Your Choice (M1-M2)

You have to make choices and feel it's difficult? One often has the feeling that choosing is giving up on something, and that we can't go backwards. Choices are important, that's for sure, but they are not irreversible for your career. Some choices will ease your personal development, others will require more effort to achieve your goal. Your professional life will be punctuated with those two types of choices. You need to learn to make your way and master choices instead of bearing them.

Among those choices, your internship's choice. An internship is an important tool in building professional project. This project will be built up throughout your four academic years. And the more you go on in your curriculum, the more important is that internship choice.

As a M1 student: Your gap year internship is the most determining step in your first job search. The job market is increasingly competitive and selective. And recruiters want you to get a meaningful experience in the sector or job trade you want to apply to as a young graduate. Which explains why the gap year is mandatory, as the stepping stone toward your first job.

In order to make the best choices for your gap year, you must have a clear vision of the beginning of your career. Which will be your key to enter the job market? There may be several paths to be recruited for a job, you have to find you own. Just keep in mind that, as for Graduate Programmes, recruitment as this level is a talent hunt; recruiters are hunting the bests. Considering EDHEC's ranking, you are the bests, but just like your competitors from top European or non-European universities and business schools. What will differentiate you from those competitors? Recruiters always come with the same conclusion: “All candidates are intelligently on the same level, have a good academic background. Those who manage to make a difference are outstanding students.” They are highly job-motivated students, who have researched information on the job market and the company they target, who ask themselves the good question (i.e. which is the profit I can offer to the job and/or the existing team) and… students who are prepared to the recruitment processes. Lien avec Careers.com. A gap year is the ideal format to get a job experience aboard; basically, it’s a graduation criterion you have to fulfill; furthermore, it will be an opportunity to develop working methods and professional skills you wouldn’t develop in France and, last but not least, it’s an asset to be recruited, as all positions offered in Master 2 require an international experience.

Concretely: Make an appointment with your Career Centre on careers.edhec.com.

You have finished your gap year: Your choice will concern which Master of Science you should enter or which academic exchange you should chose. In order to link your academic path to your professional project, this choice must be coherent and is not limited to one unique choice. You can color your Diploma with one or other specialization. You will just have to explain those choices, highlighting complementarities or thorough knowledge and skills that your end-of-studies specialization will give you.

Concretely: Everyone has his own talent and his own way to success!

As a M2 student: The end-of-studies internship is not mandatory. The advantage of building your professional experience during your studies is that you can apply directly for long-term jobs, VIE or Graduate Programmes. Some companies will discuss internships leading to a long-term position. There are several reasons to take an end-of-studies internship. Firstly, the labor market situation: in order to optimize your chances to be recruited, some companies will ask you to start with an internship first. Secondly, this internship can give you a specific competency, a competency which will complete your background and will be another asset to be recruited. Those criteria are of course directly linked to the first job you are aiming at.

Concretely: Apply for jobs but don’t rule out the possibility to accept an internship leading to a job.