Nathalie Benesti, Ile-de-France Operations Director and France Customer Experience Manager at American Express Business Travel

 ”Holder of a BTS in tourism, I started my career as a travel agent before moving on to a director’s position. Given the profound transformation that the business travel industry is going through today, I felt the need to validate my 25 years of experience to strengthen my legitimacy. The choice of Montpellier Business School was a natural one because I was attracted by the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as the concrete approach of the school.

With the assistance of a coach, I have compiled a file presenting the projects dealing with strategy, marketing and finance among others. This exercise allowed me to see the extent of my skills. My professional development is not down to chance!

On a personal level, I have gained in serenity and all my life I shall remember my pride on the day of the announcement of the full validation of my skills unanimously and, icing on the cake, the congratulation of the examination board.

My area of responsibility has expanded. I am solicited to participate in debates and conferences. Thanks to the personal work carried out within the framework of the VAE, I collaborate with the HRD on training plans. It’s a new challenge!”

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“There was a mismatch between the position I occupied and my basic training.” This is what prompted Jacques Vienne, 53, to use Montpellier Business School’s services. Director of Development for the Frey Group, a commercial urban planning specialist, he has embarked on a process of validation of acquired experience (VAE), which has been particularly the right way to go for him: thanks to this decision, he has obtained a degree in line with his current responsibilities, a second-year Master’s in management.

So a nice consecration for a career nicely led. Jacques Vienne finished his studies by obtaining a university degree of technology (DUT) then he immediately started to work. He has a series of positions of responsibility in commercial urban planning. After 13 years with Decathlon, then two with Bouygues Immobilier in Spain, he was recruited in 2003 by the Frey Group which entrusted him with the development of its Spanish business before adding the southern French sector. There, Jacques Vienne once again made an impression by allowing his group to take charge of the commercial aspect of the vast real estate project “Ode à la mer”, launched by the Montpellier Metropolis. It was on this occasion that he settled in the city: “It was the right time to undertake a VAE approach. Montpellier Business School, in partnership with Les 2 Rives, offered exactly what I was looking for”.

Today, he continues to praise the welcome and professionalism of the Ecole Supérieure de Management’s teams (the Montpellier Graduate School of Management’s teams). “Thanks to them, I understood precisely what VAE and its issues were. I benefited from an effective and personalised coached follow-up, which is fundamental to stay focused on your objectives and an excellent assistance from those who accompanied me”. Jacques Vienne thus draws a more than positive assessment of his decision: “For me, it was a personal challenge and I am reassured because, today, my degrees are well in line with my position. And, even though the question does not even rise for me, it enhances my skills in the job market.”

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Thesis defence presented and validated for M. Jean-Louis. It was on Monday 7 December that the Director of Air France KLM Burkina Faso came to Montpellier Business School to pass his final VAE defence at the Grande Ecole Programme. A success which allows him, at 56, to be officially graduated from the Master’s programme, 30 years after obtaining his last degree.

Director of the airline company Air France KLM in Burkina Faso since 2012, Mr Jean-Louis Pradaes wanted to obtain this Master’s degree through the Validation of Acquired Experience, above all, for personal reasons. “I wanted to take stock of 30 years of professional experience including 20 years of management experience. And for me, it had to be formalised by something concrete“, he says just a few minutes after validating his defence at 100%. “I’ve obtained a BTS degree in Tourism more than thirty years ago and during my career, I benefited from a quality internal training but I also pursued some short courses leading to a qualification, including one course offered in partnership with EDHEC. And above all, I needed my own recognition of what I am capable of. For me, the VAE was therefore a good way to formalise this but also to take a step back from my professional life through deep introspective work on oneself”.

Jean Louis Prades therefore decided to join the Grande Ecole Programme of Montpellier Business School through the support of “Les 2 Rives” firm. “I didn’t know if I had the Master’s level but I was ready to try and get invested. Montpellier Business School is an internationally recognised Grande Ecole, ranked among the world TOP 50 business schools, which makes you want to take up the challenge! I worked from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (editor’s note), from five up to ten hours a week, mainly on weekends, and my thesis was completed in twelve months. I really thank all people who have accompanied me in this adventure and especially Vincent Causse, consultant and associate director of the 2Rives. I really thank all the people who have accompanied me through this adventure and especially Vincent Causse, consultant and Associate Director of Les 2 Rives, and François-Xavier Théry, Business Development Director at Montpellier Business School”, says Jean-Louis Prades.

At the end of the defence after the examination board’s deliberation, we could feel Jean Louis Prades relieved and hear emotion in his voice. “The defence went very well even if I was a little tense and stressed at first. The deliberation was quick and now I am happy, relaxed and a little moved. I am very proud to be a graduate of the Grande Ecole Programme of Montpellier Business School and I will immediately announce it to my children”.

The Grande Ecole Programme of Montpellier Business School is one of the rare few that can be obtained through the Validation of Acquired Experience which is based on a general principle: competence is worth a degree.

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“We chose the VAE because it allows for tailor-made solutions. For employees, the benefit is extraordinary because it increases their awareness of the skills they possess. To complete these skills, they follow a real academic path and finally get a degree which certifies and validates their knowledge. This fosters team spirit through exchanges of good practices and reveals a sense of pride. I would add that, for those who have not had the opportunity to pursue their studies, it is never too late to catch up. As for the company, it ensures the development of its employees’ careers while professionalising them.

Our sector managers and instructors’ career paths have not necessarily enabled them to acquire some of the skills that we now wish to instill in them. The challenge is that they integrate all of the economic and strategic dimensions of the company, the marketing, financial and customer relations aspects, as well as the impact of new technologies, to be able to understand the company’s decisions field. Our objective is to strengthen the management.

For a year and a half, 28 instructors and sector managers, selected on the basis of their career, the experience required and their motivation, followed a training course of two to three days per month, to which were added 150 hours devoted to the VAE with individual coaching.

Montpellier Business School was the one that offered us the most efficient offer of all the major schools we had contact with. We wanted a prestigious label. It was important to the candidates. But we didn’t want prestige to prevail over what we thought was the best offer. I would add that Montpellier Business School works with Paul Chiambaretto, a recognised expert in the aviation sector.”

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