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Béatrice Geoffrin

French, 26 years old. 
Graduated in 2000 from HEC business school with a major in marketing, then followed one year of an MBA course in North Carolina (United States). 
Customer Service Quality Project Manager with the e-business department of the Parts & Accessories Division. 
Personal details: involved in improvisational theatre. 

"During my studies, I did a number of internships that convinced me that I wanted to work in industry, where products are rich in complexity and designed for the long term. I also wanted to join an international group, which would offer me the chance to work abroad. So I decided to apply for a VIE at Renault. 

I arrived in Brussels in October 2001 to work in the Customer Service department of the Renault Belgium and Luxembourg sales & marketing subsidiary. My VIE was a job created especially for me and everything was up to me! My main objective was to provide feedback on customers' views (expectations, types of complaints, etc.) to the subsidiary's management committee. My other tasks were to carry out studies and customer surveys, and create telemarketing campaigns. 

A VIE is an internship which provides you with extensive professional experience of working abroad. It's an opportunity to apply everything that you learnt during your studies and, most importantly, to learn what working in a company is all about. At the end of my VIE, I was already very familiar with Renault… and was sure I wanted to stay! That's what I told my line manager in Belgium and the Human Resources department. 

As a result, I was offered a job with the Parts & Accessories Division. After two more interviews and once I had passed my TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), I was hired in 2003. Participating in the VIE programme helped me a lot in securing this job. As part of the deployment of an extranet for the sales network, I am responsible for relaying feedback on the expectations of our customer garages. This means I can call on the experience I gained in Brussels. Which saves me time everyday!" 

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