Invited by Lamyae Khibabi, an engineering student in first year and also Total Campus Manager, Jin Jian (class of 2009) came last Thursday to meet engineering students from Telecom Bretagne. Delphine Lucas, responsible for Internet content distribution took advantage of his visit to Brest to ask him some questions about his career.

Lamyae Khibabi, an engineering student in first year and Total campus manager withJian Jin (class of 2009).

DL: Jin Jian, what is your educational background?
JJ: Before arriving at Telecom Bretagne, I followed my studies at Xi’an Jiaotong University majoring in telecom. I arrived in France thanks to the n + I scheme and started as a second year engineering student at Telecom Bretagne. I did two important internships, one at General Electric and the other at Louis Vuitton (LVMH group).

DL: Why did you choose Total to launch your career?
JJ: I have long been drawn to the oil industry, I chose Total because the group is well known in the energy field. Its strong presence in the international field as well as the stability of the group (11 billion euro in net income in 2011) seemed to be two major advantages.
DL: It’s now two years since you were recruited by the Total group, have you had any opportunities for career development?
JJ: I was recruited in 2010 to fill the position of head of platforms hosting websites (e-business, e-commerce). I worked closely with the “supply marketing ” services. Then the group reorganized its services in early 2012, and I am now responsible for finance, legal purchasing in the Information Systems department in Paris la Defense in the refining industry and chemistry branch. At Total, the opportunities for job evolution are numerous. It is possible to migrate to another branch, from a foreign country or change jobs fairly easily. Remember that the activities are highly international and career development requires high functional or geographical mobility.

DL: What are the opportunities for a student from Telecom Bretagne in the Total group?
JJ: Over the years, there have been the usual offers for posts of project managers, production engineers and telecom specialists, but there are also internships and VIE (Volunteer for International Experience) placements. Half of those coming to Total on a VIE placement will be offered a permanent position in the group. To maximize their chances, engineers from the School show their taste for mobility, teamwork and have had some international experience during their education. The group recruits mainly junior engineers who stay with the group for a long time. I can answer any student questions as needed.

DL: What surprised you on entering the Total group?
JJ: I was surprised by the method of recruitment in five phases. If I had any advice for students of Telecom Bretagne, I would tell them to go about it well in advance as recruitment at Total may take 3 to 5 months. Firstly they should file their CV on the “Careers Total” site. If the application is deemed interesting, an external consultant will contact the student to perform an exercise in a foreign language, then to do a personality test and a personal interview. Once past this stage, there are still 3 appointments with Total employees including an interview with the project manager, then a second interview with a business executive. The third and final interview is with the careers manager who asks the candidate about his/her career and personal ambition. In my case, recruitment lasted five months.