Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m Moh’d Azmi, but I’m usually called Azmi for short! I’m originally from Jordan, where I studied at an international French lycée school in Amman. I also did an exchange year at an English school in Dubai.
What is your position at Bechtle?
One year ago I started a work-study programme at Bechtle as an trainee sales assistant as part of the EM Strasbourg Grande École programme. My tutor is Marina Giqueaux. The alternating work-study rhythm is two weeks in the company and one week at school. Before my placement, I had already been with the company for a year as a trainee as part of my degree in Economic and Social Administration (AES) at Strasbourg Law Faculty.
What are your main tasks as a dual-study student?
When I arrived here for my work placement, I did more prospecting – I was in acquisition as assistant deputy sales representative.
I’ve been a sales trainee since last year. My tasks range from helping sales staff manage their accounts to providing administrative support, and I’m also work in customer and partner relations—I call customers, manufacturers and wholesalers, in particular, to set up quotes and establish prices.
Why did you choose Bechtle as your first career step?
I’ve always loved computers, so the IT sector just seemed like a really interesting place to be! An acquaintance of mine told me about Bechtle and I decided to apply for an internship. I was extremely happy when I found out I’d been accepted.
In this case, my placement went well, I really liked the social aspect of the job and the professionalism of the members of the team, who are also really nice—they are always there to support us trainees and students.
I was told that if I was accepted on a dual-study programme at EM Strasbourg, I could apply for a job at Bechtle, and that’s what I did! I was accepted and I’m now starting my second year of work experience with the Group.
How have you developed? How have you expanded your skills?
The most intimidating thing at the beginning was having to call customers to prospect them. It was quite a stressful time for me, because you don’t know the people you’re talking to, and you have to encourage them to work with Bechtle. Today, I’m much more at ease when communicating—I’ve been taught how to make good phone calls and also how to negotiate.
What’s more, what I learn on the job really helps me in my studies. EM Strasbourg has a tradition of taking part in the Négociales, a French-language commercial negotiation competition, which I’m going to try to enter. I’m sure my experience at Bechtle would give me an advantage. More generally, the work-study programme allows us to study real cases, not just made-up ones.
Can you tell us about your tutor?
I work with the whole sales department, but especially with Marina, my tutor. She trusts me and that’s something I appreciate. As soon as I have an idea or a project in mind, I go and talk to her about it. If she sees an opportunity somewhere or if I spot something, we’ll also find the time to discuss it together. As I’m away with my studies for a whole week each time, we work out some organisational points before I leave.
What are the three most important things you have learned during your work-study placement?
Confidence is the first thing—I was very shy at the beginning. When you’ve never worked in a company, you don’t really know how to behave. It’s pretty basic, but it’s super important.
The second thing is the accumulation of technical knowledge thanks to the manufacturers who visit us every week. This is an opportunity to ask partners directly for information about their products.
Finally, I think that my years of work experience have taught me patience—when I came here, I wanted to do everything straight away, and I think that’s the problem with a lot of young people. You have to take the time to learn gradually.
Why would you recommend that someone apply for a dual-study programme at Bechtle?
The work-study programme at Bechtle is very formative—we are given the opportunity to do what we want and to open doors for ourselves. I started out in private sector sales and my manager told me that if I wanted to, I could broaden my scope to the public sector, or even internationally. Coming from an international background, that’s really interesting!
You really get to try your hand at everything and do all sorts of different jobs.
Bechtle students also have the opportunity to take part in the Mikado, an event dedicated to trainees from across the group! I even had the opportunity to talk to Diana Langer, a member of the Group’s board of directors.
What do you like about working for Bechtle, apart from the work you do?
The food trucks (laughs)! On a more serious note, I think that the marketing department puts an enormous amount of effort into internal activities that enable Sales to come into contact with manufacturers. There are lots of events, manufacturers come every Thursday, it’s super interesting, I always feel like I’m learning.
Our colleagues are exceptional! They’re very tolerant of the fact that dual-study students have both vocational and academic training to handle—they know that we have exams and a certain workload, and when we’re at school, they respect that and don’t ask us for anything.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I’d love to sign a permanent contract after my dual-study programme! It would be a return on investment for both sides.
Do you have any hobbies?
I love cinema! Martin Scorsese’s films about the Italian mafias in general, my favourite being The Wolf of Wall Street.
And what about travelling?
I’ve travelled a lot in my life: I was born in Saudi Arabia, grew up in Jordan and lived in the United Arab Emirates for a year. I’ve visited a lot of countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon (where they serve my favourite dish, stuffed vine leaves)! I’ve also been to Sri Lanka. Right now, I’m in France, but I often go back to Jordan.
What’s one interesting fact about yourself?
Sometimes people are surprised that I didn’t learn French in France, because I’ve actually been in the country for four years now. My mother tongues are Arabic and English, and then there’s French: I’m trilingual!