Rapha?l Brême , Alumni in Dublin

Preface:

You want to live and work abroad after IAE? It is possible. Rapha?l Brême, former student of the Master Marketing Intelligence and Business Strategy, is the perfect example. At 24 years old, soon to be 25, Raphael already has a full experience. First of all, he did a DUT in business and administration management and a degree in management and international trade. Then, he decided to do a master's degree in marketing intelligence and business strategy at the IAE of Montpellier, while working in parallel in a Parisian company.

???? Introduce yourself:

After my DUT (Technical University Degree) in Rennes in my hometown, I did a 4-month internship in London at Mozoo group in the digital marketing field. This internship confirmed my desire and gave me more ambition to work abroad in the future.

After that, I did a Bachelor's degree where all the courses were in English, with numerous university exchange students and non-French speaking teachers.?Soon after, I did a Master's degree at the IAE of Montpellier, while working at the same time with a Parisian company called Salesforce which is known to be the leader of CRM. I was able to work two weeks in the company and two weeks in class for a period of two years.

After that I went back to Rennes, and soon after, I was contacted by Microsoft on LinkedIn to come and work as a digital specialist in Dublin in the French market section. I knew I wanted to work abroad so this opportunity was perfect for me. I arranged a few things with them, including housing and if my dog was not a problem ??.?Now I've been here since December 2021, so it's been 6 months and I'm fully satisfied with my life.

?? Are there any differences between CVs/cover letters in France and abroad?

Yes, we can easily point out what is important in both countries. In France, the school where we come from (for example HEC) plays a huge role in hiring at the end. Indeed, even if the experiences play an important role, the network that you create thanks to your school is what recruiters look at first.

In comparison, in Ireland, they only focus on experience and interviews. In fact, I have colleagues who are currently working with me at Microsoft who don't even have a Bachelor's degree and some of them even have a high management role.

?? What CRM projects have you achieved? Do you have any advice?

I've been doing CRM courses for two years with Yann Phillippe at the IAE. To explain quickly, CRM applications help to manage relationships with customers. It is a tool that gathers all the interactions with customers, so we can have more intelligence in the data and bring more value. For example, if you have informations spread all over the place in differents medias, you have no value to people because you are not collecting data and if you want to share it with someone else, it will be very difficult. Put together at the same point, it can be easily shared between people.

?? Is CRM only suitable for large companies?

No, CRM is suitable for all types of businesses, even small ones. Indeed, CRM does not meet the same expectations. In the case of a large company, it will be more focused on the large complementation, while for the startup will be more the search for customers and prospecting. Regarding the case of entrepreneurship, it can be a useful tool to save time (reminder, data already collected so no waste of time). If you do not have a CRM, you will do everything manually, it will take time and we know that entrepreneurs do not have time.

?? The world of work: main differences?

There are a lot of differences, but the biggest one is the daily hour + the supply hour. In France: If you leave the office at 5-6pm, your colleagues will make derogatory remarks insinuating that you don't work enough. Whereas in Ireland, if you're still there until 6pm, people will look at you and say "why are you still working? Do you need help ?" People are less focused on the time you stay working after your real “finish time” ("I'm here, I'm working but you're not really working just to show off"). They also have more trust with managers and a lot less micro-management.

?? Is not being a native speaker a barrier to hiring?

I think it's a barrier when you think it is. For example, I have a strong French accent, but I have no problem talking to people. The French focus more on the negative side, but you have to try and not be discouraged. Abroad, people motivate you and are kind to you. If you lack self-confidence, just think that you speak at least two languages.

Some advices given by Rapha?l:

• It's very important for students to have a good LinkedIn. The better your profile is, the more visibility you will have.
• CRM is very useful even for micro-entrepreneurs ! We know how busy student entrepreneurs are, a lot of time can be saved.
• Don't be afraid to speak English even if your accent is not perfect
• Don’t hesitate to do humanitarian missions

We are very grateful to Rapha?l Brême for sharing your experience and advice with us.

If you are a student or alumni and would like to highlight a project, join us on :

? https://www.instagram.com/alumniaemontpellier/?hl=fr

? https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/alumniae

? https://www.facebook.com/alumniae

?https://www.alumniae-montpellier.fr/