Home>Martin Fourdrignier, Class of 2016
07.06.2022
Martin Fourdrignier, Class of 2016
CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?
After a literary baccalaureate in the Ardennes, I studied preparatory classes for three years at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. I joined the Master in Public Affairs in the Local Government policy stream, with the aim of taking the administrative exams for the local and state civil service, in order to participate in the development of regional planning policies, a subject I had been passionate about in my preparatory classes.
The general excitement at Sciences Po about energy issues (it was autumn 2014, a year before COP21) pushed me to take an interest in these subjects, to switch to the Energy policy stream and to do a work-study placement at GRTgaz.
The dominance of engineers in all the company's functions convinced me of the need to equip myself with economic and financial skills to counterbalance the fact that I was not an engineer.
I therefore continued my studies in the Grande Ecole programme at ESSEC, where I deepened my interest in energy (through a two-year work-study period in the energy teams of a consulting firm) and had the international experience that my arrival at Sciences Po in the fourth year had not allowed me to have. At the end of my studies, I worked for 5 months at the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission as part of a Bluebook internship, before being hired at the Energy Regulatory Commission.>
WHAT WERE THE MAIN STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PATH?
My professional project was entirely constructed at Sciences Po. I joined the Public Affairs Master's programme with the idea of taking the civil service exams. But paradoxically, it was in this master's programme, which is considered to be the antechamber to ÉNA, that I got my first taste of the private sector, through my involvement in the permanent team of the Junior Entreprise. On a daily basis, the management of the different aspects of customer relations (prospecting, elaboration of commercial proposals, negotiation during customer meetings) aroused my curiosity for the business world. My time in GRTgaz's institutional relations department confirmed this interest, which I deepened at ESSEC, through a two-year internship in the energy team of the consulting firm BearingPoint.
My desire to return to public policy and regulation issues led me to Brussels, where I did a Bluebook internship at the end of my ESSEC course. I spent 5 months at DG Energy, working on the revision of the Trans-European Energy Infrastructure Networks regulation, a subject I discovered during a course at Sciences Po, since the lecturer was an administrator at the Commission, in the DG ENER team where I worked. At the end of the internship, I wanted to explore more the regulation issues from a national perspective, while keeping a European dimension. I was lucky enough to get an opportunity at the Energy Regulatory Commission, in the European Interconnections and Networks Department of the Networks Directorate, where I work today.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR POSITION TODAY?
A significant feature of my job is its hybrid aspect of technical skills and European affairs. This dimension was crucial in my decision to work at CRE, as I wanted to keep a European dimension in the continuity of my Bluebook internship, without embarking on a 100% public affairs/European affairs position.
On a day-to-day basis, I have my own topics on which I produce analyses and which I then take to the working groups organised by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) or the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), which bring together regulators from other European countries. Within this framework, I constantly interact with my European counterparts to define common regulatory positions to be presented to different audiences (in particular the co-legislators, i.e. the Commission, the Parliament and the Council), either in an anticipatory / forward-looking manner, or in the context of legislative procedures. I also have frequent contacts with network operators and French authorities (Directorate General for Energy and Climate, General Secretariat for European Affairs to bring positions to the Council ...).
In terms of subjects, I work on a variety of issues: the planning of electricity and gas infrastructures on a European scale, the monitoring of French interconnections, the regulation of new gases (biomethane, hydrogen), and occasionally, on cooperation with other regulators outside Europe. Recent events have also led to topics more related to the geopolitics of gas, gas storage and security of supply issues.
WHAT CONTRIBUTIONS DID YOUR STUDY AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS HAVE ON THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY?
A detour through business school and a more business-like experience in consulting, before returning to more traditional career opportunities for a graduate of the School of Public Affairs (European Commission, CRE), allowed me to step back and consider the contribution of Sciences Po in general and the School in particular. Among the most valuable contributions: a solid general understanding of administration that allowed me to evolve in the administrative environment of the CRE, an ability to synthesise and produce effective notes. Also the specialisation courses in the energy field, and the meetings with professionals in whom one can project oneself, like Adina Crisan, then an administrator at DG ENER, whose former team I joined during my Bluebook internship. In my current position, I see the contribution of Sciences Po as complementary to that of ESSEC, because these two courses correspond to very different ways of thinking: on the one hand, the general interest and the importance of public power to guarantee certain investments, particularly in the name of security of supply, and on the other, the economic logic of optimising resources under constraint. These two rationales are present in the regulator's daily work.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE A STUDENT OR A FUTURE YOUNG GRADUATE?
Network, network, network. Everyone recommends it, but no one explains how to do it. Here are 3 ways:
Get involved in projects. Studying at Sciences Po (and in general, at a grande école) generates multiple opportunities to get involved and set up projects. You should try to seize as many of them as possible, as they are all opportunities to increase your "surface area of luck", i.e. the chances of meeting new people, which can lead to new possibilities that you would not have imagined. Any circumstance is good to exchange, explain what you do, what you are passionate about and cultivate an interest in a particular sector or theme. For example, thanks to the ESSEC Tuesdays, I had the opportunity to conduct two-hour interviews with the CEO of Total Patrick Pouyanné, the Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne or the writer Frédéric Beigbeder.
Creating a micro-business and developing an activity in parallel with the courses can also be a way to meet new people; in any case, this is what I have done since Sciences Po by coaching candidates in the alternate admissions procedures to the grandes écoles.
Make contact with people working in your industry. This is essential when looking for an internship or a job. Personally, I no longer go to an interview without first talking to people in the team in an informal way. This allows me to get feedback on the team other than that of the people involved in the recruitment process and to avoid disappointment. More generally, people are always very happy to help and talk about themselves, so don't hesitate. A simple message explaining the process and asking for 10-15 minutes on the phone is enough. At one point, I had contacted quite a few analysts in investment banking on energy topics: out of about fifty LinkedIn messages, more than half resulted in a call, even though these people are super busy. In short, you have to try!
