Alexia

Can you tell us about your academic career leading up to your graduation from ISIT?

I joined ISIT in the first year of the Grande École program in 2017 after passing the school’s admission test. At the end of my first three years, I joined the International Strategies and Diplomacy Master’s program. This master’s program enabled me to carry out my first internships in translation (Buenos Aires, Madrid), followed by an M1 internship at the Ministry of the Armed Forces at the DGRIS (General Directorate for International Relations and Strategy) and my final internship at the DSIE (Directorate for Security and Economic Intelligence) at EDF.

In a few sentences, can you sum up the impact that the ISIT Master’s degree has had on your professional and personal life?

The Master’s degree has had an impact because it introduced me to the field of IE (Economic Intelligence). The IE and Security/Defense courses were particularly useful for my professional orientation, since I turned to analysis/competition watch for the benefit of Defense. Furthermore, ISIT’s language course also helped me in my search for internships and jobs.

Can you describe your career path since graduating?

After graduating, I started a VOA (Officer training course) contract at CESM (Navy strategic studies centre). At CESM, I worked as a competition watch analyst, writing specialized articles on geopolitical and maritime issues.

Following a professional opportunity, I left the Navy and on June 1 2023 began a three-year fixed-term contract with the Ministry of the Armed Forces at DICOD (Defense information and communication delegation) as an Internet Watch Officer. My role is to report relevant events to the authorities in real time, thanks to a comprehensive internet watch (open and semi-open).

What have been your most significant professional achievements since graduating from ISIT?

At CESM, my main achievements were writing the CESM newsletter “Brèves Marines” and contributing to a CESM book (Études Marines). At DICOD, as I am the only person in my function, my biggest challenge is to develop and improve this unit. I hope it will be a successful professional achievement.

What advice would you give to current SID Master’s students, both for their academic and professional experience?

In academic terms, I’d advise students to be curious and dig deeper into the courses that interest them in the SID Master’s program and to take advantage of the lecturers’ networks and advice.

Above all, I advise students to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. Internships are essential for building up a good network (especially to find your first job) and determining what career you want to pursue or in what field you want to specialize.