“Sure, it was a panic on board, but I was also excited to take on this challenge and embark on a new professional adventure.”
Story by Nadia Chernov, Learning and Corporate Relations Officer at the Faculty of Languages, University of Strasbourg
“I joined the CAWEB Master’s team in September 2021, when Clémentine Kleinhentz, the pedagogical coordinator for the M1 and M2 on-campus tracks, was on maternity leave.
In fact, it happened somewhat by chance… At that time, I was looking to change jobs and wanted to find something more aligned with my studies in international relations. I remember interviewing for a position as an academic manager within the international relations department of ITIRI, which is now known as IRIUS.
Although my application was not successful, my profile evidently interested the director, who mentioned me and forwarded my CV to a colleague… One or two days after that interview, my phone rang. On the other end: Renate de la Paix. The phone call turned into a job interview; two weeks later, I found myself at the orientation meeting for the M2 CAWEB on-campus cohort, class of 21-22 !
It was a bit (or rather, a lot) stressful! The digital field, students, the university, apprenticeships… I knew nothing about any of it ! Sure, it was a panic on board, but I was also excited to take on this challenge and embark on a new professional adventure within a great team and alongside brilliant, curious, and motivated students!
Clémentine resumed her position in January 2022, and I was fortunate to be hired a few months later as the ‘Learning and Corporate Relations Officer’ within the Faculty of Languages! It was a real challenge since it was a newly created position that I have been developing for the past two years. It’s a very demanding and exciting job that allows me to wear many hats: providing personalized support to students in their apprenticeship searches, working closely with external socio-economic actors, establishing partnerships, working on projects in collaboration with our alternating training programs (we have six within the Faculty of Languages at Unistra), taking students on company visits, attending trade shows and forums, participating in Open Days, etc. I even take profile pictures of students at the beginning of the school year for their LinkedIn profiles.
In short, I feel like a real Swiss Army knife, and I love it! Thank you to Renate de la Paix for this wonderful opportunity, and to all the students I have the chance to support in their search for professional opportunities ! “