A business forum was held on Thursday, March 7, 2024. This day dedicated to students and their future was entirely organized by members of AMJE Bordeaux and the Business Relations Department as part of their second-year PJT project.
A panel of companies aligned with students' aspirations
The team met every week to organize this event, which brought together professionals and students. Prunelle and Killian, two students in charge of the project, explain how they were able to offer a forum that met students' expectations: "To determine which business sectors to target, we first surveyed the students invited to the event (PGE and Bachelor's degree students). This questionnaire, conducted in September, helped us determine the students' wishes. At the top of the list were aeronautics, automotive, energy, industry, naval, and luxury. These results allowed us to focus our prospecting on these sectors, but we tried to take into account as much as possible all of the students' wishes, even those that were less in demand (consulting, banking, start-ups, etc.)."
31 companies attending
The students obviously made use of their Gadz'arts contacts, but they didn't stop there: "It's clear that the Arts et Métiers alumni network Arts et Métiers an asset when it comes to contacting companies. Going through a Gadz'arts contact is generally more effective in getting companies to attend the Forum, particularly because they enjoy returning to campus after several years and interacting with students from their school. However, we also contacted business clubs in Bordeaux and incubators, and used the database of the school's Gala external relations team." With the help of the Business Relations Manager at the Bordeaux campus, the students expanded the range of companies attending the forum: "31 companies attended, compared to 18 last year," says Prunelle.
The Business Forum day is divided into two parts. In the morning, students attend two discussion sessions called "cafés-pros." The idea is to bring together about fifteen students with one or more professionals from the same company for an hour and 15 minutes over pastries and drinks. Students choose the companies they are interested in beforehand.
This discussion time allows for in-depth exploration of certain topics, such as the speakers' career paths, their roles, their daily lives at the company, etc. Student attendance is mandatory for the morning.
The afternoon is devoted to a more "traditional" forum format. Booths are set up in the school's workshops, and students are free to visit the booths that interest them, without a set route.
A forum open to all Arts et Métiers students
A new feature was introduced at this year's forum: it was open to PGE students as well as Bachelor's students, who are also looking for companies for their second-year internships and third-year professional contracts.
The forum has multiple objectives. The primary benefit for students is the opportunity to meet engineers from a variety of professional fields. For first-year students, this is a good opportunity to immerse themselves in the professional world before their executive internship. In general, students of all years are looking for internships of various types (work experience, end-of-studies internships, discovery internships) and are therefore free to submit their applications on the day.
Finally, this day is an opportunity to discover many engineering professions and allows students to refine their career plans.
Prunelle and Killian, two students in charge of the project
