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FFS and INBM Double Major Internship Field Experience in Toulouse

Emily Stutzman '19

Major: French and Francophone Studies & International Business and Management

The French and Francophone Studies Department got the privilege to speak with one of their recent French Alumnae in order to ask her about her experience finding and executing an internship field experience during her year abroad in Toulouse, France. She is the first student to have worked with this 4-year-old startup, Catspad. Read on if you're curious how the internship process works in Toulouse!

Note: Toulouse Internships are only permitted if the student studies abroad in Toulouse for one year

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How did you find your internship?

First, I had to create a “CV” and a “lettre de motivation”, which are resume and cover letter in French. I had to learn the French style because it is very different. Fortunately, my French University had a career center of sorts that edited my resume before it was submitted to my Toulouse program director. This assistance was very helpful for making sure that I had the correct formatting. Afterward, my Toulouse program director, Julia Carnine, went and looked for companies based on my interests and goals for the internship. She found Catspad through her connections and I then interviewed with them. Afterward, I was hired.

Tell me about the company you worked at?

Catspad is a 4-year-old start-up located in Toulouse, France. It is a global product company that sells a dual food/water distributor for cats, which connects to a data health analysis app on the iPhone. They have sold their product to over 46 countries.

What was your role?

I was their Digital Marketing Intern and I worked closely with the Digital Acquisition Manager on the Communications and Marketing team.

What were your primary duties?

  1. Worked closely with Digital Acquisition Manager; learned about SEO, SMO, SEA and used Google AdWords

  2. Translated trade show applications, investor/reimbursement letters, and website pages

  3. Created product advertising and user-generated content on social media channels

  4. Performed benchmarking; developed recommendations; executed analysis on various social media channels

  5. Provided insight into the American market

What did the internship field experience require of you?

  1. 120 hours in total, so 10 hours for 12 weeks of work with the company

  2. A 30-page report on my experience as well as Marketing and Communications research

  3. Bi-weekly meetings with a French University Business Professor mentor to discuss report improvements/plan

  4. 20 min presentation in French about my experience, research and what I learned in front of a panel of my Toulouse program coordinators, my manager, and my mentor.

What were your takeaways?

I appreciated the opportunity to combine all three of my interests: business, French and art. I was able to be creative with my ideas and social media content, but also provide great value to Catspad. They not only got assistance with translations but also my American background helped them understand the best way to market to the US. From this experience, I figured I was interested in global marketing particularly creative and analytical, which led to my summer internship experience in Boston, MA at Carbonite, a computer backup software company.