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Sylvain BOULOT
French citizen
Trading & Shipping Department, Paris,
France. Documentary Credit Officer.
Earned a BTS (Advanced Vocational Diploma)
in International Business and took a work-based
course in International Trade.
Started his career with the Group, left
to work with a bank, and has been back with
the Group for just over a year.
I worked with a multimedia publishing company
for my course, and then got my first job
at Atofina (at the time) as an Export Assistant.
That first experience lasted over three
years, by which time I felt I wanted to
become an expert in my field. But the career
prospects weren’t very exciting.
Then an opportunity in a large banking group
came up and I took it. I spent about two
and a half years in their Back Office dealing
with letters of credit still for the oil
industry.
Hired through careers.total.com!
When I wanted to leave the bank, I started
looking for work in the oil industry again.
I found a vacancy and applied through Total’s
recruitment website (this was after the
merger). I went through the usual stages:
I met a Recruitment Consultant, a Human
Resources representative, the operational
staff, and they hired me.
Now I’m working in Trading & Shipping,
where I’m in charge of letters of
credit and of silent coverage for our financial
operations. It’s quite a specialised
job, so there aren’t many straight-line
promotion opportunities. Promotion, in other
words, will involve functional mobility.
I’ve talked about it with my Career
Manager. When the time comes, I can change
offices (to Demurrage, say), or move to
another business line (Logistical Operations,
for example). I’m giving myself one
or two years to do that.
Training to coach
development.
My career development will also involve
training. I’m already taking English
lessons and courses in more operational
issues.
I have no regrets about coming back to the
Group, because things have changed a lot.
I was in a subsidiary and we didn’t
have a very clear view of developments.
Today, the Group has refocused on its core
business and has really become international.
Everything I do is international: the transactions
I cover take place around the world.
Lastly, I feel more autonomous. I have more
room to manoeuvre than I’d have in
a financial institution.
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