Elias Chedid — HEC 2014 — Senior Data Analyst at Shipt
Resilience is key. If you want something, keep fighting for it.
What is your academic background and how did HEC fit in?
Before HEC, I studied maths and computer science at Paris Dauphine University. I have always loved maths. If there is one thing I could see myself doing all my life, that’s maths! But I could not see what career my maths degree could lead to. It could have opened to roles in finance, but I was not attracted to this industry. Or research, but I could not afford not taking a path that would not provide a decent salary in years. HEC would broaden my opportunities so I prepped for the admission exam while studying at Dauphine.
I failed the first try but succeeded on the second, while also getting my Bachelor’s degree from Dauphine.
I studied at HEC from 2010 to 2013 and chose the Master in New Technologies. I am a massive geek and was excited by the intersection of tech and business.
I graduated in 2014, as I took my time writing my thesis.
How did you start your career and what were your aspirations?
I started working in Paris at Amazon in merchandizing. It was a great experience but not what I wanted to do. The geek in me wanted to have an impact on the technical side of the product: I wanted to use user data to drive the features that would be implemented to improve the user experience. In a nutshell, the dream job I was after was product manager!
So I started to hunt for this role in Paris. I had tons of interviews, achieved a number of final rounds, but the answer was always negative: sorry, you are not an engineer…
I kept trying and got an offer for an International Intership Programme (VIE) in San Francisco with Ifeelgoods, a start-up whose platform makes it possible for marketers to implement customer rewards. It was for an Account Management role, but I thought I would give it a shot: being in the Tech Mecca would open doors and I had never worked anywhere else than in Paris. Training in Paris while I was waiting for my visa. Two days before my farewell party, which also happened to be my birthday, I was informed that the two product managers had resigned and I could choose: either go for the account manager in San Francisco or take one of the product manager positions in Paris. It was a quite tough choice and I chose to stay in Paris.
A year later, the company had to lay off and I lost my job.
So what did you do from there?
I was still determined to find a product manager position. I targeted American companies: as my previous experience taught me, they are less attached to the label you have than French companies. The recruitment process is more pragmatic: they give you a case study to work on and if you perform, it does not matter that “you are not an engineer”. This allowed me to apply to roles that would have been deemed too technical for me by a French manager. But it still was not easy: in nine months of job search, I landed no less than 18 final rounds but got no offer. One, in particular, was a big disappointment: I had successfully gone through the process with AgilOne, a data start-up in the Bay Area, for a data engineer role. But the company underwent lots of changes in its leadership and my application got lost.
It was tough still being unemployed after nine months and it was started to look like a long break on my resume. I volunteered in the Macron campaign so it would give me purpose and pace my days.
And all at once, at the end of December 2016, I received 3 offers in the same week: 2 from companies in Paris and one from AgilOne. I just had a couple of days to decide and this time I decided to go to San Francisco!
Wow, what a story! How was it moving to the West Coast?
Well, I got rid of all that did not fit in my two suitcases, go on the plane, and landed in San Francisco! It was my first time ever in the US. I stayed at a friend’s in Menlo Park for the first 2 weeks then found a flatshare in the city, around Japantown, with 3 other flatmates. And I actually still live in this apartment.
I started work the day after landing here. I spent almost 3 years as a data engineer for AgilOne. My job consisted in moving data from point A to point B to help retailers gather data that was scattered across their organization into a single platform they could use for cross-channel marketing campaigns. It was a great experience but I felt I was missing the analytics part of data, which is really what I am interested in.
I tried the lottery for an H1B visa. I did not get it the first year but I got it the second. I had to go back to France, supposedly for the 2 months of summer, while my visa was being processed. But the Trump administration was making it harder to get H1B visas and I ended up stuck in France for nine months. It was very hard being there not knowing when I would be able to come back to San Francisco.
But eventually, I did get the visa, came back to the city, and started looking for a new job!
I am currently a data analyst at Shipt, a grocery delivery platform that was acquired by Target and is a direct competitor to Instacart. I’ve been here for a year now. Grocery deliveries have been doing pretty good since the start of the pandemic…
How do you explain the big differences in the recruitment approach between French and American companies?
To me, the reason is that French companies can’t afford to take any risk in their recruitment because it is so hard to get rid of someone who is not delivering.
In the US, it is easier to let an employee go if things are not working out. So employers can give a chance to more atypical profiles. It is also normal to recruit candidates that have studied something different than the field of the job, whereas in France the choice you make at 18 to enter a specific academic path strongly determines the jobs you can apply for after graduating.
Also, it is funny how some clichés play out: during my first months working in the US, I felt like sitting on the ejection seat, that I could get fired at any moment. Every time my manager was scheduling a chat, I feared it was to tell me that they had to let me go. California is actually pretty protective of employees and overall, and no manager enjoys letting go of team members. When I realized this, I realized it was actually the French way, revolving around the ultimate goal of securing a permanent position (the infamous CDI) that created a toxic management environment.
I am so glad I could experience the workplace outside of France!
What is next for you?
In terms of job, my next career goal is to become a data scientist. It is the next step for me after data analyst.
In terms of where to live, there is no denying that San Francisco is a very nice place, with a lot of nature available. But I am a Parisian born and bred and I miss the big city vibe. I miss the hustle and bustle, crowds outside late at night, the density of people, and public transports. I’d like to move to New York City, which would also get me a little closer to Europe and make the time difference less of a pain to stay in touch with friends and family.
What would be your advice to our readers?
Resilience is key. If you want something, keep fighting for it.
Take matters into your own hands: if the visa is an issue, don’t wait passively for the company to solve it, be proactive, research the topic, and push as much as you can. Getting it sorted is more important for you than for the company so make sure you are as much control as you can.
And use your HEC network: warm introductions and referrals really help to cut through the crowd and entering recruitment processes.
