Patrick Kim's international career path, R&D director at Benteler

A highly international training

It is quite rare for an interviewee to go back to the period before high school, but Patrick Kim insists on it because it is a key element of his career.

It was after his 3rd birthday that his family moved to the USA for professional reasons. In high school, he discovered his interest in mathematics and decided to pursue engineering studies. His very good education gave him access to the prestigious MIT and he obtained his "Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering".

Patrick Kim says that if he hadn't known the American education system, which is different from the French system in its pedagogical approach, he would certainly not have chosen the scientific path. In France, teaching transmits its knowledge and the students "absorb" this information without necessarily having to face an application, whereas in the USA, teaching is much more practical and it is from the study of concrete cases that the general laws are withdrawn.

After his Bachelor's degree, and on the recommendation of one of his supervisors of Swiss origin (whose name is none other than Mr. Einstein!), he spends a year at the Polytechnic School of Zurich with Fulbright financing. When he returned to the USA, he joined Berkeley and obtained his Master of Science in Engineering.

Continuing his thesis is an option he did not initially choose and returned to Switzerland as a research engineer in the Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA). After two years, he realizes that he needs to go even further in his knowledge of materials and starts a thesis at EPFL Lausanne for which he obtains a four-year funding from the Swiss government. His professional project is to stay in teaching and research. He particularly liked two aspects of his doctoral training: teaching (he helped others to progress, master a subject and transmit his knowledge) and international (collaboration with laboratories in the USA, Japan, Sweden...).

His particular affinity with the Japanese language, which he began to learn at MIT, led him to accept a "associate professor" position at the Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa (Japan increasingly opens up access to his teaching body to foreigners). He was then able to see a big difference in behaviour between American students (proactive) and Japanese students (most of whom are not very interested in their courses but rather interested in obtaining a diploma from a rated school - Japanese recruiters are sensitive to the school from which the candidates come, even after years of experience).

A career evolution in the automobile sector: from manufacturer to automotive supplier

Despite an international opening of the Japanese faculty, foreign scholars are not really integrated in the career development plans. Added to this were some frustrations (projects stopped by his superior, lack of concrete results) which led Patrick Kim to turn to the private sector at the age of 34, the age limit for this reorientation. One of the biggest difficulties he faced when looking for a job was his geographical remoteness, particularly on applications in France and Germany. However, it was in Germany and after forty unsuccessful applications that he made his private debut at Daimler, where he held the position of "Fachreferent" (expert) and then moved on to managerial positions ("Production Planning/Strategy Manager"). Having a doctorate in Germany is an asset, as Mr Kim acknowledges: it is both a gateway to business and a springboard for career development. However, this does not necessarily mean that the person has the skills to manage a team. To move from an expert position to a managerial function, Patrick Kim went through an assessment center organized by the HR department to assess the ability of a few employees to take responsibility for a team.

While Patrick Kim excelled in the communication exercise, the other exercises did not. Finally, it was the discussion with one of the directors after the assessment center that enabled him to lead a team of three people.

After seven years at Daimler, Mr. Kim moved to another car manufacturer, Renault, on the other side of the Rhine, where he took over the management of an engineering function with 400 people at 8 sites. He acknowledges it himself, his career development is rather atypical and without the support of the company (coaching, additional training in management...), he might not have dared to take the step of moving from managing a small team to managing a much larger team. This was not an easy stage, but thanks to this support and his managerial training at Daimler, he managed to get through it.

Since 2012, he has been head of the R&D department at Benteler Automotive, a German automotive supplier with 25,000 employees at 70 sites in 28 countries.

What are the intercultural differences between France and Germany, in a professional context?

In France, even when a decision is made, people tend to question it. There is a certain lack of discipline, which can also be found in Germany but to a lesser extent. The notion of "Verbindlichkeit" (commitment to act in order to achieve the set objectives and stick to its action plan) is much stronger in Germany than in France.

The recognition of the academic career path during recruitment will not be the same in every country. In France, preference will be given to "Grandes Ecoles" profiles because they are easier to understand (we know where to place them). In Germany, high importance is attached to the title of doctor (visible sign and synonymous with credibility) but also to performance (results obtained so far). In the USA, performance is the most important factor (especially after years of experience).

What advice for doctoral students and young doctors?

If a career orientation towards the private sector is preferred, it is important to ensure close contact with industry during the thesis. It is through collaborations with companies that we realize that there are skills other than purely scientific and technical ones that need to be mastered in order to succeed in companies.

Engaging in doctoral training requires careful consideration of the reasons for this choice, even if it means taking time between the end of the master's degree and the beginning of the thesis. Mr. Kim worked 2.5 years in a laboratory before beginning his thesis and insists on the fact that this "break" really motivated him for the rest because he knew why he was doing research.

Opening up to the international market is an imperative! Mastering English is not enough. To have a real added value on the job market, it is better to speak a language whose country can open up real professional prospects: German, Korean or Chinese.