Jad Hammani, Class of 2019

After my baccalauréat, I did the bachelor's degree at Sciences Po, in the Europe-Africa programme. In my first year I was lucky enough to have two excellent sociology teachers, Pierre François, who gave me a lecture, and Arthur Jatteau, who gave me a methodological talk. I then took advantage of my year abroad to take a more in-depth interest in other areas of sociology, particularly the sociology of economics.

I really enjoyed the courses on the classics of sociology, which gave me a rich theoretical background. What's more, the courses on the sociology of public action and the sociology of science, which were at the heart of my Master's dissertation, made a real impact on me and provided useful keys to understanding the world, particularly in the context of the Covid crisis.

I work in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of the Economy, in the Public Finance Sub-Directorate.

When I finished my master's degree in sociology, the question arose as to whether I should continue my career in research. At the time, I felt that I needed to be closer to public decision-making, despite my interest in research. So, after a second master's degree in public affairs, I decided to start preparing for the administrative entrance exams. I was lucky enough to pass the competitive entrance exam to become an administrator at the Assemblée nationale and at the Institut national du service public (formerly the École Nationale d'Administration), which I joined in January 2022.

Training in research has enabled me to acquire real methodological rigour, which is essential in my current role. More generally, this rigour has been useful to me in preparing for competitive examinations. For example, a subject such as public law, which is almost always found in competitive examinations, requires a level of rigour comparable to that expected in the world of research.

As far as technical skills are concerned, the quantitative methodology courses have been particularly useful to me in the rest of my career, both because quantitative methods are essential in my current role and, more broadly, because they have given me an opportunity to gain a more detailed understanding of the numbers that govern us today, to use the words of Alain Desrosières and Alain Supiot. It's vital to be able to stand back from the omnipresence of numbers, to understand how they are constructed and, above all, to bear in mind that our fellow citizens are not numbers!

When you're a research Master's student, you may tend not to explore alternative paths to research. Making research your career is not a trivial choice and I would urge students to consider carefully whether they are making this decision out of conviction or out of mimicry/lack of alternatives.

For those who want to prepare for the administrative entrance examinations, if they have been rigorous during their two years of Masters, they have a clear advantage over other candidates: the civil service needs researchers!

Finally, I would recommend that all students realise how lucky they are to have access to high-level courses, particularly in qualitative and quantitative methodology: these skills will be useful whatever path they take next.