Tania Miranda completed her Masters in Marketing Management at Grenoble Ecole de Management and is now a Foreign Office Manager for the university, helping applicants succeed through the application process and giving them the chance to grow professionally. Below are some questions you may have for her, that were answered during our webinar.

1. What is the city and university campus like?

Grenoble is known as the Siliicon Valley of France. Located near the Mediterranean, the city is 3 hours to Paris by train and has 64,000 students out of a population of 540,000. The city is ranked 2nd for quality of student living in France and is a cultural hub with 22 museums and many theatres and festivals. GEM has 12 international campuses and 160 partner institutions. There are over 130 nationalities and 2500 international students out of nearly 7000. Tania compares her experience to as if studying at the United Nations.

2. Can you tell us a bit about the Masters program you studied at GEM?

The Masters in Marketing Management is a 2-year program. The first year is academic and the second requires an internship while writing a thesis. Miranda tells us about her internship:

I was fortunate enough that I found my placement through the university’s career center. I got an internship in Paris in a technology company called Alactel Lucent Entreprise. I did a 6-month internship with them, which led me to get a job offer from this industry in France to become a Network Partner Programs Director. While doing the internship, my mentor noticed some soft skills in me that they didn’t find in other students. One example was the ability to work in a very international crowd. So the soft skills that I learned in class on how to deal with people from different cultures, prepared me to succeed in the workforce.

3. Do I need a BA in Business or Economics to study at GEM?

GEM is one of the few universities which accepts students despite not having a previous business degree prior to joining their Masters programs. This is an advantage for students, as they not only acquire the business knowledge during the degree, but bring other aspects and knowledge which may apply to business that other job applicants might not have.

4. Which countries did you live in during the program?

Tania lived in Paris for 2 years, Milan for 2 years after she graduated, and finally moved back to the United States. She is now the Foreign Office Manager for the university based in San Francisco, California. She says:

I now help students become what they want to become with the help of a Masters degree from GEM.

5. What is the job market like in Grenoble?

Grenoble is considered the French Silicon Valley, ranked in the top 5 most inventive cities in the world by Forbes. Many large tech companies such as HP and Xerox operate from there as well as start-ups adding up to a total of 700 foreign companies in the region. Europe’s first micro and nanotechnology center MINATEC is located in Grenoble. The city’s education and technology industries are closely linked with over 23,000 jobs in research.

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