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International study: are digital open days really worth your time?

If you’re considering an MBA or executive education, you want to know that the institution you choose will really suit your needs. But with ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, it may be impossible to visit in person.

Published: 24 May 2021 10:18 CEST
International study: are digital open days really worth your time?
Nayda Massoud. Photo: ESSEC

So what of digital open days: are they really worth the time and effort? Reaching across time zones is more important than ever today, and the digital world is increasing the demand for personalized learning opportunities.

But if you’re an international person and fear current restrictions could stifle your growth, can you learn enough to make an informed decision by joining remotely?

The Local takes a look at how one Parisian business school is reimagining the open day and bringing it into the 21st century, as well as learning how some of its alumni are prospering in today’s digital world.

Experience a new kind of open day: find your path to world-class business learning with the ESSEC Executive virtual open days, between the 21st and 25th of June, 2021

Turning adversity into opportunity

Most of us have attended a university open day before – it’s an opportunity to not only learn more about the courses delivered by a university or business school, but also to get a feel for the atmosphere and learning environment you could be entering.

While the pandemic continues, the traditional style of open day – an open campus visit with sessions running throughout, usually on a weekend – just isn’t possible. Contact restrictions mean the kind of course counselling sessions you might see featured throughout a day can’t be held.

Founded in 1907, ESSEC provides high-quality and innovative business learning, including leading MBAs, at campuses in France, Singapore and Morocco. It has a series of 100 percent digital Executive open days planned for the end of June.

As with so many things, the changes enforced by the pandemic can also open up new opportunities. Indeed, the leap to online learning and greater use of digital tools means a virtual open day can be a much richer, more useful experience than the traditional approach.

Claire Szlingier, ESSEC Executive education’s Head of Marketing, says switching to virtual open days makes it possible to give those interested in joining ESSEC a much broader and deeper experience. “To begin with, it allows us to reach international students across multiple time zones.” With lectures and seminars scheduled from dawn to dusk across a number of days, those from overseas who wish to come to France to study can access events, no matter where they are.

“Hosting open days on our learning platform online also allows us to deliver a deeper, more tailored experience to prospective students,” Szlingier adds. Using a bespoke platform, MeltingSpot, designed by an ESSEC alumnus, the school’s open days allow prospective students to select a combination of events that reflects their interests and address their questions. They will be able to access ‘masterclasses’ from ESSEC faculty, discuss their needs with advisors and the admissions team, and watch Alumni Q&A sessions that give an inside glimpse of student life at ESSEC.

Hosting digital open days also reflects the school’s strategic plan, ‘RISE’, which includes a focus on tackling social and environmental problems, says Szlingier. The plan also encourages innovative entrepreneurship and holistic use of data to guide thinking, as ESSEC seeks to positively influence the major challenges facing businesses, organisations and society.

Access business acumen from world-class teachers, professors and advisors: find out more about the ESSEC Executive virtual open days, taking place from the 21st to 25th June, 2021

An earlier open day at ESSEC Business School. Photo: ESSEC

Future vision, past tradition

What of the courses you can learn about? ESSEC delivers a popular and highly-acclaimed full-time Global MBA program and the part-time ESSEC and Mannheim Business School Executive MBA (modular track). You can also choose the part-time ESSEC Executive MBA (weekend track).

In addition, it offers a number of specialised courses: the full-time MSc in Hospitality Management (IMHI), the part-time Executive Master in Luxury Management and Design Innovation or ‘EMiLUX’ and the part-time Executive Mastère Spécialisé in International Business Development.

ESSEC alumni have many positive stories to share about how their experience at the school changed their lives.

Nayda Massoud, who is of Lebanese origin and has lived in Nigeria and France, did an ESSEC Global MBA and went on to find an exciting position as an operations manager at Amazon France.

She says she is “thrilled” with her new position and that the Global MBA was “a gateway” to the opportunity. “Along with its reputation, the program’s choice of specializations, the incorporation of hands-on learning through consulting missions brought balance to the academic experience,” she says.

David Pereira launched an automotive industry start-up after studying an Executive MBA at ESSEC. “From the recruitment team to the academic team, everybody made sure I felt comfortable and made me a part of a family,” he says.

With an open day experience that is now one hundred percent online, there’s never been a better opportunity for those wishing to attend a world-class institution of business learning. No matter where you are, or your current working hours, you can still fully access the wide range of workshops, seminars and Q&A sessions provided by ESSEC during their virtual Executive open days, between the 21st and 25th of June, 2021.

Looking to grow in your life and career? Sign up for ESSEC’s virtual Executive open days, taking place from the 21st to 25th of June, 2021

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PARIS

Thousands of French police on alert as ‘freedom convoy’ heads to Paris

Thousands of protesters headed toward Paris on Friday in convoys from across France, with many hoping to blockade the capital in opposition to Covid vaccination rules and other restrictions despite police warnings to back off.

Published: 11 February 2022 16:40 CET
Thousands of French police on alert as 'freedom convoy' heads to Paris

Inspired by Canadian truckers paralysing border traffic with the US, the French protesters set off from Bayonne, Perpignan, Lyon, Lille, Strasbourg and elsewhere with the aim of converging on Paris by Friday evening.

Authorities in Paris have banned the demonstrators, as have authorities in Brussels, where the convoys intend to head next. Around 7,200 police and gendarmes will be deployed over a three day period to enforce the ban. 

A police source said around 1,800 vehicles were estimated to be closing in on the French capital. 

Protesters wave French flags as a so-called “Freedom Convoy” (Convoi de la Liberte) passes through Le Mans, western France, on February 11, 2022. – Thousands of protesters in convoys, inspired by Canadian truckers paralysing border traffic with the US, were heading to Paris from across France on February 11, with some hoping to blockade the capital in opposition to Covid-19 restrictions despite police warnings to back off. The protesters include many anti-Covid vaccination activists, but also people protesting against fast-rising energy prices that they say are making it impossible for low-income families to make ends meet. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)

The demonstrators include anti-Covid vaccination activists, but also people angry at fast-rising energy prices that they say have been a devastating blow to the finances of low-income families – an echo of the “yellow vest” grievances that sparked widespread protests in 2018 and 2019.

They are demanding a withdrawal of the government’s vaccine pass, which is required for access to many public spaces, and more help with their energy bills.

“People need to see us, and to listen to the people who just want to live a normal and free life,” said Lisa, a 62-year-old retired health worker who joined a convoy of over 1,000 vehicles leaving Chateaubourg in the western Brittany region early Friday.

Like other protesters, Lisa has been active in the “yellow vest” movement that erupted over a fuel tax hike before becoming a platform for other complaints against President Emmanuel Macron.

The yellow vests often clashed with police, but Lisa said she hoped the protests on Friday would go off peacefully. “It would really annoy me if things got out of hand,” she told AFP.

After spending a cold night in a parking lot, the drivers in Chateaubourg set off in a long single file of trucks, passenger cars and campers as sympathetic passers-by waved from bridges.

“All kinds of people are part of this,” said Sarah, a 40-year-old tattoo artist from the northern city of Lens. “We’re citizens, we have families, we work and we’re all united against the government.”

Paris police banned the gathering because of feared “public order disturbances,” and said protesters who tried to block roads would face fines, arrest or having their driving licences confiscated.

“We must be very firm about this,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Police showed off their anti-blockage arsenal on Twitter, publishing photographs of loader tractors for the removal of barricades as well trucks equipped with cranes or water cannon.

The protesters meanwhile shared information about police deployments around Paris, often via the encrypted Telegram messaging service, and exchanged tips about the easiest access routes.

“It’s important that we don’t interfere with other people on the roads,” said one activist, Robin, on his way from Illkirch-Graffenstaden in the eastern Alsace region. “That way we’ll keep the population on our side, like they did in Canada.”

Many demonstrators are planning to stay in Paris overnight, and then join protests on Saturday against the government’s vaccine pass.

Some then want to travel on to Brussels for a “European convergence” of protesters planned there for Monday – an event that has been banned by Belgian authorities.

Phil, a 58-year-old on his way by truck from Brittany, said his refusal to get vaccinated had created “upheaval” in his family and work relations.

“When you join a demonstration you feel less alone,” he told AFP.

The government has expressed some sympathy for the protesters, with spokesman Gabriel Attal attributing their anger to “fatigue and weariness” after long-lasting Covid restrictions.

But opposition parties should not be allowed to hijack the movement for their own aims, he said Friday.

“They are looking to gain political capital from this weariness and this fatigue,” he said.

The government also announced Friday a further easing of Covid rules, with indoor mask wearing set to go at the end of this month, except on public transport.

Attal also said this week that the vaccine pass could be scrapped in late March or early April, which would be just before the first round of elections on April 10, when President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek a new term.

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