Home>Lucas Hassan, Class of 2020

07.11.2022

Lucas Hassan, Class of 2020

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND? 

After a scientific preparatory class, I first entered an engineering school (ENSTA ParisTech) where I followed a course in applied mathematics. I then joined the Nexter company, which produces military equipment for the French Army, as part of a graduate programme. This enabled me to hold various positions during the two years of the programme, in particular positions at the frontier of technical and commercial subjects (innovation, creation of new products, etc.). > 

At the end of my graduate program, I was admitted to Sciences Po in the Master in Public Policy, Security and Defence policy stream. I chose this policy stream because it allowed me to keep a certain logic in my career path while opening up to subjects that were far removed from those taught in engineering school! After graduating from Sciences Po and a few internships in public administration, I joined the Directorate General for Enterprise as a "cybersecurity industries" project manager. After having held this position for almost two and a half years, I will start in a few days a new position as project manager for "frequency allocation and mobile deployment". 

WHAT WERE THE MAJOR STEPS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROJECT?

The most important step for me was to understand that my vocation was not to go into a particular technical field in depth (like my fellow students who had done a thesis), but rather to learn how to explain complex technical subjects to a non-specialist public and to know how to combine them with broader issues (legal, geopolitical, political, etc.) which allow a global vision of the subjects dealt with. I think that in a society in which scientific and technical subjects are becoming increasingly important, there is a need for people who are able to translate these subjects into terms that decision-makers can understand, and this is what I want to do in my career. 

Moreover, I also quickly realised that I wanted to work for the State. Firstly because it gives meaning to the work we do every day, but also because I believe deeply in the role of the State in organising society and guiding its development. 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR JOB TODAY? 

The position I have held up to now consists of working on the development of the French cybersecurity sector. First of all, it is a question of identifying the challenges facing the industry and then proposing public policies capable of responding to them, by mobilising all the levers at the State's disposal (regulatory and financial in particular). In concrete terms, I worked in particular on the implementation of the national acceleration strategy for cybersecurity and the setting up of the Cyber Campus. The challenge of this position is to succeed in understanding the technical subjects, to be able to translate them into terms of public policy and then to defend them with our contacts (ministerial offices, other administrations, etc.)  

In a few days, I will be taking up a new post as 'frequency and mobile deployment' project manager. In this context, I will have to get involved in European and international work aimed at regulating the use of the various frequency bands and coordinate the work of a project manager on the subject of mobile network deployment in metropolitan and French overseas territories. Here again, one of the main challenges of this position will be to succeed in moving beyond technical considerations to translate these issues into public policy terms and bring them to the attention of decision-makers. It will also have a managerial dimension that interests me for the rest of my career. 

WHAT CONTRIBUTIONS DID YOUR TRAINING AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE SECURITY AND DEFENCE policy stream, MAKE TO THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY? 

First and foremost, my training at Sciences Po enabled me to acquire a truly open mind: designing and implementing public policy requires taking into account a wide range of issues without being an expert in all of them. Having studied at Sciences Po allows you to quickly realise that something is missing or has been poorly taken into account and, if necessary, to be able to ask an expert. The quality of the speakers at Sciences Po and the opportunity to discuss their backgrounds also helped me a lot, as these discussions give a better understanding of the way decision-makers think and how they make decisions. 

In particular, the Security and Defence policy stream gave me a good general knowledge of the issues involved in this field. Working in the cybersecurity sector means working in a sector where the organisation is very complex and constantly changing. The courses in the policy stream gave me the basis for understanding the issues underlying these changes and enabled me to better understand the role of the various players in the sector. 

WOULD YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR A STUDENT OR FUTURE GRADUATE? 

My first piece of advice would be to have self-confidence: coming from an engineering background, I was very surprised by the fact that many students at Sciences Po doubt their professional skills, whereas most of them seemed to me to be extremely bright. Sciences Po students have the ability to learn quickly and to mix knowledge in very diverse fields, which are essential skills in the professional world! We should not think that employers are necessarily looking for people who know the smallest details of the positions they offer. The important thing is to be able to learn quickly and my experience in the general management of companies has shown me that Sciences Po students are capable of doing this. 

My second piece of advice would be to start thinking early on about what you want to do in the future, even if it means changing your mind regularly: the idea is not to set yourself today to know what you will be doing in 20 or 30 years, but to set yourself a direction that will make it easier to move forward, even if it means branching off later according to opportunities or your desires.

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