Caroline Lemercier, who graduated from EM Normandie in 2010, tells us about her career path, guided by instinct and opportunity.
From her gap year between Paris and Los Angeles to her eight years in an advertising agency before joining Meetic, her career illustrates the importance of curiosity, adaptation and meeting new people.
A first step driven by instinct
I was thinking, while I'm at it, I might as well go for something a bit generalist.
And that's what business school was all about. I went in with no great expectations, just thinking: I'm in a good environment, I'm going to learn what I need to learn and practise through work placements. I just let it happen. I'm someone who operates very much on opportunity and instinct.
I've never really had a clearly defined career path; I've always let the wind and the people I've met guide me.
The gap year: between Paris and Los Angeles
The first big step was the gap year. A student from a previous year had told me about an internship at McCann Paris, a big advertising agency, on the L'Oréal Paris account. I heard “L'Oréal Paris”, and I thought it would be great to have this experience on my CV.
The second part took place in Los Angeles, via a family connection. I decided that I had nothing to lose. I worked in a suburban town hall, but the most rewarding part was discovering the United States and its culture. That trip was the trigger for what followed, and it was mainly the advertising agency environment that I discovered and loved: a friendly, creative atmosphere where no two days are alike.
Getting into advertising in France
After this experience in the US, I thought going international would be interesting, but I still started building my career in France.
When I left school, I wanted to work in advertising. I found an end-of-studies placement in a small Parisian agency belonging to a large group. I worked for Bonduelle, Mars, Cérébos and 1664. The brands were all very different, and I really liked that.
After that internship, I found a job and joined another agency in Paris. I stayed there for eight years, working my way up. I worked for SNCF, a very different brand, with a public dimension. It was an intense and rewarding eight years, but also tiring.
The switch to Meetic and the introduction to tech
Tired of the fast pace of agency work, I wanted to move to the advertiser side. I joined Meetic as a CRM project manager. It was a bit of a blow to my ego to leave my role as account manager, but I discovered a whole new world. At Meetic, I was introduced to tech. I worked with developers and engineers on a daily basis, with a very different perspective compared to agencies.
It opened up a new dimension to my career and new ways of working.
At the agency, we all looked pretty much the same. Here I was working with engineers with completely different ways of thinking. It was really great, I loved discovering that, but it's true that at a certain point I thought I'd like to move on and get out of the CRM side of things. So I decided I'd take a chance and join the marketing teams at Meetic Europe and finally get the kind of job I wanted, and that's how I ended up as Brand & Design Director at the same company.
My advice to students
Trust yourself and don't lock yourself in. If a situation doesn't suit you, move, change. Facing up against difficult moments also helps to develop your instincts.
