They came for their final-year internship and ended up with a permanent contract!

At Voyage Privé, there’s no need to wait 3 or 5 years to discover the potential of the people who join us. We support our trainees who are curious and eager to learn, by offering them tasks that are professional and have a high level of responsibility. Our managers train them on projects, integrating them 100% into Voyage Privé business development, enabling them to shine and become familiar with the unique culture of Voyage Privé. So much so, they never want to leave!

Several applicants join us every year, all ready to test themselves and take up new challenges. We adapt assignments according to their skills and their willingness to invest in the company. 34 trainees joined us in 2017 and we plan to welcome around 40 in 2018.

Meet Marie, in charge of Social Media.

Tell us a bit about yourself! 

I’m 27 years old and I was born in St Malo – an expat Breton in the South! I come from a family of sports enthusiasts and dreamed of being a sports teacher when I was younger!

At first, I was focused on marketing studies and sports events. I worked for Billabong where I was supposed to organise sporting events. The reality was different: after-sales service, invoicing, folding t-shirts and storing shoes at the back of the shop, it was not what I signed up for.

One day at the library, I came across a book by Didier Jéhanno entitled ‘Partir autour du monde’ (travelling around the world). I sent a text message to my boyfriend, ‘Come on, we’re going on a world tour !’ He said yes. 6 months of preparations later, our backpacks were ready and we were leaving for a year-long trip across 18 countries. My passion for travel has grown as had the desire to make travelling my job. On our return, I resumed my studies and started a Masters specialising in tourism marketing in Toulouse for one year. I was attracted by Web marketing, I then chose all the digital options to specialise in this area.

Why Voyage Privé?

It was a stroke of luck. It turned out that the company in Miami where I was supposed to do my final-year internship did not have permission to take on foreign interns. Just one week before the start of my internship, I found myself with nothing. That was when I saw the Voyage Privé offer on my school website. I was interviewed very quickly, I went on site on Friday for my final interview and started work on Monday!

What job do you do here?

I started as Email and Display Assistant trainee. My theoretical knowledge was there, but the gap with reality was huge. Yet Voyage Privé trusted me, I knew how to adapt and prove myself.

At that time, we worked with Officiel des Vacances, which was my training ground. I was able to develop my skills fairly quickly to finally maximise the France account. Even though I came from nowhere with little experience, Voyage Privé believed in me and I quickly had to manage millions in turnover! The team has grown a lot, I’ve trained new recruits as I’ve gone along. I’m now an expert!

 ‘Voyage Privé believed in me’ 

In the end, I stayed in the job for three years. I then left on maternity leave and asked to move up the professional ladder. I had the idea of moving into Social Media in mind. I wanted to wear multiple hats in my career, to develop my skills in this area. Always with the idea of becoming a manager.

What do you love about your work?

What appeals to me is all things digital, and social networks. There is always something new in tools, new features! We might well do the same job, but it changes from month to month, we learn something new every day! It really does bring new knowledge. There are also many opportunities to evolve, change markets and so discover new issues and the strategies related to each.

Today, in addition to my job, I am also fully invested in life at Voyage Privé. I’m a member of the Délégation Unique du Personnel (sole employee representative), and I volunteer at the École des XV organisation. I’m also helping with the project to launch our future premises, ‘The Campus’.

Why did you say ‘yes’ to us?

Voyage Privé, is a young, dynamic company. We are fully able to evolve because we are trusted. The atmosphere is really great. We are a small family, everybody knows each other well, especially thanks to the events that are organised for employees.

Do you have any noteworthy projects to share with us?

In my job, we don’t really work on projects. I’d talk more about the trust I’ve been given in taking over a really important market – France. I had to start partnerships with major travel actors and manage budgets accordingly. I asked to take on this market and they handed it over to me! So, of course, we want to do a good job and take good care of it!