Spot the Tourist...

Capgemini is an international company with over 88,000 employees worldwide, and in working for an international company, even at a graduate level, comes international opportunities.  These fabled roles abroad are not guaranteed whilst on the grad scheme - most of the time it relies on mere chance, one of those ‘right place at the right time’ things, but it does happen; indeed pretty much every grad can name at least one colleague who has been on an international assignment!

In joining the BTC, you will not be promised an international assignment as it is simply too hard to predict; what you will be promised is a week’s worth of training in Les Fontaines, Capgemini’s exclusive university in Chantilly, just north of Paris.  Set in a picturesque 120 acres of woodland complete with lake, the recently rebuilt Chateau (avec turrets!) offers accommodation for up to 300 employees, along with facilities such as a gym, spa, 20m swimming pool, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi and bar.

Sound appealing?  Well, that’s just the start of it…

At any Les Fontaines training event, you can expect around 250 Capgemini employees from all over the world – at the start of the month I had the pleasure of attending one of these events which totalled nearly 300 employees from 23 countries, each bringing a wealth of experience, the openness to share that experience and the eagerness to learn more.  It provides the perfect environment to learn, with small classes facilitated by field experts and interesting and challenging case studies requiring high levels of interaction.

The course I attended is designed to bring every graduate up to the same level of understanding in the technology field, and as this course is mandatory, the BTC can therefore take graduates of all disciplines providing there is an initial interest in technology.

No training would be complete without social activities in the evening, and this extravagant university did not fail to disappoint!   Icebreakers had been planned for every evening; something fun and mentally stimulating to get your teeth stuck into before heading to the bar to philosophise about the development of new technologies with international colleagues of all levels. As for the final night, I will leave you with this picture that barely scratches the surface of the evening activities; something which has fast become the trademark icon of the university…

What a week!