Alice Mouton

Neither a university, nor a fully fledged business school, ISIT represented, to Alice, the perfect compromise between the two upon finishing her first year of preparatory class in literary studies. After several internships in both France and Germany, gaining experience in business development within ISIT’s Junior-Enterprise students association , and after completing a year of apprenticeship in a large company, she is now Product Marketing Manager in a startup.

Before ISIT ?

I graduated from high school with a baccalaureate in English and economics. Though I have always liked studying languages, I did not know which career path was the right one for me, so I started my studies with a year of preparatory class in literature, which stimulated my interest in translation. Teachers told me about ISIT, where I enrolled in the first year because I wanted to further improve my German.

Why ISIT ?

ISIT is neither as literary as a university, nor similar to a traditional business school. It is a Grande Ecole (selective higher education establishment which admits students through competitive exams) which enables us to use our linguistic and cultural knowledge in different careers.

What did I like ?

• The classes have a limited number of students, the teachers are attentive and offer personalized supervision, therefore students can progress rapidly and gain self-confidence.
• The multiple experiences the school offers, abroad in particular.
• The professionalization throughout my curriculum. I undertook a number of varied internships: in Germany, I wrote for a newspaper and did some communication at the French Institute ; in France, I did project management and translation both in two different translation agencies and for the French Red Cross.
• After a gap year, I joined the Aviva Group (now Abeille Assurances) as an apprentice during the second year of my master’s degree. My tasks entailed working on the internal communication strategy of the headquarters based in Great Britain, a lot of communication project management, some translation and change management. Apart from the discovery of different occupational fields and of a large group’s working methods, I really enjoyed working together with other company departments.
• During the first year of my master’s degree, I also joined Junior ISIT, which is ISIT’s Junior-Enterprise, as an active member of the commercial development sector.

After ISIT?

A month after graduation, a classmate told me about a Web Content Writer job for the start-up she had joined several months before. I wanted to apply with the experience of my apprenticeship in mind. The start-up environment appealed to me because, unlike a big group such as Aviva, it allowed me to see the company grow side by side with my own growth.

Why are ISIT students particularly well fitted for a start-up environment?

• ISIT trains its students to be adaptable through internships, contact with many international students and a very diverse teaching staff. It is a typical start-up environment in which everyone is required to explore unknown fields and to acquire skills in the field.
• Being a translator is being curious by nature. It means having intercultural instincts that are perfectly suitable for an international start-up such as Mobility Work, and knowing how to identify your targets and to adapt to them.

What is your advice for future ISIT students?

• Trust yourself.
• Don’t restrict yourself. Many students already have a specific path in mind when joining ISIT even though the school allows us to explore numerous career paths.