Roxane Hernandez, International Master in Marketing alumni, tell us her experience at Procter & Gamble and the steps she followed in order to be hired.
Since October 2011, I have been working for Olay/Oil of Olaz for Eastern Europe, Turkey, Israel and South Africa. From May 1st of this year this also includes the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. CMK stands for Consumer and Market Knowledge. Basically, I am in charge of all market research for the region related to female facial skincare. I work with both the global team and the local teams. I collaborate with other functions in the company, mainly marketing. In the past months In the past year I have travelled to Moscow, Warsaw,Dubai, Johannesburg and London. I really like the job itself, which is about learning about different cultures. I also have many opportunities to learn and develop my skills while taking on leadership roles in exciting projects.
How did you find your job?I never applied directly for the position. EADA encouraged me to apply to a Career Fair in Berlin (international careers). Procter&Gamble selected my resume and invited me for two interviews in Berlin at the end of May 2011. There I discovered more about the position itself and got really hooked by the overall atmosphere and the smiles of the interviewers. A couple of days later we were setting up the second round of interviews. In early June 2011, I went to Geneva for 3 more interviews, and by early July I was signing the contract to start in October. EADA helped me write my resume and prepare the interviews. Thanks to EADA’s support, I felt confident enough to make a good impression.
What was the highlight of your experience at EADA?The key highlight was the teamwork. I learned how to deal with different cultures and personalities. It also enabled me to understand what I could bring to the group and what I needed from others to be happy and efficient in my job.
I believe the “you get as much as you put in” principle of the case studies and the interaction with teachers was really close to what happens in Procter&Gamble. The key to getting me ready for work was what I learned in EADA in the sessions of the Professional Development Programme in the Residential Training Centre (proactivity, taking leadership roles, asking questions, defining your limitations) and the professors’ expertise.
How did your experience at EADA prepare you for your current position?The Professional Development sessions in the Residential Training Centre were a kind of epiphany. This was the place where I understood that:
– I still had much more to learn
– I needed to learn how to work as a person as I cannot be “just a brain”
– I was actually good at something already! I needed to leverage my strengths to always be ahead.
The Residential Training Centre taught me how to reapply and leverage everything I knew in theory. I applied what I learned there over my year in EADA and keep doing the same while trying to understand myself and my capabilities better. I think the modules in the Training Centre are a smooth way of learning; you need to digest what you get there but once digestion is over the impact of these lessons is huge!