OUT OF SIGHT BUT AT THE CENTRE OF THE ACTION!
As Head of Year Group and Campus Coordinator for Tours, Claire Cazemajor is an Alumni, Class of 2012, Bachelor of Tourism, Hospitality specialisation.
She is the interface between La Rochelle and our Centre-Val de Loire campus for student support.
What is your career path?
What is your career path?After a few years working in the luxury hotel business, in Paris and abroad, I wanted to leave the capital. I found a job at the Tours Football Club as Marketing and Events Manager, in charge of sponsorship, as well as organising the stadium's events and coordinating its network of partners.
Every two weeks, I was responsible for organising a reception for 400 people. It was lively and vibrant! However, the Club had financial difficulties maintaining my position, so when an Excelia teacher, who had previously held my job at the Club, told me about the position of Head of Year Group and Campus Coordinator, I was very interested!
What an interesting year in which to start a new job!
Yes indeed. I started on the 20th February 2020, and on the 16th of March we were in lockdown! But in the end, given the context, my adaptation seems to have been made easier since everyone had to telework. It has become almost an asset to make others understand that even remotely you can put things in place. There was the realisation that the Tours campus, which opened in September 2019, really does exist!
What does your job involve?
I provide assistance in Tours for the support services of La Rochelle. In my role, I am in charge of business development, such as recruitment, sales promotion, entrance exams, Open Days, the "24h Chrono" event, essentially all forms of Marketing, adapting La Rochelle's strategy to Tours. In addition, I'm responsible for Communications, and Corporate Relations.
The other aspect of my work is the coordination, welcome and support of French and international students on the campus, helping them with any problems... looking for a work-study opportunity, accommodation, or anything else in their daily life. It is very rewarding to accompany the students, to get to know them and to see them evolve.
Finally, I make sure that everything is well orchestrated so that the teachers don't have to worry about anything and that everything is perfectly in place for their lessons. I'm making use of some of the skills I learnt from the hotel industry!
How are things going at the moment?
The start of the new academic year in September went well with 80 students in Year 2 and Year 3 of the Master in Management, of which only a small proportion, about ten or so, have not yet found a company for their work-study placement. There is still a question mark over the January start to the academic year for international students in Year 1 and Year 3 of the Bachelor in Business, as well as those in Year 1 English Track of the Bachelor in Tourism & Hospitality. The date of the entrance tests is set for 8th December. If the lockdown period is extended, they will take place remotely, but we're well used to this now!
Likewise, our Open Day on 7th November, which was initially organised on the basis of potential students being present, and publicised at the end of October with a poster campaign, had to be completely rethought in just a few days... such flexibility! Out of 74 people initially registered, we had 55 participants who benefitted from lectures about our programmes and everyday life in Tours.
Do you have a message for our community?
The School is remarkable at promoting itself and working remotely, but I'm still looking forward to meeting everyone in person and getting back out in the field to organise events to welcome potential students, future students and current students, on site!
