Professional Experience Abroad

Are you under the age of 28 with five years of post-secondary education? If so, Total can offer you a first, 12- to 24-month-long professional experience abroad through a VIE business or VIS science co-op placement. Both are a great way to learn whether you are cut out for geographic mobility.

Students from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are eligible for both programs.

Working abroad at a subsidiary through the VIE program will give you additional practical training, through an assignment tailored to your area of study, whether geosciences, refining, oil installations, HSE, finance, human resources, procurement contracts, logistics, marketing or something else. To learn more, read the VIE procedures, VIE vacancies and personal experience of one student volunteer.

Through the VIS program, you and another 20 students will participate in a research project or study conducted jointly by a Total research center in Europe, Japan or North America and international university teams. The disciplines cover all of our professional fields, including earth sciences, process engineering, catalysis, polymers and specialty chemicals. Read our VIS job vacancies. 
 

VIE Procedures

Eligibility requirements and advantages of the VIE co-op placement program

• Be under 28 years of age, a student with five years of post-secondary education and a national of an E.U. country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway who has fulfilled your country’s national service requirements
• An assignment based outside France in any country other than your own
• A 12- to 24-month assignment, renewable once for a cumulative total of no more than 24 months
• 2.5 leave days per month
• Public law status
• Net-of-tax compensation, partially indexed to the cost of living in some countries
• International benefits package with coverage for dependents
• Your volunteer period is covered by the retirement plan
• Allowances and expenses paid: employee benefits, round trip travel and housing.

Personal Story of a Student Volunteer

Anne-Laure T. earned an engineering degree from France’s École Polytechnique engineering school and later a diploma in Industrial Organization from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. She completed a 12-month assignment as a drilling engineer on the Dalia Project for Exploration & Production in Luanda, Angola.

“After I graduated from Polytechnique, I interned in Venezuela, a country with a strong awareness of oil issues. This gave me a desire to work in energy fields in general and for Total in particular.

I’d heard about the VIE co-op placement program, which was a real opportunity to live abroad for a year. Following an interview at a recruiting firm and three interviews at Total, in mid-May I received a letter saying that I was in and was scheduled to leave for Angola in early September.

My trip and my arrival in country went off without a hitch. Total arranged and paid for everything: someone to welcome me, housing, transportation, etc.

In terms of work experience, it opened my eyes and I learned something new every day. It’s a very operations-oriented field, exactly what I was looking for. The experience made me surer of my decision to choose drilling as a profession. I’ve since joined Total and am currently working on the Dalia project, in Angola again: a new program to drill 70 wells.

When all is said and done, I have only one regret: a year goes by too fast!”