Return to the study trip of students from the IUT of Reunion Island: Canada and USA

The main objective of this trip was to open up to the world. The different meetings and visits
carried out, first in a French-speaking then English-speaking environment, allowed students to
plan for internships, further studies or prepare for entry into the
active life. For six of them, it was their first plane trip, and only one student was already
went to the North American continent!
These two countries have very different lifestyles and cultures from Reunion, and offer
great opportunities. The city of Montreal was the first stop, with visits to
major schools and businesses. Then, the students headed to New York for the rest
of their educational journey.
During the stay, they were received by two prestigious universities (HEC Montréal and
UQAM), four international companies (Fiducial, CGI, Kuehne+Lagen and Jouffre) and two
administrations (Montreal City Hall and Consulate General of France in New York).

Montreal

The first meetings began in Montreal on March 20 with a visit to the headquarters
of the CGI company, which employs 90.000 employees in 136 countries. CGI is a company
world-class provider of information technology consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and solutions. The students met the vice-president, Grégory Larroque, who is of Reunionese origin and who lived in Saint-Pierre until he was 18! After training on the theme of innovation and value creation, the students tested the company's latest innovations, including an augmented reality headset integrating the latest technological advances in the field.

They were also able to visit the premises of the company Kuhne+Lagel, world leader in goods transport with 89.000 employees worldwide, where they were received by Aurélien Bardot Nosjean, former graduate of a DUT GEA, who presented his journey after his DUT, then provided training on modern logistics systems at the international level.

In Montreal, students also had the opportunity to visit HEC, a Quebec management school as well as the School of Management Sciences of the University of Quebec (UQAM). They had the opportunity to meet GEA students from the IUT of Besançon who were continuing their studies there, and thus to realize the opportunities offered by their BUT GEA.

To end this stay in Montreal, the students were received at the Montreal town hall in
the hemicycle of the deliberations of the municipal council. On the program: dialogues and exchanges with Ms. Popeanu, elected official and responsible for the city's strategic planning in economic matters.
The students and their companions benefited from a guided tour of the Town Hall, then all signed the guestbook.

New York

On March 23, after a 6-hour bus ride from Montreal, the group arrived in New York. They were received at the premises of Jade Fiducial, a company of marketing consultants and accounting experts. Ms. Flavia Marchon presented the specificities of employment in these fields in New York and in the United States in general, and the difficulty of recruiting qualified people. The company offers more than 50 jobs in the fields of management and can take care of all administrative procedures for young graduates interested and hired by it!

The next day, the students were welcomed at the Consulate General of France in New York by the vice consul in charge of economic relations, who presented to them the administrative role of the Consulate and its various missions.

Finally, they had the opportunity to meet Sara Djemaï, former student of the GEA department of the IUT of La Réunion (Class of 2018), within the Jouffre company, world leader in luxury tapestry. The opportunity for her to present the company to them, the specificities of her position in human resources, then the main differences between New York and Reunion.

Participants in the trip were able to benefit from a few hours to wander around the city before departure, and discover Central Park, Grand Central or Times Square.

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