#shiningwithoutboundaries

You may expect a graduate of Environmental Management and Technology Program (EVMT) to have a job offer from environmental-related field but EVMT graduates have proved that they do have many other options.  Florence TSE, a 2019 graduate of EVMT who is a Management Trainee at Louis Vuitton, a globally renowned luxury fashion brand, is a vivid example to tell you that EVMT does not only cover professional environmental knowledge, but also equip students with problem-solving and other soft skills that allow them to excel in every field that interest them. 

Florence likes taking up challenges.  Her life attitude is always get prepared and overcome weakness head on.  Back to high school time, Florence was fond of both business and sustainability, so Environmental Management and Technology Program (EVMT) appeared to be her optimal choice at university.  EVMT provided an interdisciplinary curriculum across technology, environment and business fields that enabled her to view problems from multi-perspectives and develop innovative solutions. 

As an active and outgoing young lady who enjoys meeting people from diverse background and gaining different exposures, Florence engaged in various enrichment activities and internships outside classroom, such as AIESEC Warsaw Environmental Service Project, WWF Internship, AECOM environmental and sustainability internship, Schneider Electric strategic marketing internship and some roles in marketing and finance industry.

These experiences inspired Florence that networking and presentation skills are of prime importance in career development.  She expanded her network, observed, practiced and honed her communication and presentation skills through mingling with students from other departments or schools. She also explored on LinkedIn the profiles, experiences, job roles and job requirements of her connections and those who are good references.

In the final year of study, Florence learnt that many management trainee (MT) programs offered structured on-the-job and classroom training, job rotation, mentoring and other exposure that aimed to groom MTs into well-rounded managers and prepare them to become future leaders.  With a very promising prospect, MT programs are very competitive among university graduates.  Florence decided to take up the challenge and applied for MT programs.     

Although the MT recruitment processes were usually tedious and challenging, Florence went through rounds of selection exercises successfully. She saw interviews as mutual understanding between employers and herself, and precious opportunities to further enhance her presentation and interviewing techniques. Not only did she prepare well in advance for interviews, she also reviewed what could be improved after each interview. In addition to answering techniques, she paid attention to other details like grooming, greeting, how and when to take and leave the seat etc..

Finally, Florence got the MT program offer from Louis Vuitton.  She was firstly assigned to work at one of the retail shops and is now under the second rotation to work under the Public Relations Events Team and the Sustainability Team.  She enjoys the dynamic nature of the work, treasures chances to meet with many people, loves contributing ideas on how to attract millennials and rejuvenate the brand.

Asking for career advice, Florence said “First step is open up yourself to network with different people. If you have an interview, do prepare well beforehand and review every details afterwards. Lastly, strive to deal with own weakness and do not let it stop you from trying out new things.”