Interview of Arnaud, KEDGE Alumni branch manager in Kuala Lumpur

My name is Arnaud Malfoy and was part of the 2005 graduating class. At the moment, I’m starting a business, Queo.io which specialises in digital transformation and offers coaching, project management, and improving processes. I also manage the Kuala Lumpur Alumni branch.

 

I was the host of the New-York branch for several years when I was there, and have hosted the Malaysia branch since I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, which was three and half years ago.

 

 

I'm very attached to Kedge and thought it would be a great idea to create a network here. There’s not much of a French community here, and it’s good for Kedgers to be able to help each other, such as welcoming students who are doing an internship or VIE, and to keep each other apprised of offers or needs in terms of recruitment 

As a host, I try to connect students and graduates. I respond to a lot of the students who contact me, whether for an internship, VIE, job search, or information. I tell them what it’s like in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, and explain how things are going here. A thread was set up a few months ago on Whatsapp to keep all graduates based in Kuala Lumpur up to date with organised events and branch news. I also often share CVs of those students or graduates looking for an internship or job in Kuala Lumpur, and members of the group can share their companies’ job offers. It works pretty well. I also think it might be interesting to arrange visits to businesses, which would allow group members to find out about new industries in the country. For this, we’ll have to so surveys to identify the needs and wishes of the local community.

I’ve hosted two totally different antennas. I started in New York. It took a little time at first, but in the end, it went very well. There was good attendance by graduates at events. I tried to vary the locations, which was very nice. Also, the merger between Bordeaux and Marseille doubled the number of members, so there were a lot more attendees at events, which gave members a chance to meet others in a casual and friendly setting. I’ve met a fair amount of former students Kuala Lumpur. I think we’re one of the only business schools to run a branch here. I’ve tried to contact people from other schools to do events together, but in the end, nothing has happened because none of the others are active. I'm pretty happy that we managed to put this in place because I think we are the only school that has one, and it’s been going for several years!

It’s pretty simple to establish a branch. You have to contact Brigitte Van Roy, the coordinator of the student and international branch centre, and tell her you’d like to become an alumni network ambassador. You have to update your contact information and Alumni profile, and then hold regular events. Ms. Van Roy takes care of publicising information about the events and makes sure all the students in the country know about them. We must make sure that everyone receives invitations to events organised by the branch.

 

How do you become a host?

Nothing can be simpler! You have to look at the Kedge Alumni website to see if there is another branch in the same city, and see if there is already an Alumni assigned to head the Why did you choose Kuala Lumpur? It was a combination of circumstances. I could have gone to Hong Kong or Vietnam. I didn’t expect go to Malaysia; I was meant to go to China. This was just one of the surprises and opportunities of life.

 

Do you have any advice for future branch managers? I suggest being proactive and update the lists regularly. People move a lot. Sometimes you think people are still in the country, but in fact they have moved to the other side of the world. You also have to try to be creative by holding different types of events, as well as trying to figure out what can be useful and interesting for the community.

 

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Interview conducted in Kuala Lumpur by Emma and Manon- Pro-act KEDGE Alumni Travel students. 

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