When I say “I”, I actually mean “we”. I operate within a multidisciplinary team. This means that we all have a generalist profile but also a specialty. For me, it is the engineering aspect. I have colleagues who are more economists, geographers or even cartographers.
Specifically, we help countries to develop their land-use planning schemes or cities to draw up their development plans. For my part, I focus more specifically on the programming of urban investments. For example, I conduct feasibility studies for the establishment of new infrastructure.
In general, who are your clients?
For each project, I effectively have two clients. Firstly, there is the one financing the study, which is generally a funding agency, meaning an international institution that finances development projects. Then there is the beneficiary, which is the city or territory where the project will be implemented.
Taking the example of a project in Vietnam, it might be funded by the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, and the beneficiary would be a specific city or province.
How did you find this job?
I completed my end-of-study internship at Groupe Huit, thanks to a contact provided by a professor from the STU master’s program. Subsequently, I continued to work with them for five years, mainly in Asia. In 2013, when I finished the thesis I was writing alongside, I decided to work for a while as a freelancer. I returned to Groupe Huit about a year and a half ago.
What was the subject of your thesis?
I did a thesis on urban geography at the Sorbonne. To be more precise, my thesis focused on urbanisation in China. The title was as follows: The small towns, new centres for territorial development in China: the example of Zhejiang Province.
If you had one piece of advice to give to current students, what would it be?
I’m not sure I have much advice to offer. I have noticed that the very generalist profile of Sciences Po is appreciated by recruiters, as it guarantees hiring someone who knows how to think, adapt, and maintain a global perspective. At the same time, the lack of specialisation can sometimes be a challenge. I would say that urban studies is a very broad field. It might be useful to ask yourself what interests you in urban studies. The economic side? Finance? Technical aspects? Social considerations? Depending on that, it may be worthwhile to pursue additional training.
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