The International Business MSc programme has a stronger relationship with its graduate network!

With a network of over 70,000 graduates, KEDGE Alumni supports students in building their professional networks. To raise students' awareness of the importance of networking, KEDGE Alumni has been working on the "Alumni Ambassadors" project. First trialled in the student associations, this project aims to impress upon Kedgers the usefulness of the network while involving graduates more in the school’s associative life. The Ambassador role gives us a better way to listen to the expectations of our students and thus take reasonable decisions and actions that make sense.

This year, we’ve set up this project within the MSc International Business programme to better meet the needs of the students in this specialised master programme as they are disconnected from the associative sphere. Five students from the Marseille and Bordeaux and campuses have agreed to become "Alumni Ambassadors". True representatives for their peers, these Ambassadors helped us identify themes to be addressed, as well as the profiles of graduates corresponding to their academic field of study. This allowed us to set up local conferences with Alumni.

Interview with Stéphane OUVRARD, Director of the MSc in International Business at KEDGE and with Paul Schermesser, Representative Alumni for the year 2020/2021.

You agreed to introduce the idea of Alumni Ambassadors to the International Business MSc programme this year. What will this bring to the table?

Collaboration with our Alumni is very beneficial to our students and we want to make it permanent. It’s given us a dynamic with the network that facilitates their employability. This type of work is part of a fundamental approach that will take time to mature, but it is essential and the first positive effects will certainly take a few years to appear. Some engineering schools are much more advanced than us in this respect.

This is only the beginning, but it is has shown to be very promising. Our students have appreciated the first conferences with our Alumni. There are more than 1,000 of them spread around the world (the programme initially created in Bordeaux is 35 years old this year), so why not ask them for their contributions? They are more than happy to share their professional experiences with our students! I’m very confident and determined that this will work for the future.

What do you think about involving students in this project?

By involving the students, they become actors in this process of getting closer to our Alumni. This will change from class to class depending on the students' profiles. There will always be several students from our different campuses (Bordeaux, Marseille and, from next September, Paris). They see it as a way of adding skills and a chance for networking. In the end, it is the best showcase for the "after" KEDGE. 

Paul, you are one of the programme’s Alumni Ambassadors. Can you tell us why you accepted the role and give us your feedback on it?

I agreed to take on the responsibilities for my class because I think that the relationship between companies, the school, and Alumni are very important. As proof, I found my internship, and definitely my work-study position for next year through this programme. Also, meeting graduates from the school, specifically those from our programme, give us an open mind, let us know the realities of the field, and give us a more comprehensive vision of the possibilities available to us. Their views also allow us to aim higher, to expand our professional goals.

This role of Ambassador lets me work on behalf of my fellow students. At the end of each conference, I can see that they are enthusiastic about this project. We often get positive feedback.

I’d like to be an Alumni Ambassador next year as well, during the second year (M2) of the programme (which I’m doing as a work-study). I’d also like to stay in touch with the school so I can eventually pass on my own experience one day.