How I got a job at Ubisoft
What are the main highlights of your master’s years at EDHEC Business School?
I think the highlights of my master's years at EDHEC were, first of all, the MSC in Marketing Management classes. We had some brilliant professors who had quite an impact on me, for example, Arne de Keyser and Sara Van der Maelen. I really liked their way of teaching and how dedicated they were to us. When we went to lockdown, I only had their classes left, plus a couple more with Pr Guergana Guintcheva (MSc in Marketing Management director) who is also one of my favourite teachers, and they were all accommodating to this new way of teaching.
I also want to mention the Explora programme that I was able to take part in for my Master’s Project. I’m quite a scholar person, meaning I respond well to directions and learning theory, that programme helped me to gain confidence in my abilities to take the theory and put it into practice in a semi-professional setting. My team and I ended up winning with our project on Millenial acquisition for the Chronodrive project. The company was awesome, open-minded, and supportive throughout the whole process. We met with them every week. I’d like to urge Caroline Loisel who was responsible for the programme to continue it!
And lastly, I would say the friends I have made. There is a saying that says “the friends you make in college will be your friends for life” and it’s true. We still meet for brunches. We have Monbazillac evenings on Zoom. I still keep in touch with most of the people I met. Baptiste Rambaud, a classmate with whom I did my internship, just got recruited also at Ubisoft. He will start in April. We're literally gonna be two desks away from each other!
What is your role at Ubisoft?
I'm currently an Associate Brand Manager on the brand Ghost Recon Breakpoint, in the marketing EMEA division. I’m also helping out on the CRM of Ubisoft Connect, which assembles all the free services for the players, and will do social media for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. My manager is making sure I’m improving my transversal skills and meeting lots of people within the company so I can create a network. They really go all out for junior profiles. I only started on the first of March.
How did you get this opportunity?
During my first two internships, I realised that I really did not fit in the cosmetics and luxury sector. So I decided to go for the MSc in Marketing Management concentration in Entertainment and Services.
We had a class with Ubisoft and I enjoyed their presentation. I also met with my actual boss, Leslie Capillon when she came to present Ubisoft at EDHEC to first and second-year students. Leslie explained that she was very passionate about women in gaming. That plus the fact that the Ubisoft manager we met in MSc was also a woman. I thought about having a boss who openly talks about the gender gap or who is in a position of power at Ubisoft. Those are things that were unfamiliar to me in the workplace. Added to the fact that it’s a company that really appreciates humans as humans and not humans as genders or numbers. Plus, it was games and entertainment, something I enjoy and am passionate about so I applied on the website for the marketing days.
I got a call with a woman from the HR department and then I met with brand managers during the marketing days and got offered an internship for Rainbow Six Siege, a game I actually did not play. I was used to playing Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. So it was really fun and challenging, stepping out of my comfort zone.
During my internship, I tried to find ways to be more productive, more efficient, to introduce new processes so that operational-wise, it would go faster and easier because Rainbow Six Siege is a huge game and fast-paced, with new content coming out every week.
At Ubisoft, the interns are evaluated twice, mid-internship and at the end. Three months after I started, they gave me more strategic and development tasks. Knowing my motivation to stay in the company, my bosses and my team director were really supportive all throughout the internship. By the end of it, he set up a meeting with another team director because he knew there would be job openings soon. I got called back in February, had a couple of interviews. I finally joined in March 2021.
How does your education help you in your role?
I think the biggest thing is… PowerPoint! We had so many PowerPoints to do at EDHEC, and the level was so high that now I can do a PowerPoint in five minutes! I also learned to fully use Excel, to analyse data, to be SEO friendly, to work on social media, and of course, EDHEC teaches us to have team spirit.
How are you living the lockdown as a young professional?
I work two to three days at home or two to three days at the office per week depending on the week. I'm not the worst off! We all got on Teams or Zoom and put our cameras on. We have lunch activities. We did a live quiz once! With the curfew, we can rearrange our hours.
Yet, I'm saddening that we didn't get a graduation ceremony. I literally finished my classes by closing my laptop and going to bed! I got my degree in the mail. No time to celebrate with your friends and family, to click a photo that you will proudly display on your wall.
If you wanted to give advice to future EDHEC business management track, what would it be?
Do not give into peer pressure and live the experiences the way you want them. Don't party if you are not up for it. But by all means, enjoy them if you are! Don't neglect your classes if it’s your priority. Everyone is allowed their freedom to grow. Also, enjoy the sport facilities and everything the Lille campus has to offer, because you’ll most likely think you didn’t at the end of your Masters.
What is your best memory of EDHEC?
There's not one memory that I can single out. It's many little things. Like when I got in the student association I wanted most (Gourm'Edhec). When I met one of my future best friends on the first day (we were on the same team for the business game). When I went to Birmingham for my exchange in Master 1. When I walked through the Parc Barbieux in April, at sunrise, and it was warm enough not to wear a coat for the first time. When there were cappuccino muffins at the cafeteria. When I stood up on stage for one of Music'All's musicals. When I meet up with the friends I've made at EDHEC for a socially distanced and Covid safe brunch a year after we've graduated. It's impossible to have one best memory!
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