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On Wednesday, January 31 2018, Sorbonne-Kazakhstan Institute welcomed Bernard Peille, general manager of the company Alstom in Central Asia, to introduce the company’s activity to the students during the « Parlons pro, parlons français » workshop. Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students were invited to attend the presentation that was in French and in a casual atmosphere.
Alstom is an international company located on each continent. Its main mission is to offer functional and qualitative public transport networks to the various countries – such as trains, undergrounds, tramways, trolleybus, etc. - basing itself on local skills. Then, the company comes together with local companies to develop transport networks in the cities. There are various objectives: developing a practical, accessible, cheap network, and respecting the environment, which is a fundamental value for the company.
Therefore, ISK students had the opportunity to discover an international company and to ask questions to Bernard Peille after his presentation. They had the chance to find out about the Almaty tramway project (that will be working only in 3 or 4 years) and, more importantly, they were given advice to apply for a job or an internship in the company.
3 pieces of advice from Bernard Peille:
- as students or recently graduated, motivation is the main asset during an interview at Alstom. Having no or little professional experience in Management or International Relations is not a brake to join Alstom teams! Show your motivation, your desire for learning and all chances will be on your side.
- speaking English and Russian is compulsory to work at Alstom Central Asia, but speaking French and Kazakh is a real plus (as well as German after the merger of Alstom with Siemens).
- 2 or 3 months internships are possible at Alstom! Those can take place at Astana, where the regional headquarters are, in Management or International Relations.
Thanks to this meeting, the students left with new future prospects and a better knowledge of the company. The meeting was closed with the traditional picture of the students together with the professional.