a successful entrepreneur. During that year, I did a work-study placement with a company called Racine Carrée Consulting. It was a very young company and that’s what enabled me to learn how to develop a company and to see the difficulties of entrepreneurship, which are often very little publicised.
What has INSEEC GE done for you in concrete terms?
Firstly, INSEEC Grande Ecole has a very large network ofpartner companies, and this can sometimes give you access to large groups that are normally very closed. As I’m passionate about the world ofentrepreneurship, I was able to join one of the companies that I admired the most: Bpifrance. The position at this company was reserved for an INSEEC Grande Ecole student. So I would never have been able to get the job if I hadn’t had access to the school’s network.
Secondly, during my Bachelor’s year, I had enjoyed being taught by professional lecturers. They shared their business expertise with us and that enabled us to learn the theory, but also to get feedback on what works and what doesn’t, and to learn the very latest methods, whether in human resources management, lean management or business creation.
I wanted to join INSEEC Grande Ecole because of its incubator, which allows students and alumni with a project to benefit from fully equipped premises to launch their business. But the school also allows you to benefit from the expertise of professionals, lecturers and professors to help new entrepreneurs with complex subjects related to accounting, management or business law.
Finally, the alumni network has also been a decisive factor, as many of the school’s graduates have gone on to set up companies that are now French giants such as Eat Salad and BackMarket. Studying at INSEEC Grandes Ecoles has enabled me to build up a high-quality network for my future professional activity.
What is the work-study programme like at INSEEC Grande Ecole?
When I decided to move from Nantes to Bordeaux, my fear was that I wouldn’t be able to find a company to continue my work-linked training. But in reality, I never imagined that I’d get so much help from INSEEC, which set up job dating sessions where I could meet a number of entrepreneurs and HR managers. Thanks to this scheme, I managed to get three work-study offers, which even gave me the luxury of choosing.
Having changed companies again during my transition from Bachelor to Master, I was once again able to see the importance of INSEEC’s support in finding a company. Once again, it was during these famous job dating sessions that I was able to meet the HR manager of the Bpi France group.
The last word ?
What I liked about the spirit of INSEEC is that no matter where you come from, no matter what you’ve done before, if you’re ambitious and motivated, INSEEC is ready to become your springboard.