PAUSE program and the mentoring provided by ABG: crossed testimonies

A Palestinian researcher from Syria, specializing in information science and communication, Souad Odeh was a PAUSE beneficiary in 2018. After applying for different lecturer positions in public institutions, she decided to reorient herself towards the private sector. To do so, she has participated in workshops organized by Association Bernard Gregory in the framework of the Pause program. She is now working on a permanent contract as a scientific editor at FI Group.

The academic path often looks like an obstacle course. This is why it is necessary to build connections with the private world. Of course, this requires a kind of mourning - but a positive one - to tell oneself that alternatives exist. There are also new codes to learn. And it is this "switch" that Association Bernard Gregory allowed me to make. Thanks to the ABG workshops I attended, and the mentoring provided by Thao Lang, I learned how to better present my professional experience, how to condense my CV, how to give a pitch... In this process, I also decided to expand my experience by doing an internship as a documentalist. Thanks to this experience, I was able to find a permanent position where I have the chance to be in contact with research work every day - without being a researcher. Of course, changing your professional environment can be scary at first, but I discovered that the private sector is an open world - perhaps more so than the academic world. The path is often long, but possible.

Thao Lang is an experienced trainer and a certified career coach at Association Bernard Gregory. She has mentored Souad Odeh for her professional reintegration process.

What is important to me in mentoring PAUSE laureates is to have their added value recognized, their specific skills but also those linked to their personal history and exile... Because beyond their scientific expertise, they are people, with a broad human experience and who are not afraid to reinvent themselves. They have, like Souad, this source of motivation and energy that you can really count on. Very often, they just lack the keys to access the private sector in France. We provide them with the method and the tools to better put into value both their career path and their life path.

Read the full 2020 activity report of the PAUSE program

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