Isabelle Six, Master's degree in Public Communication (2016), Communications Officer at Nantes Métropole Habitat

Isabelle Six is a former student of the Public Communication and Territorial Animation master's program at UCO Angers. She graduated in 2016 and is now Communications Officer at Nantes Métropole Habitat.

Could you tell us about your academic and professional background?

I started off with a degree in Applied Foreign Languages (LEA) at the University of Nantes, before going on to do a Masters in Public Communication and Territorial Development at UCO Angers. It was a sandwich course in which I was in charge of communications at DIRECCTE Pays de la Loire (Directions régionales des entreprises, de la concurrence, de la consommation, du travail et de l'emploi) in the first year and at Nantes Métropole Habitat in the second.
After graduating, I worked at the Nantes-Saint Nazaire port and at Crédit Agricole Atlantique Vendée as a communications officer.
Finally, I returned to Nantes Métropole Habitat after several experiences in the public and private sectors.

What is Nantes Métropole Habitat?

Nantes Métropole Habitat is a social landlord, which rents social housing to households and builds and renovates a portfolio of 25,000 homes. It is a public organization (Office public de l'habitat).
The social housing sector is a richly varied field, where communication missions are put into action in the service of the territory and the general interest, to make ourselves useful.

What are your missions and can you tell us about them?

I carry out both communications management and strategy (defining communications plans and supporting projects) and operational assignments in both internal and institutional communications, and sometimes with our tenants.
My missions can include writing, creating content for social networks, press relations, events, video editing, sending out newsletters, etc. for the full range of our internal tools (intranet, newsletter, in-house newspaper) and external tools (website, newsletter, social networks, urban signage, brochures, activity reports, etc.).

How are you organized within the Nantes Métropole Habitat communications department?

I work in a team with 2 other communication managers. We all deal with internal and external communications, but we each have our own areas of focus, such as HR and corporate communications (my area of expertise), local communications and heritage and worksite communications.
We are supervised by a department manager and belong to the Communications and Institutional Relations Department, which reports to General Management.

What drew you to the communications profession?

I discovered communications during my undergraduate studies, and I really liked the creative aspect and the constantly evolving profession, which can be applied to a variety of sectors.
I wanted to give a notion of usefulness and meaning to what I was doing, which is why I liked public communication applied to the general interest and chose the master's degree specialized in public communication offered by UCO.

Do you have any advice for students wishing to specialize?
In my opinion, if you don't have a very clear vision of the job you want to do, you should wait to specialize.
If you want to be a communications manager, it's best to take a master's degree that teaches you how to think, listen and transcribe information in a clear and pedagogical way. It's a course that will give you a sense of perspective as you learn to support a communications strategy, rather than specializing in a particular field.
On the other hand, if you want to specialize in a particular theme or be more operational, you need to give coherence to your career path from the outset by choosing your internships, work-study placements...
In any case, you'll never be stuck in a career path, and your choice of initial experiences won't determine your career from A to Z. It's always possible to evolve with determination, enthusiasm and, sometimes, training.