Nicolas Vogtenberger, Class of 2018

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?

After the baccalaureate I chose to do a scientific preparatory class in Strasbourg, and I went on to an engineering school in Grenoble. Upon graduation, I started working in a management consulting firm, Wavestone, on issues related to digital innovation and how technology was changing organizations. After a while, I realized that while the technical issues were exciting, I was missing something related to human sciences and public policies. So I applied for the Master in Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs. 

At Sciences Po, I had the opportunity to do my second year of the master's degree as a work-study student in the Prime Minister's office for the Etalab mission. I worked on France's action plan for the Open Government Partnership. It is an action plan that aims to make public policies more transparent and collaborative, an experience that I really enjoyed because it was very much in line with current issues! 

Then I went back to Wavestone and I quickly realized that my professional aspirations had evolved during these two years of the Master in Public Policy. I now work at Publicis Media where I am an assistant to the CEO and I am also part of the team that founded the Positive Media Project. It is a "fab tank" that aims to co-construct more responsible advertising within the whole advertising ecosystem - a little in line with what I was doing at Etalab!

WHAT WERE THE MAIN STEPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROJECT?

My professional project is under construction and in constant evolution. I have been interested in several major themes for a long time: digital, environment, law and economy. However, in practice, my professional project has been built by opportunities, encounters and a certain curiosity!

For example, when I chose to study engineering, it was because I liked the problem-solving approach and the structure that hard sciences can bring. Then, when I left school, I chose to go into management consulting to be able to take a step back from the issues of corporate governance. It was a very enriching experience, which was marked by many learnings.

However, it was also an experience that made me realize that I was missing some aspects related to the social sciences in my daily work. In particular, during one of my first missions, I worked on a publication about how digital technology is changing the way we work in companies. One of my colleagues was talking about the sociology of work courses she had taken at Sciences Po, and this strongly echoed some of my aspirations. I also had a growing desire to be able to take into account institutional, regulatory and economic issues. Finally, I liked consulting jobs and in the end, public affairs consulting seemed to me to be a professional path that would meet my expectations. This is how I applied and was finally admitted to the Master in Public Policy.

At Sciences Po, I had the opportunity to work on the link between public policy and digital technology thanks to the Policy Lab and by doing my M2 in a work-study program for the Etalab mission. These two experiences really made me want to work on issues at the crossroads of digital, law and economics. The advertising sector has been undergoing a profound transformation over the past decade, and is becoming more digital. At the same time, regulatory, value sharing and ethical issues are multiplying. Working for the CEO of a large local agency, I am lucky enough to be able to work on all these issues, which I am extremely passionate about!

As I said at the beginning, my professional project is evolving. Today, I am increasingly interested in issues related to the ecological transition, but ultimately, like digital issues, it is about questioning the profound changes that are taking place in society and in organizations. My training at Sciences Po gave me all the methodological and conceptual tools to be interested in this subject.

HOW DID YOUR RECRUITMENT PROCESS GO AND WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY?

I was talking about encounters earlier and the recruitment process for the position I currently hold stems specifically from an encounter. In 2018 I went to the Sciences Po Career Forum and a friend of mine specifically wanted to meet Publicis. At the Publicis booth, which I didn't know very well, I spoke a lot with one of the representatives and left my resume with her. A few weeks later, she called me to invite me to meet the person who is my boss today. I enjoyed the exchanges I had with different people during the recruitment process. The company was transforming a lot (and continues to transform!) due to the increasing use of digital in our lives. When Publicis offered me to join them, I thought it would be a stimulating environment and a good opportunity to learn new things!

Today I work on a daily basis for the CEO of Publicis Media France. I work "on order" when a speech is scheduled or when a note is useful on a specific subject for example. I also work on my own initiative on subjects that seem important to me in the long term or on which I feel it would be important for us to take a stand. That's how I started working on environmental issues in 2019, for example. 

If I take a step back and look at the characteristics of the job, there are several. It requires being curious, rigorous, proactive, being able to work independently and being able to quickly acquire a good technical knowledge on various subjects. You also need to be able to convince, convey ideas, write articles, speeches, etc. Finally, it's also a position that gives me the freedom to deal with subjects that I feel are important for the company, so the job description is open-ended, which gives me the opportunity to work on the Positive Media Project, for example.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF YOUR TRAINING AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS TO THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY?

The contributions of the School of Public Affairs training to the position I hold today are numerous! First of all, I really acquired the method of the essay in 2 parts and 2 sub-parts. I know that this structure is often mocked and judged as caricatured but I love it and I find it extremely efficient to defend ideas!

Secondly, it is a course that allows you to build a strong foundation of "hard skills": the lessons in law, economics and general culture are important both for structuring your thoughts and understanding complex issues, but also for writing and showing inventiveness. Beyond this strong foundation, the structure of the program allowed me to acquire a very open mind thanks to the electives (I learned both how to win an election and how to communicate when you are a cultural institution), to the common training courses (I took a great history course), and to all the optional courses (I was introduced to research and I was able to launch an entrepreneurial project).

The School of Public Affairs also gave me the opportunity to meet some very inspiring teachers. For example, I remember the teachers of a course who proposed to all their students to give feedback on their course and to exchange with them on their professional project. This kind of exchange allowed me to take a lot of distance on my choices and to make more informed decisions.

Finally, the community of graduates of the School of Public Affairs is very strong in which mutual aid really exists. This mutual support transcends specialties, classes, etc. As a result, we collectively have the ability to help each other, to make connections between the different disciplines, and it's very nice to know that we will never be alone.

WOULD YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE TO A STUDENT WHO WANTS TO GO INTO YOUR AREA OF ACTIVITY TODAY?

I think I've already gone on for a long time, so I'll take the liberty of giving not 1 but 4 pieces of advice! 

First of all, don't censor yourself and experiment. There is a quote from Warren Buffet that says "Taking jobs to build up your resume is the same as saving up sex for old age". In the end, I think that we should look for jobs in which we really thrive.

As a corollary, don't necessarily have too fixed a vision of your professional project. If you do, you risk closing doors and being disappointed if the reality of the position you reach does not correspond to your expectations.

Don't hesitate to think outside the box and be curious. Proposing new ideas that are not necessarily accepted can be very frustrating, but you have to persevere, try again and again, and make the idea evolve. Working on an idea doesn't always succeed, but it's always a way to discover new things and to take ownership of subjects!

Last tip: have an appetite for quantitative and computer tools. It's probably my "scientific" side talking: numbers are everywhere and give very interesting reading grids but that unfortunately some people refuse to explore, probably because of self-censorship. Finally, in the age of telecommuting, of "code is law" and of the omnipresence of digital technology, mastering the tools offers many opportunities.

LEARN MORE

• The Public Administration policy stream of the School of Public Affairs
• The Master in Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs

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