L'entretien

The second part of my study abroad program is an internship in Paris. We have a separate company, EUSA, set up the internships for BU students. I met with EUSA representatives in November and told them that I wanted a marketing internship for the semester. I received an email with an interview appointment at Martine Leherpeur Conseils in Paris. After researching the company and reading previous student's reports, I was really excited about my interview. I had a mock interview with one of the EUSA representatives and practiced my french up until the Friday morning interview.

I got to the office without a problem while remaining fairly dry in the rain. After waiting a few minutes in reception, I met my interviewer and she offered me coffee or tea. Knowing it was rude to refuse, I asked for tea. We sat in her office and she placed three cups in front of me. One mug with the tea bag in it, which she poured hot water into. Another smaller cup was next to the mug and finally, a bowl with three sugar cubes. I had NO IDEA which cup to drink from. I politely asked which cup I should use and she waved to all three. Usually the French drink tea from large bowl-like cups, but there was too much sugar in bowl to be correct. So after debating in my head, I poured the tea from the mug into the smaller cup. Of course, I spilled all over the table. She started laughing and told me that I put it in the wrong cup. Mordified, I realized that the little cup was for the tea bag- ah ha. Instead of repouring eveything back into the mag, I dropped the sugar cube in a took a sip. Oops. Next time- I'll ask for coffee.

The rest of the interview continued with the same uneasiness as before the tea incident. She spoke in English but I responded in French and I told her about my work experience. When she asked about my future plans, she seemed disappointed when I told her "consumer and market research". She said that this position is really about finding images and not about "hard numbers and research". My role would be to search databases for images that reflect a theme or product. We looked at some past projects and I asked some follow up questions. She told me that they would get back to me in February- not too encouraging. I sent a lovely follow up email as soon as I got home and we'll see what happens next!


Update: I got the internship! I will be interning at Martine Leherpeur Conseils from mid-march to mid-May.