Today we are catching up with Floriane Couture,
who completed a Chef de Projet Digital course at Digital Campus Bordeaux and is sharing her experience with us.
My name is Floriane Couture, I'm 29 years old and I'm passionate about graphic design and art in general. That's why I joined a communications school in Bordeaux, where I earned a bachelor's degree. For financial reasons I didn't want to go on to a master's, as it represented a considerable additional sum of money. Alongside this, I registered as a self-employed worker because, thanks to word of mouth, I landed a few freelance assignments with agencies looking to subcontract or with friends who needed my services for graphic design. Even so, I was still missing the whole web design side, which I had only touched on during my initial training and which I wanted to develop further so that, perhaps, I could finally take the plunge and go fully self-employed.
Absolutely, I decided to go back to studying in order to round off my initial training. It was a career change, as I was on a permanent 35-hour-a-week contract at Ikea as Add-on Sales Manager and commercial activities coordinator (during my last two years with the company). But at the same time, it was a great way to complement my studies and my experience as a freelance graphic designer.
During the September 2020 intake, the modules weren't yet available “a la carte”.
The Chef de Projet Digital course was a complete programme and we had to follow all the modules on offer. Some modules were easier for me because I already had some grounding (particularly in the Adobe suite software such as Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign). On the other hand, some modules were a real discovery and I learnt a great deal. The whole marketing side was new to me, even though I had been able to skim over a few aspects during my time at Ikea. The various web language courses were also new to me and I really enjoyed learning all of it.
This course was a real professional springboard for me. After completing the training and earning my diploma, and right in the middle of the health crisis, I still chose to leave my permanent 35-hour-a-week job at Ikea in order to fulfil myself professionally to the full.
Since the end of February, I have therefore been registered with Pôle Emploi (the French employment agency) while developing my graphic and web design business on the side.
My goal is simple: to manage to make a living from my passion. Today, I don't really feel as though I'm “working”. Every new graphic project is good news, and my wish is for it to stay that way for as long as possible.
My advice would first of all be to be patient. I'm convinced that you should never give up when you have a professional project in mind. The road can be long but, most of the time, what comes after is really worth it! Finally, it isn't always easy to take the plunge, to “stand up to” your current employer and to question your professional life, which can also have an impact on your personal life. But today, I realise just how right my decision was. I wouldn't go back for anything in the world!