Interview with Emma Hindmarch

Emma Hindmarch studied single honours French at the University of Leeds and spent her year abroad in Montpellier in the south of France. She graduated in 2012 and is currently working as a business development manager in a communications agency in Paris.

How did you get to where you are today?

I did my year abroad in Montpellier and I loved being there so after I graduated from Leeds my main objective was to go back. The job that I found was in the publishing industry and through my working there I met clients and realised I was interested in working on the marketing side of things. So when I moved to Paris that was the role I was looking for. The company I work for is actually a British company and they were interested in the fact that I was based in France and could offer up more possibilities for working with clients in Europe and not just in the UK.

What’s your role within the company?

My role is everything to do with our customers. I find new customers for the company, and work with existing clients on how they use our services and how we can better help them. I represent them at events, both nationally in France and internationally, and come up with new ideas about services that we can offer to help our clients and their marketing departments.

What’s your favourite thing about living abroad?

Ever since I did my year abroad I fell in love with living in France. It really was a turning point for me, and after being in Montpellier I didn’t want to come back. I stayed and did an extension on my language assistant programme because I was so happy there. I love France and it’s all thanks to doing my year abroad which kicked it all off and made me want to move here.

How did you year abroad help you gain skills that you have used after graduating?

I think one of the main things was confidence because when you’re abroad everything is different. The administration, finding somewhere to live, and meeting people in a different language really does take you out of your comfort zone. Once you’ve managed that on the year abroad it gives you a lot more confidence when you go back and meet people in your native language. My spoken French after my year abroad was a hundred times better. I also gained a taste for travel: I’ve worked internationally ever since and I always look for jobs where there is a lot of travelling involved.

What would your main recommendation be for getting into your field of work?

I think a lot of it is your attitude. When you’re in a sales role, particularly if you’re dealing with businesses and professionals, you need to be someone who is resourceful, able to put forward ideas, and you need to be in a position of trust with people. That comes from having a good attitude and being authentic. So speaking languages is really helpful if you want to work internationally because whilst English is the ‘business language’, it makes a huge difference if you can speak to people in their own language. It can make the difference between them choosing to work with you and to work in their native language or choosing to work with someone else.

Is there any advice you have for students today?

After you graduate from university it can seem like you have to go into the specific field that you studied but there are so many transferable skills you get from a degree like presenting, thinking analytically, and time management. These are all things to really put forward when you apply for a job. I think you have to be open to different opportunities, if you don’t know what to do then try lots of different jobs and you might be surprised by what you enjoy.

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Have the interviews in the Alumni Voices Abroad series been helpful to you? What insights would you like to gain from future interviews with our alumni? All feedback on the series is welcome, please send this via email to lcsalumni@leeds.ac.uk