Floriane, Michelin's Graduate Program

My journey began with a one-year sales assignment at Michelin’s headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, where I worked as an Inside Sales Account Manager. I then moved to Madrid to join Michelin Spain, where I currently hold a role as Pricing Analyst and Business Intelligence Manager for B2B tire markets.

Within this function, my principal responsibility is analyzing market dynamics and pricing structures to inform strategic decisions and to identify growth opportunities. The role is highly cross-functional. In fact, the most important aspect of my position is the ability to collaborate effectively with people from different professional, cultural, and technical backgrounds.

Sciences Po prepared me particularly well for this type of career, although perhaps not in the most obvious way. Rather than preparing me for one specific profession or industry, my education taught me how to learn quickly, synthesize complex information, question assumptions, and adapt to unfamiliar environments.

Before entering the Graduate Program, I had never worked in sales. Nevertheless, during my first rotation, I was able to develop the necessary commercial skills and manage customer relationships. The transition to my current position required another learning process, but, once again, the adaptability and intellectual curiosity I developed at Sciences Po helped me become comfortable with a huge number of subjects and markets.

The diversity of my responsibilities is highly engaging. I work across various tire segments—including agriculture, truck, and civil engineering—each presenting distinct challenges and opportunities. I am constantly developing my understanding of markets and industries that were initially not my field of expertise.

As I said above, the capacity of Sciences Po, and in particular PSIA, to broaden professional horizons and foster adaptability was a decisive factor in my career trajectory. 

The methodological rigor developed at PSIA has also proved highly relevant. Skills such as assessing the reliability of sources, comparing different perspectives, synthesizing large amounts of information, and constructing evidence-based arguments translate directly into my current analytical work. 

PSIA also offered a distinctive international and multilingual environment. Studying Portuguese, for example, strengthened my linguistic profile and has become particularly valuable now that I work within the Iberian market. More broadly, studying and collaborating in an international environment prepared me for the cross-cultural dimension of working within a global company.

Finally, my third-semester internship with the French Army was particularly influential in developing my interest in industry and complex organizations. Beyond the specific experience itself, it taught me the importance of discipline, teamwork, accountability, and understanding how to operate effectively within structured organizations.

I would encourage students to remain curious about career paths beyond the ones that may initially seem the most natural given their academic background. Sciences Po provides a set of highly transferable skills—adaptability, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to understand complex environments—that can create opportunities across both the public and private sectors.

In particular, I would advise students not to underestimate what they can contribute to technical or industrial environments simply because they do not come from an engineering or business background. Entering these environments with a different perspective can actually be an advantage. The ability to ask different questions, challenge established assumptions, and approach problems from another angle can bring genuine value to an organization.