PRESS RELEASE - 06.11.2020
KEDGE delivers on a promise, welcoming 2,100 work-study students in autumn 2020
In light of the current health and economic crisis, KEDGE announced in the spring that we would be implementing sweeping efforts to help our students, partner companies and small businesses in France. We delivered on our promise to nearly double the number of places in our work-study scheme so students can continue their education whilst gaining professional experience. 2,100 work-studies have been confirmed for the new 2020 academic year.
To help our students navigate this challenging time of economic uncertainty, we at KEDGE are offering tuition assistance to those in need and giving people looking for work-study opportunities the chance to join a high-quality, employability-boosting programme whilst simultaneously helping our partner companies weather this crisis. KEDGE had pledged to double the number of two-year work-study spots available for parallel entry and for students with three-year degrees graduating from our Grande Ecole programme. We kept our promise.
For over 15 years now, we at KEDGE have helped students with their career transitions by offering them the chance to complete some or all of their studies whilst gaining professional experience. By combining theoretical knowledge with first-hand experience at a company, students can try out a given field and enjoy the benefits that come with being an employee: independence, compensation and empowerment.
- New KEDGE work-study Centre in April 2020
With support from MEDEF (the French employer federation). and the chambers of commerce and industry of Bordeaux, Marseille and Toulon, KEDGE created our own work-study centre in April 2020. This centre will work with work-study students at the Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris and Toulon campuses, offering degree-granting programmes, both general and specialised, at the two-year to five-year postgraduate levels in fields such as finance, management, risk, logistics, purchasing, marketing, wealth management, and more.
- Legislation in favour of work-study opportunities
In the autumn of 2020, KEDGE made work-study opportunities available to the majority of our specialised programmes, which previously only had access to vocational training contracts. Both contracts share the same educational goal, but they differ in how they are implemented. This meant that 300 new spots were available to students.
Our school is providing job search assistance and we have simplified the paperwork by creating a dedicated platform for work-study contracts.
On the company side, government-funded financial assistance has helped with recruitment and new education legislation means that companies can offer work-study opportunities, no matter their size or bottom line.
“This programme ensures that students can find not just a job, but their job at the company of their choosing. This is good for students and for companies,” explains Christophe Mouysset, KEDGE’s Director of Corporate Relations. He goes on to say that, “thanks to the fact that some or all of the tuition for work-study students is provided for, we were able to increase the number of work-study spots at our school by nearly 50%. This will ensure much-needed financial help for our students and help them seamlessly transition to a career after they graduate”.
- A support system that works
We met our goal in large part thanks to the support of our 300 partner companies who maintained hiring levels, alongside our alumni ambassadors and hiring managers.
Since March 2020, the programme has benefitted from the efforts carried out in compliance with the QUALIOPI accreditation that was granted in July 2020, in line with the mission of the work-study centre, including:
• Holding two virtual “job dating” events with over 1,600 students participating and 450 available positions
• Ongoing posting about work-study positions through the Jobteaser platform
• Creating special workshops with partner companies for work-study candidates: “SOS: Finding an internship or work-study during lockdown” “Work-study: Strategies for landing and preparing for an interview”, “Strategies for job seeking during a crisis”
• Offering workshops on resumes, cover letters, networking, LinkedIn and job search tips
• Providing one-on-one coaching upon request
KEDGE press contacts
Titiane LUGAND titiane.lugand@kedgebs.com
