“5 Minutes to Convince,” a contest where everyone wins

[Article] - Published on January 28, 2022 in Enhancing Your Education

The goal of the “5 Minutes to Convince” competition—created by the SCUIO-IP Career Services Office to help students enter the workforce—is to teach participants how to be persuasive and present the best aspects of their career plans in a short amount of time. We spoke with the competition’s creator, Cédric Bizaud, to learn more.

There was a lively atmosphere on Thursday, January 27, on the Triolet campus for the finals of the“5 Minutes to Convince” competition, which crowned its three winners.  The goal?“To recognize the best presentation of a career project before a jury drawn from the socio-economic sector and higher education,” explains Cédric Bizaud, the project’s founder. He came up with the idea for this competition when he took office as head of the SCUIO-IP’s career services office.

“In their future careers, students will often find themselves in situations where they have only a few short minutes to introduce themselves and showcase their project.” How can they feel at ease in these stressful yet crucial situations? How can they ensure they are the ones chosen, and not someone else? To help them meet this challenge—which will contribute to improving their career prospects—Cédric Bizaud“draws inspiration from what is done in North America” and has created the“5 Minutes to Convince”competition, the first edition of which took place in 2012.

To dare

Open to all students at the University of Montpellier pursuing a national degree (DUT, bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, etc.), the competition is divided into three categories: A, B, and C.“The first category involves presenting a career plan as part of an application for an internship or job; the second concerns a career plan related to starting a business; and the third category is reserved for doctoral students,” explains Cédric Bizaud.

And SCUIO-IP is doing everything it can to ensure that candidates are ready on the big day, including a test preparation workshop titled“Dare to Pitch.”“Led by a communications professional, this workshop helps them discover the fundamentals of oral preparation and a methodology for crafting and delivering an energetic, effective, and convincing pitch,” explains Cédric Bizaud.

This year, out of the 88 applicants who submitted an application, 33 students from all academic programs were interviewed by a panelProfessors professionals. During these five crucial minutes, the candidates were evaluated not only on their presentation—oral delivery, confidence, and persuasiveness—but also on the substance of their proposals—their approach, business plan, and demonstration of skills…

100% winners

The prize includes a laptop for the winner of each category, but also—and most importantly—tailored support for their project. For Category A, this involves support in defining the project and professional recruitment assistance lasting three months, based on an assessment by Hays Occitanie. In Category B, support for business creation is provided by PEPITE-LR, and finally, for doctoral students in Category C, “business creation” support is offered by SATT AxLR or through a six-month coaching program consisting of one 2- to 3-hour session per month.

Although only three winners were selected, all participants are indeed winners:“During their presentations, each participant received personalized feedback from the jury members, who highlighted their strengths and areas for improvement.” So there were indeed 33 winners who took part in this^11th edition. “In fact, we’ve since noticed that the initiative has spread to other institutions, ”says Cédric Bizaud with a smile. An event created at UM, often copied, but never equaled.

Keywords: Students, Employment placement