Mon Stage: La fille qui travaille a Paris

BU sets each student up with internships for the last 7 1/2 weeks of the semester. I interviewed and got a position with Martine Leherpeur Conseil, a marketing consulting firm. The internship position requires me to search through our library of magazines to find images, scan, and photoshop them for powerpoints. First off, we have EVERY major fashion, architect, and style magazine (in most languages) in the basement of the office. It's a very impressive collection. At the start of each week, my boss has been giving me a theme and direction to search for images. As I mark them, she reviews them and gives me more direction from there. This is technically my first 9-5 job (actually 9:30-6:30) and it's taken a while to get into the flow and the french.
Here's some examples of my typical week:
My first day, she sent me out with a list of "hard to find" magazines and list of address in the area so that I could explore. I found myself in a crazy boutique to pick up Surface and Numbero. Then two quaint bookstores (all languages stocked) next to the Tuileries.
Next step- I have to learn the concept and theme of the project. My first project was for Seiko and their lukia brand of watches. It was almost complete, but needed a few more images. She gave me three themes to look for: Parisian sailors, glamour gazebo, and tropical lagoon. It was finished and sent off my the end of my first week.

Week 2- I received an on going project for September which combines the Body and architechure. I'm still in research stage, so I haven't started pulling images. This week I also learned photoshop, in French! However, I will be using the English version on my computer, so I guess that makes me bilingual in Photoshop.
Week 3- I sat in on a conference call with the Variance representative (French lingerie brand). Martine Leherpeur Conseil (MLC) is helping them reposition their brand so they are looking for a modern romantic lifestyle look for their presentation. Finding images for this presentation is more difficult because it's so broad and new, but I really like understanding the project, client, and objective from start to finish.

Since I'm in such a hopping and fashionable quartier for my internship, I have managed to find 4 major chocolate boutiques, amazing clothing boutiques, a cute jewelry stand, some good boulangeries, and an adorable park for lunch. I sit in the sun at the empty chess tables for my lunch hour. Also, I managed to sneak into a Haute Couture expose at the Bourse de Commerce. The exterior of the room had designs from current Fashion students and the interior was a marketplace for couture designs! I also had lunch with another intern at a cafe and helped one of the executives with her presentation in English.

We will see where Weeks 4-7 take me!

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.