CIES:Jessica
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| Degree | Modern Languages (French and German) with Management WIYA |
| Graduation date | June 2006 |
| Company | CIES – The Food Business Forum, Paris, France |
| Job Title | Global Food Safety Initiative Coordinator |
| Finding the opportunity | This particular job, my third in Paris, I found via the website www.cadremploi.fr. |
| Application process | I sent my CV along with a cover letter to the contact address on the job offer. |
| Selection process | The job had been posted on the internet by a recruitment agency, so the initial interview to determine my suitability for the job was with a French recruitment consultant. After having successfully completed this first round interview, I was sent to meet with the Director of the Global Social Compliance Programme at CIES.) It went well, and a few days later I had a phone interview with the CEO of CIES. The following week I was contacted by the recruitment agency and told that I did not have enough experience for that particular role, but that both the Director of GSCP and the CEO liked my profile and wanted to put me forward for another position. Four more interviews in three different languages followed before I was offered a job as the Coordinator of the Global Food Safety Initiative. |
| Why you were successful | The job description required a candidate with an international profile. Growing up in the Philippines provided me with cross-cultural skills which were essential to such an international role where I come into contact with members all over the world. An internship that I did during the summers of 2004 and 2005, working primarily with L’Oréal, allowed me to experience working in a multicultural environment. This was complemented by the 1 ½ years I spent working at Lovells, an international law firm, following graduation from St Andrews. I was often asked about my time at St Andrews as the university’s reputation is well known, and was able to draw on the opportunities I had at university through my academic achievements as well as extra-curricular activities, to demonstrate a very balanced approach to life. |
| First few months in the job | The first few months in the job were a whirlwind. Within two weeks I was travelling to Denver, Colorado to attend meetings with our Food Safety Technical Committee. A few weeks later I had a meeting with our Board of Directors in Atlanta. During this time I was responsible for organizing the meetings themselves and for taking detailed notes, in order to compile comprehensive meeting reports. I was initially doing long hours while I was settling into the role, but I now tend to work from 8:30/9am to 6pm with longer hours before our meetings and conferences. Now that I am more familiar with the various aspects of food safety, my activities and projects vary. We are currently working extensively on our communication. I have created a new website for our initiative which I update regularly and for which I often have to draft new documents. I write articles for our newsletter which we publish three times a year and have regular contact with our network of food safety experts, to organize meetings and keep them abreast of decisions made by our Board. A large part of my role is networking, so I attend conferences with the aim to create awareness of the Global Food Safety Initiative and to make contacts.
In terms of our work social life, we try to organize after-work drinks every month. However, as different teams are busiest at varying times of the year, this is not easy. We try to go for lunch together and organize after work social events when schedules permit. |
| Day in the life | No day is particularly the same as my job is events-driven, and my daily activities will vary, particularly in the weeks running up to various meetings or conferences.
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