June 12, 2009: the winners of the competition named 'We made it!' leave for the United States

Click here to go on the dedicated blog.

Alcatel-Lucent receives with “Cercle Passeport Télécoms” the Admical French Oscar
for skills patronage.

Frank Esser, Chairman of Cercle Passeport Télécoms, and Benjamin Blavier, Administration Officer, received the French Oscar
for skills patronage on March 24th, by Marianne Eshet, head of Admical (French non profit organization to gather corporate patronage).

Click here to read the press release.

In 2006, in partnership with six telecom companies and with French public institutions, Alcatel-Lucent launched Cercle Passeport Télécoms.  This program is aimed at helping students from underprivileged areas.

The program seeks to provide tutoring to students from disadvantaged suburbs to help them get through the stages of higher education with the prospect of obtaining a higher education qualification and build a professional network.  As a participant in the Cercle program, Alcatel-Lucent is directly involved in the pursuit of greater cultural diversity and a broader social mix.

It is a public / private partnership with a common objective : diversity.

Combining forces with the corporate world, government departments and partner organizations (schools and universities), as well as sharing information and know-how, allows companies and public officials to promote diversity in the recruitment practices in France.

The 'Cercle Passeport Telecoms' program is organized in each region of France based on a triad approach that includes a preparatory course secondary school, a leading university and a company site.

The total support the company provides covers an average of four to five years (one to two years of preparatory training and three years of university training) for each student.

How ?

By deploying a network of tutors from amongst our employees who work alongside the teachers.

By offering financial support to supplement the existing grants available.

Tutors are committed to:

• Enhance the students' potential
• Work alongside them, support them and advise them for a year
• Help them to enter the company (find out about jobs, welcome them on temporary work placements, site visits, etc)
• Assist them and coach them in their chosen career (thinking about research projects, preparing for interviews, etc)
• Help them to build up a strong business network

For whom ?

The program involves young people mainly from 46 secondary schools and 40 universities in disadvantaged urban areas selected by the Ministry of National Education.  The objective is to help them get through the stages of higher education with the prospect of obtaining a higher education qualification in three curricula for excellence:

• The leading university for telecoms engineers (ENST in Brittany, ISEP in Paris, etc.)
• The leading university for general engineers (ENSEEIHT, ESIEE in Paris, etc.)
• The leading university for business (Sciences Po, ESC in Rennes, etc.)

The students are:

• in their final school year studying electrical engineering
• a holder of school-leaving qualifications in science and manufacturing technology
• a holder of school-leaving qualifications in science and management techniques

and want to take a preparatory course in a secondary school (one or two years) in order to get into one of the leading university.

They can follow three learning paths:

• After graduating from their course in electrical engineering plus taking one year of the preparatory course called the ATS (to senior technician) at a secondary school, they can join a telecoms engineering school.
• After a school-leaving qualification in science and manufacturing technology plus taking two years of the preparatory course called TSI (technology and industrial science) taken at a secondary school, they can join a general engineering school.
• After a school-leaving qualification in science and management technology plus taking two years of ECT preparatory course (training preparatory to entering the leading universities/economic and business classes) at a secondary school, they can join a business and management school.

As a participant in the Cercle program, Alcatel-Lucent is directly involved in the pursuit of greater cultural diversity and a broader social mix, as well as bringing corporate life to students from underprivileged areas.

A network of 154 tutors in 2009

Alcatel-Lucent is the company which provides the highest number of tutors for the Cercle program (154 tutors from 12 different sites of the Group for the year 2008 - 2009, that is to say about one third of the 475 tutors of the Cercle).

Each tutor has signed a tutorial charter, and supervises one or two students for one academic year. Through moral support and mentoring, the tutor brings out the potential of each student. The program's corporate responsibility and professional and personal commitment prompts keen interest among Alcatel-Lucent employees.

Alcatel-Lucent has a multitude of career opportunities whose profiles can help to guide the students in their choice of career.

Which Alcatel-Lucent sites are involved ?

The Alcatel-Lucent sites have been selected for their proximity to leading universities listed by the Ministry of National Education.

The sites are:

- Paris region: Colombes, Marcoussis/Villarceaux, Massy, Ormes, Paris, Vélizy

- West: Lannion, Brest, Orvault, Rennes

- East: Illkirch

- South: Toulouse

Contribution made in Alcatel-Lucent

With a focus on education and volunteerism, the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation began its active involvement in Cercle Passeport Telecoms during school year 2007-08, contributing an English-speaking employee network of 70 volunteers in the United States. The students can improve their english level so as to pass the examinations of the partner schools of the program by talking on the phone with employees working in the USA.

The Foundation's mission is to support the commitment of Alcatel-Lucent to social responsibility by serving and enhancing the communities where our employees and customers live and work.

A series of crossed video conferences France / USA

The first video conference was called 'How to find an internship in the USA'. The second one will deal with intercultural differences between France and the USA.

'We made it!'

Alcatel-Lucent launched this year a competition called 'We made it !' for the students of the Cercle program in the 40 partner universities. This competition was created for the students to get to know the American culture better and to discover an international company. The 20 lucky winners will be able to go to the United States from June 12 to June 18, in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

They will be welcomed by the mentors and the managing team and will be housed in families of US employees. They will meet professionals, visit New York and meet American students.

Alcatel-Lucent will take care of the financial part.

All these initiatives are part of the activities the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation supports.

Click here to go on the blog dedicated to the We Made It! winners in 2009.

The partners of the Cercle Passeport Telecoms program

A partnership with a French bank, Crédit Mutuel, which proposes to every student from the Cercle program, as soon as they enter an engineering or business university – during their three years of school – a specific student's loan without parental guaranty.

A partnership with Formule 1 hotels, offering two free hotel nights per student when they travel to be interviewed by the partnering schools.