In the series “How to find a company”, the scientific directors of the MSc & MBA INSEEC Paris give their advice and their expert opinions on this valuable topic for students. Serge-Henri SAINT-MICHEL, founder of Marketing-Professionnel and Marketing PME and scientific director of the Communication, Marketing and Digital programs, takes up the pen to confide his secrets on company research. Whether you are looking for an internship or a work-study program, Serge-Henri SAINT-MICHEL, founder of Marketing-Professionnel.fr, emphasizes that it is your methodology that will make the difference.
The web is already full of tips to find your business. This paper is not another one. It proposes a simple, effective approach, which works if its user is involved in the search for his company because yes, finding a company is a REAL project… which requires to want to and to give desire ; ” chercher ” will then be synonymous with ” trouver “…
Finding a company for an internship or a work-study program, a professional contract or a job, means putting in place a thoughtful, active and well-constructed approach.
Job boards to make you visible
The first step : put your CV online… Then…
- Sharpen your profile on LinkedIn and Cadremploi. These two platforms seem to me to be the most in line with the expectations of future employees, trainees or learners at master / MSc level.
- Fill out your profile in full : your CV and background of course (using keywords from your sector, your function), accompanied by your photo, any LinkedIn training courses you have taken, badges or recommendations. Give an idea of your skills, your soft-skills. Position yourself as a provider, not a demander.
- Regularly update your profile, optimize the keywords used in the title and description of your business.
- At the same time, develop your professional contacts (I didn’t mention Facebook friends).
- Relay professional information that you find useful, from your contacts’ profiles and from reference sites in your field, such as Professional Marketing. Comment in a few lines on this information ; it will allow your interlocutors to know you better (the use of key words is also useful).
Being present and increasingly visible is a good start. But a drifting hook is not enough to hook big fish. Now go meet your future employer !
Work as a marketing professional
Take the time to specify the job and the sector of your dreams, but also your expectations, your desires, then…
- Set up job alerts on LinkedIn, see this tuto
- List and prioritize the companies that meet your core target expectations. Enter them into an Excel spreadsheet. Contact these targets via LinkedIn, with functional staff as a priority, and the HR department as a second priority ; but do not multiply the channels. Enter the date of the contact in the table and the arguments used.
- Follow up with your contacts 10 days later.
- Based on this reminder, update the Excel.
- Expand your list of contacts and make adjustments (geographical, sectoral, functional targeting, arguments used) based on this feedback and your content curation activity on LinkedIn.
An incoming contact ? Congratulations ! But don’t get carried away. Take the time to identify the subject of the call, the proposed function, the duration, the responsibilities, the location… and anything else that is important to you. Show your interest and motivation (with arguments, not statements) ; thank the person for calling. And answer, with increasing quality, all incoming calls and emails.
These contacts are the fruit of your work ; pick them up carefully and bite into them !
What to keep in mind when looking for a company
- Stay calm, follow a step-by-step method and work regularly on your business search project
- Anticipate so as not to ” take anything ” or feel that you don’t have enough time to look for a company
- Follow up on requests, follow up with companies and people contacted
Good onboarding !
Updated 24 February 2022