Connecting people at Huawei and beyond

Daisy Wang, International Master in Management (2012)

Background

After two years focused on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), Daisy Wang decided to change her career path and accept a position with leading global information and communications technology (ICT) provider Huawei.

“Huawei needed someone like me with business training who can speak three languages,” explains Daisy, who speaks English, French and Chinese.  

Before earning her International Master in Management from Audencia Business School, Daisy earned a Bachelor of English from Zhejiang University (China) – and during her Audencia internship in Paris, she began really working on her French. “During the workday, we’d communicate in English, but after work, everyone spoke in French. I am communication-oriented, so I was very motivated to learn French well!” After graduating, Daisy took additional French language courses to improve her fluency.
 

Current occupation

Daisy started at Huawei Technologies France in 2015 as an event coordinator and assistant to the president. She has since worked her way up to B2B Client Relations Management (CRM) Specialist. “I was actually very lucky to start at Huawei as the assistant to the director. I learned a lot. It is a great position to give you a complete picture of the departments and processes.”

Currently, her primary responsibility is handling Huawei’s client relations with Orange, one of the largest operators of mobile and internet services in Europe and Africa. “Orange is a valuable partner – an important global account. I work with their headquarters and affiliates to manage the entire account,” she says.

This means Daisy supervises all of Orange’s individual account managers at Huawei to coordinate strategy and information flow, setting the standard for everyone to follow. “This work requires project management and market analysis. And it can be a bit political, with various ‘votes’ from members of the larger client group.”
 

Motivation

Daisy says she always wanted to join a top 500 company – but at first, it was a bit difficult to get established within the European market. “I really wanted to gain a deep understanding of the French market through my work, but companies kept wanting to send me back to China to work.” Then an opportunity opened up at Huawei.

“Huawei Technologies France is centralised. Our headquarters are in France, so we speak French, but we also need people who can speak Chinese and understand Chinese culture, as well as speak English. Huawei is very international and has a huge impact on the telecom sector. We don’t follow the market; we influence the market,” she says.

Daisy admits there’s a steep learning curve going from B2C to B2B, but she believes that working in client relations management is a good way to enter the sector. “It is quite easy to understand and manage things from this angle.”

Still in her first year in the position of CRM Specialist, Daisy starts work early and finishes late. “But this is necessary for a beginner,” she says. “Eventually, I want to be a high-level manager so that I can share my experience with younger employees and help people improve their work.”
 

Personal interests and passions

“Travel and fashion! After my Audencia internship in Paris, I was a fashion buyer for six months and could really follow the trends. I still try to, but it’s a bit harder now with this challenging job,” she laughs.
 

Staying in touch with Audencia

Daisy participates in Audencia Alumni events when she can – especially networking, and discussions and trainings on finance, marketing and digital marketing. “I think these activities are quite amazing.” She also keeps in touch with classmates via social media.

Daisy wants current Audencia students to reach out to her if they need guidance or are interested in internship opportunities. “Audencia is one of the main reasons I’ve been able to achieve my goals, so I’m happy to help. Our business at Huawei Technologies France is always developing, and we have a lot of openings for jobs and internships.”
 

Advice to students and graduates

Daisy’s advice is to make a plan. “Figure out what you want as soon as possible. Maybe your path won’t be exactly what you planned, but you have to have a general idea of what you want. Eventually, you will get there.”
 

Most memorable experience at Audencia

Daisy has fond memories of a business competition that she participated in through Audencia while in Barcelona. “I was part of the finance team, and it was quite a good experience in building the multicultural teamwork skills that I use now in my job.” Daisy’s colleagues at Huawei are French, Chinese and international. She says meetings may start in English, move to French, and then transition to Chinese. She coordinates so that everyone stays on the same page.

“All the teamwork and projects at Audencia have helped me function effectively in Huawei’s multicultural work environment.”