Students at Air Liquide

I am Sofie NG, a final-year student studying Biomedical Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I am one of the participants in the Air Liquide Summer School 2022 this summer.
The Air Liquide Summer School is held by the headquarter of Air Liquide in Pairs every year. International students will gather in Paris for a one-week summer school to discover more about Air Liquide's business and take part in a business case challenge.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, the summer school was held virtually this year, it is a valuable opportunity to experience the working culture and learn more about Air Liquide.
This summer school spanned for 2 weeks and includes 40 students from all around the world. There were daily webinars hosted by the Human Resource Team, the Research & Development Team and the Business Development Team where they introduced their work areas, hence, shared insights into the challenges they met during their work. They have also provided interview training sessions, HR strategy and career opportunities. Through these webinars, I have obtained an insight into the challenges and daily work life of the company.
We were also allocated into groups of 6 with students from different time zones and academic background for a challenging business project. It was an extensive experience where we shared our ideas and solutions during our daily meeting sessions. This mimicked the situation in a global firm where we had to come up with a developed plan in a week.
Air Liquide Summer School also served as a platform to connect us around the world. We were given the opportunity to learn about different cultures through sharing iconic songs and recipes of our home city or country. Through online networking sessions and round table discussion, we have also learnt about other academic disciplines and how we all work together to accomplish different projects.
Joining Air Liquide Summer School has definitely provided me with a lot of invaluable experiences to expand my horizons and career perspectives. Do not hesitate and join Air Liquide Summer School for this wonderful experience.
 

Bonjour! I am Katherine Wong, a Final Year Student of Biomedical Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I am honoured and privileged to represent Hong Kong in the Air Liquide Summer School 2021 this summer.
The Air Liquide Summer School holds by the headquarter of Air Liquide in Pairs every year. International students will gather in Paris for a one-week summer school to discover more about Air Liquide's business and take part in a business case challenge. Although the summer school was held virtually this year, it is a valuable opportunity to experience a global working environment and explore Air Liquide.
In this summer school, there were daily webinars hosted by Group Talent Acquisition Leaders or department managers. Guests from different departments, such as healthcare, hydrogen and Air Liquide Foundation, introduced their business, working environment and challenges. There were also sharing towards the climate and sustainable development, HR strategy and a virtual site visit. Through these webinars, I learnt more about the business challenges, mission and perspective of the corresponding industry, which we rarely encounter in university studies.
Throughout the week, we also got an opportunity to work on  a business case challenge about sustainable development with other representatives in a group of five. It was a precious opportunity to experience the working environment of an international company. For example, each student in the group was from a different country and field of study. To work on the project, we had online meetings every day. We worked on the individual work and discussed our findings during the next meeting. It was also hard to get immediate responses from others due to the time zone difference. These experiences are similar to the global project team in a company.
With the different cultural and academic backgrounds, we had different perspectives on the same topic. Because of this, we inspired each other to give out different solutions and creative ideas for the presentation. It was also interesting to know the working style of other countries or academic backgrounds. For example, my group mates suggested using numeric statistics to present our findings and support our suggestions. Some research methods are new to me, which widen my horizon. Although it was challenging during the business case challenge as time was very tight, it was an unforgettable and enriching experience.
Apart from the above sections, there was also a workshop about career development and an interview training session with HR in Air Liquide. In the workshop, the hosts guided us to do selfreflections and career planning through different activities. They also gave us advice on preparing for the recruitment process and job interviews. The individual interview training sessions provide chances for students to experience a job interview with a foreign HR. HR will give feedback on the resume and interview performance of the student after the mock interview. Apart from providing opportunities for students to explore Air Liquide, the summer school activities also inspired us about future career development. The hosts and guests from Air Liquide always welcome questions and are open to sharing.
The Summer School provided a platform for participants to expand their connections around the world. There was an online networking session and a round table discussion, which invited staff of Air Liquide from different countries to share their experience and chat with student representatives. It was a valuable opportunity for me to connect with international students and learn how to communicate with different people worldwide in the current context. It was also interesting to know more about other cultures by sharing recipes and songs from our city or country.
You will never regret attending the Air Liquide Summer School! It is a precious experience to preparer yourself for future career development and to expand your network. Do not hesitate to join the Summer School and have fun! :)