Aileen completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1990, majoring in French and Japanese. In the same year, she was awarded the University of Tasmania prize for French. She then went on to complete Honours in French linguistics and a Diploma of Education. In 1993 she received the French Government Assistant Scholarship that took her to Grenoble.
“On return from Grenoble, I taught French at various schools in Tasmania and Western Australia before totally changing career paths."
“In 1996, I moved into the pharmaceutical industry, working initially for Organon in Perth as a medical representative. I later joined Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (now sanofi-aventis), a French pharmaceutical company, hoping that it may lead to work in a French speaking country. As I moved up the ranks, I made no secret of my desire to work internationally."
“After three long years of networking, I moved with sanofi-aventis in 2003 to take up a position in Brussels. I currently work as a Product Manager in oncology, focusing on breast and head and neck cancers. I’ve also recently created a small specialised online medical communications agency, which offers translation and editing services to physicians whose first language is not English."
“In my personal life, I married a wonderful Belgian man and we’ve had our first child. She has dual nationality and we are raising her bilingually, undoubtedly two of the best gifts that we could ever offer her."
“Studying French at University has enabled me to live and work in Europe, and I can’t put a price on the experiences I’ve had or the friendships I’ve made. If you’re looking towards an international career, studying a foreign language can definitely take you places.”