Career Advice from Richemont

By Emily Albright, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, United States

On Monday, December 2, our class was fortunate enough to attend a company presentation given by Mme Donna Bernard, current Director of Talents at Richemont. Richemont has a long history dating back to 1755 and a very impressive portfolio, owning several of the world's leading luxury goods companies, with particular strengths in jewellery, luxury watches and writing instruments. Specifically, Richemont owns such companies as Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc, Lancel, Alfred Dunhill, Chloé, and NET-A-PORTER.COM.

During the presentation, Mme Bernard shared with us a brief background on Richemont as well as the most recent company activities. She also spoke of the sectors and geographies experiencing the most growth right now, and we were all very surprised to learn that 80% of customers in the luxury space in China are below the age of 30! Mme Bernard walked us through Richemont’s core values and what qualities/characteristics the company is looking for when hiring roles above and below the management level. She described some of the open positions they have in Asia, France, Germany and New York to give us a sense of what opportunities could be available after graduation. We were all very excited to hear that the market is recovering and there are career opportunities available at Richemont across the globe!

Following the conclusion of her presentation, Mme Bernard was kind enough to answer our many questions and provide some career advice. Many of us are looking to change industries, geographies, and/or roles, and Mme Bernard shared some tips on the best way to go about making a successful switch.

Our class was very grateful for the presentation and we will hopefully see Mme Bernard again in the spring. Merci Mme Bernard et Richemont!