ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°135 - Mars 2011 - 60

Évolution professionnelle

2010 UK Careers Events: a business model that works
By Pascale CHAILLET [Cadre Dirigeant 06]

riven by the desire of becoming more international, reflecting the school’s development, ESCP Europe Alumni invited me to join the Careers Committee in January 2010, with the objective of representing the UK territory and initiating a programme of career development events tailored to the aspirations of the UK community. I worked with Joëlle PLANCHE-RYAN, Careers Services Manager (Paris), Shireen FRASER (MBA 00), International Development Manager from the Association, and, with the support of local members and ESCP Europe’s London campus team, we first outlined a strategy for the UK, based on the community’s feedback and sourced high profile speakers, offering their expertise “pro-bono”. We then launched a series of 5 events between july and december covering various topics such as “Getting the Right Recruitment Tools for your Next Career Move”, the “The 7 Keys to P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Communication” and “How to Work a Room: networking at social and professional events”, gathering 10-30 alumni at each event. The events were held at the London campus whose staffs have been enormously helpful.

The success of this venture has depended on a non-standard business model that relies on two major principles. The first is that of having a mixed team of volunteer alumni and personnel from the alumni association. The second is to gain the buy-in of the pro bono speakers:

1. A Team Mix: alumni volunteers & Association personnel

Managing events requires strategic, tactical and operational activities with different timelines such as surveying the community, sourcing and managing the relationships with speakers, finding venues, planning the events programme and communicating it and running the event on the day. For efficiency and reliability, the activities need to be split between volunteers and employees, depending on individual motivation, expertise and time available. Additionally clear processes and timelines need to be set up to successfully support the inevitable remote collaboration. Our objective this year is to strengthen the organisation, calling for more UK-based volunteers who are prepared to contribute to the growth and success of our events programme, through joining us in our activities and helping us streamline processes and improving our ability to work as remote teams.

2. “Pro-bonos”: a loyal commitment for a win-win relationship

The collaboration matrix.

Our pro-bono speakers and facilitators are professional experts and demonstrate successful career paths in their own fields. This allows them to offer us talks and workshops that will add enormous value to our members. They have chosen to give up some of their time to work with us on our events, speaking at conferences, running workshops and mentoring or coaching individuals in search of a career move. One question came straight into mind when I heard of this: why would professional experts give free time? The answer came from the PEP team in Paris who works with some 250 pro-bonos

ESCP Europe Magazine N° 135 - Mars 2011

Table des matières de la publication ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°135 - Mars 2011

Couverture
Zapping
Sommaire
Editorial
Personnalité du mois - François MORINIERE(87) : Partageons le sport
Focus - Où vont les médias
Itinéraires
Entretiens
Vie du réseau - Votre espace personnel sur www.escpeuropealumni.org
A lire
Évolution professionnelle - 2010 UK Careers Events : a business model that works
Voyages - Une Odyssée à travers les Amériques
École - L'institut pour l'Innovation et la Compétitivité
Fondation - 5 ans et un premier "Mur des donateurs"
Vie étudiante - Le Téléthon à ESCP Europe

ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°135 - Mars 2011