Skills for business

Centrale Nantes, the first engineering school to offer this kind of training programme to PhD students

  • certified by the CDEFI - Conférence des directeurs des Ecoles Françaises d'ingénieur
  • Next session: contact cpe@ec-nantes.fr
20 PhD qualified jobseekers from different fields have followed this programme to date (2017-18 and 2018-19). 70% secured employment upon course completion (50 % permanent contracts, 20 % fixed-term contracts)

Open to:

  • PhD students
  • PhD holders looking to improve their business skills
  • PhD-qualified jobseekers

4 modules:

  1. How a business works: R&D organization, intellectual and industrial property, labour law - HR management, introduction to entrepreneurship / intrapreneurship, innovation, real business problem to solve.
  2. Self-management: Identify one's management style, emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication, time management and prioritisation, career plan and job search techniques.
  3. Management: leadership workshop, (industrial) project management, introduction to finance, professional communication, meetings and interviews, drafting reports and patents.
  4. International skills: English for the workplace and TOEIC test, intercultural communication.

A three-month work placement follows the four modules.
Published on June 12, 2018 Updated on January 13, 2023