"5 minutes to convince", a 100% winning contest

The aim of the "5 minutes to convince" competition, created by the SCUIO-IP's Bureau d'aide à l'insertion professionnelle, is to persuade students and present their career plans in the shortest possible time. Cédric Bizaud, the competition's creator, explains.

There was a lot of verve in the air on the Triolet campus on Thursday January 27 for the final of the " 5 minutes to convince " competition, in which the three winners were chosen. The aim? To reward the best presentation of a professional project in front of a jury drawn from the socio-economic world and higher education ", explains Cédric Bizaud, the man behind the project. The idea for the competition came to him when he took up his post as head of the SCUIO-IP job placement office.

" In their future professional lives, students will often be faced with situations where they only have a few minutes to present themselves and their project. How can they be at ease in these stressful but crucial situations? How can they ensure that they are chosen and not someone else? To help them rise to this challenge, which will contribute to improving their professional integration, Cédric Bizaud "drew inspiration from what is done in North America" and concocted the " 5 minutes to convince " competition, the first edition of which took place in 2012.

Dare

Open to all University of Montpellier students preparing a national diploma (DUT, licence, master, doctorate...), the competition is divided into three categories A, B and C. " The first is the presentation of a professional project in the context of an application such as an internship or job search; the second concerns a professional project in the context of a business start-up; and the third category is reserved for doctoral students," explains Cédric Bizaud.

And SCUIO-IP is doing all it can to ensure that candidates are ready on D-day, with a workshop on " Daring to pitch ". " Led by a communications professional, this training course introduces them to the fundamentals of oral preparation and a methodology for preparing and presenting an invigorating, effective and convincing pitch," explains Cédric Bizaud.

This year, 33 of the 88 candidates who submitted applications were auditioned by a panel of teacher-researchers and professionals. During the precious 5 minutes, candidates will be assessed both on form - oral expression, conviction, persuasiveness - and substance - approach, business plan, promotion of skills...

100% winners

The prize is a laptop computer for the winner of each category, but also - and above all - specific support for their project. Category A winners will receive 3 months' project definition and job search support, based on an assessment by Hays Occitanie. In category B, PEPITE-LR provides support in setting up a business, and for doctoral students in category C, "business start-up" support is provided by SATT AxLR or a coach for 6 months, with one 2 to 3-hour meeting per month.

Although only three winners were honored, all the participants were winners: " each of them received personalized feedback from the jury members, who drew their attention to their strong points or areas for improvement ". So 33 winners took part in this ^11th edition. "What 's more, we've since noticed that the initiative has spread to other establishments ", laughs Cédric Bizaud. An event made in UM, often copied, but never equalled.