I interned at Technip Corporate Services, TechnipFMC, Paris. They are global leaders in project management and contracting services in subsea, onshore/offshore and surface operations of the Oil & Gas field. My journey started off with an email which I believed was lost to the enormous virtual data junk. Just as my tensions began to peak at the height of our summer internship placement processes, I received a reply as a breath of oxygenated air in this carbon-purified world. A call was scheduled, a short interview was taken, stipend discussed and the next thing I know, Jane (name changed) gave me everything and more. It was all there, sitting in front of my screen from Ms Jane (my manager), a long list of my allowances. I was psyched.
Fast forward 2 months to April 16th, 2018, I found myself at my table with all the arrangements made for my work. Ms Jane left me a cute welcome note as she wouldn’t be available for the rest of the week.
Corporate Sustainability at this current state is being embraced by most industries through various policy regulations and agreements on the global stage. These sustainability strategies are essentially risk mitigation techniques that foster innovation and sustenance. Like all strategies, they are aligned with the vision, the mission and the foundational beliefs of the company. Determining the materiality focus is crucial as these decisions, once approved, are commitments with huge environmental and social impacts.
My learnings from the internship were beyond the technical managerial subjects. The role cultures play in the integration of organizations, the deployment of sustainability through an equity-based approach and the staunch need for assessment studies was aptly laid down. How leading organizations perceive carbon offsetting and strive/innovate to reduce their carbon footprint taught me how to begin with benchmarking these capital-intensive firms.
Having been exposed to the corporate, I believe it is important for us managers to assume operational roles in order to develop a concrete knowledge of the industry’s functioning for effective decision-making and leading through change. France is the said to be the face of global sustainability leadership and after my experience, I would say that it is so for all the right reasons.
To conclude, I must say - survival in Paris has to come with a level of the frugality of the individual. The struggle is real as being broke in the foreign land with a tardy banking system is not very pretty. If there is one life lesson I learned the hard way, it is to plan my expenditure. Wouldn’t we make horrible managers if we can’t manage our own finances?
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About the Author:
Basanthy Singampalli
XSoS
2017-2019
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