I am Yilia , recent graduate from TBS Paris, MSc Marketing, Management and Communication. I did my internship in AccorHotels, a French multinational hotel group, part of the CAC 40 which owns Sofitel, Fairmont, Raffles, Novotel, Ibis, Mercure and other 20 brands in 100 countries.
My internship was in the international headquarters, under the direction of Talent & Culture, within the department of School Relations & Partnerships, the role of this department is to improve the employer branding by organizing and coordinating events and projects. My job included four parts: communication, human resources, event management and project management.
AccorHotels headquarters are located in the Issy-Les Molineaux, only 3 stations from the TBS Paris campus. The building itself consists of 23 floors with concierge, gym, massage room, playroom and two canteens (expect the basic canteens), but we also have a fine dining restaurant on the 23rd floor, chic, cozy and with super view of Paris. The restaurant changes its chef every 2 weeks, and the chefs are from Accorhotels properties around the world. It’s really a place to enjoy life.
AccorHotels is a very decentralized company, you can not feel the hierarchy in the working area, it’s all open space, except for the meeting rooms and toilets, you will not find any office or secluded room, the vice-president and interns all sit in the same block. On some days, you will turn around to find the CEO of luxury brands sitting just behind you. The whole environment is equal, free and friendly.
If you are interested in Accorhotels, don’t miss Meet-ups. It’s an activity organized every 2 months. You can visit the company, participate a speed job forum, and the head of AccorHotels will share the recent strategies during the conference. A super opportunity to get a deep touch of the company.
My daily work is to communicate our recent actions and activities through social media, follow up events and projects, travel around to participate forum and roundtable. Business trips were mostly one day travel. I would get up at 4 am to catch the earliest train, and came back the same day at 11 pm. Honestly, it was busy and tiresome, but because of the travel, I got the chance to visit around 20 cities in France and Switzerland. And last October, I come back to TBS Toulouse campus to participate our career forum.
I always feel lucky and grateful for this 6-month experiance, work and life never stop and there was never a dull day. It was truely a perfect ending to my journey in Europe, and a real treasure for my future career.
– Yue (Yilia) ZHONG, MSc Marketing, Management and Communicaiton, Class of 2018