“Earning a degree at a French Grande Ecole after a high quality undergraduate programme is an excellent way to start a career, but it is not enough to maintain a high level of employability throughout a lifetime. Above all, a Grande Ecole allows a student to gain professional skills, but also to become a manager marked by responsible and ethical behaviour”, Valérie Masanet, Head of the Experience and Personal Development Department.

La Rochelle Business School offers each student the possibility, whatever their course of study, to learn differently thanks to an EPD path: Experience and Personal Development.

Why?

Because earning a good degree is not enough to ensure employability throughout a lifetime. 
Because choosing a career path from all the possible options requires a good understanding of roles, business lines, sectors and geographical areas...as well as a good understanding of oneself so that our choices correspond to our aspirations and motivations...
Because a managerial role requires a good level of academic knowledge and an openness to other cultures, but also strong interpersonal skills.

EPD is an opportunity for each student :

- to learn about himself, to build a strong character, to develop personal qualities such as self-esteem and empathy
- to increase their knowledge of roles, sectors and geographical areas in order to understand the job market and achieve their professional goals
- to raise awareness of the importance of building a network and making informed choices that bolster professional experience 

• Creating a path that serves the student’s goals

One of our key responsibilities is helping each student identify, build and implement their professional and personal project and take charge of their future.

This involves a certain number of phases devoted to discussions, decisions and initiatives that lead the student to design a path that serves their goals. The student must be capable at the end of their studies to enter the job market with a specific business, role and geographical zone in mind and adopt a strategic approach to their life and career.

Employability as the central focus of its mission and is presented to students in the following "formula" :

E= D+P+CV+R+S where E (Employability) = D (the Degree) + P (Personal and Professional Project) + CV (Learning Experiences) + R (Réseau - Network) + S (Smile).*

To ensure that students have strong, life-long and effective employability, the degree is evidence of knowledge acquisition. Academic learning is only part of the story : the personal and professional project evidences their skills through concret work experience and the CV illustrates the coherence of these experiences with student's chosen career trajectory. They must also develop networking skills and emotional awarness for success. The School includes the smile as it prepares students for their personal and professional fulfillment.