HEC PARIS SUMMER Jade Williams 18

Transcription

1 HEC PARIS SUMMER 2016 Jade Williams 18

2 Placement Jade Williams 18 HEC Paris Jouy en Josas, France

3 Work Responsibilities The 2016 HEC Paris Summer program included 9 academic programs and welcomed over 300 international students for two-week long summer sessions. The job of the summer interns was to help support the students, professors, and academic administration in making sure the sessions ran smoothly. My responsibilities included welcoming students onto campus and participating in orientation activities; assisting the academic team of professors and the administration to ensure materials for students were prepared and distributed; updating the student portal and online intranet site; drafting summary documents of the courses including information on presentations, guest lecturers, and professor evaluations; and most importantly, I was a communication liaison for students and staff concerning course materials, changes, organization, and extracurricular activities.

4 My Experience I think the most rewarding aspect of my job was gaining many administrative and professional skills that I used daily in the office. As a part of the summer team, the academic administration was dependent on the work the co-interns and I did in preparing for students arrival and making sure they were properly organized within their classes. This resulted in a lot of data retrieval, communications with the faculty, and extensive communication with the students themselves. Through this type of work I got to know the students better, a lot of whom were international and gave me some worldly insights, and I also got to work with renowned professors who were at the top of their field. I think the exposure to so many different types of people, while completing the many tasks I was given during my internship, really gave me an interesting and fun working environment to grow in.

5 Impact A huge part of my job was making sure operations ran smoothly within the summer school to make the lives of the faculty and administrative staff easier. From my daily tasks, I saw first hand what worked, what didn t work, and what could be improved. Following weekly meetings with my supervisors and the other interns, we would discuss how the students and faculty were doing, and access how we could make their experience better. To help improve operations in the future, and for the improvement of the program, the other interns and I suggested ways that certain aspects could be run in a more effective manner. For example, from the first session of classes to the second, we helped make orientation and move-in easier and less complicated for the students as they got adjusted to campus and the new information they were receiving.

6 My academic and career plans Although I am not a business major and working at a business school was a new and exciting experience for me, I spent a lot of time gaining new skills from my office work and I think it will greatly benefit me in future internships and other professional positions I may pursue. I am better at organizing large amounts of important information and communicating details to supervising authorities. I also know how to communicate with different types of people in diverse environments which can be useful in any career path I choose. While continuing to study at Princeton in the Woodrow Wilson School, I hope to apply these skills and use them as necessary to ensure my academic success.

7 Cultural impact I knew I wanted to return to France after my previous summer study program following my freshman year at Princeton. I improved my language skills while fully immersing myself in the culture with the help of my host family. Working in a professional environment at HEC Paris was a lot different but I was able to use my French language skills at work which was a huge asset. I was also introduced to a huge international environment with the diverse pool of students and professors who were at the school. I would love to continue to travel in the future and I m happy this position gave me the opportunity to work in a new place while learning important and necessary skills I can use in the future.

8 Thank you!