At the end of their studies, the young graduate is supposed to face no issues in terms of professional integration. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Aurélie Taglialegne holds a Master II in Political Science. Laetitia Degioanni has a degree in Political Science and International Law as well as a Master II in Business Administration. Once they graduated, they didn’t know which career to pursue despite their substantial “academic credentials.” Using their personal experience, they created the association FEAP (Formation Emploi Association le Passage) in 2008 to assist young graduates in their professional endeavors. Aurélie Taglialegne, the association’s President, explains to Nice Premium how this structure helps young people integrate into the job market.
Nice Premium: Why did you create this association?
Aurélie Taglialegne: Today, young graduates are not considered a group with difficulties in terms of professional integration. I was told at the employment center that with a Bac+5, people know what to do with their diploma, how to find a job, and how to prepare a CV and a cover letter. That was the principle of the employment center at the time (formerly ANPE) and of all the people we’ve met so far. We realized that this was not the case at all. Although young graduates can get temporary experience by getting a summer job and sending a CV and cover letter, the approach when searching for their first job is entirely different. We don’t sell the same things, we don’t present them in the same way, and it’s definitely not the same processes we undertake. Thus, it’s true that it’s a lack of information and training that led us to establish this association. Our goal? It’s the support and aid for the professional integration of young graduates. That is what we have aimed for from the beginning.
NP: Do you actually help young graduates with building a CV and a cover letter?
AT: Concretely, it’s a methodology we try to convey. These are, of course, the big classics: creating a CV based on one’s skills, a cover letter. It’s also about being confident before an employer during a job interview. These are the job search techniques that can be found with many organizations. But we have specialized them for an audience that has specific barriers, meaning those who don’t have any valuable professional experience. One must find that experience because we sell skills when we sell ourselves to an employer. Our work is partly assisting in the professionalization of these diplomas. Throughout one’s personal, university, or even general education journey, through degrees, professional, observational, company internships, we have developed skills. What are these skills? And based on these skills, how should they be marketed? We really work on professional skills and the emergence of these skills.
Next, we create the tools. The CV and cover letter remain tools. We optimize the approach to recruiters and handle follow-up. Of course, all these efforts are worthwhile once the student has a professional project. Once a goal is found, the tools are necessary, and the recruiter must be found. Today, it’s true that most job offers are found on a hidden market. They are not accessible through standard job postings like Pôle emploi 06, Nice Matin, and not necessarily on specialized websites like Cadre emploi, Paca Job, or Monster. These job levels are accessed by recommendation. Why? For example, a company issues a job offer, and they will receive between 100 and 150 CVs in response to that announcement. Why one CV over another? Why one person over another with the same education? Conversely, by working on the network basics, one accesses a recommendation process. We arrive first on job openings that become available. We really work on what a network is, how to develop it. A network isn’t acquired only at the start of one’s professional career but throughout one’s life. We know today that at some point, we will face unemployment, possibly at 30, sometimes at 40, or around 50 when everything is repositioned in terms of professional career. The network we work on as soon as we leave university, even within university, is something that amplifies, develops, and accompanies you throughout your life. It is supposed to provide solutions.
NP: How many young graduates have you hosted?
AT: Our statistics in terms of hosting are based on 3 foundations: first, we communicate through our website, blogs. Today, we receive an average of 3 information requests per day via our website www.feap.fr. Blogs also address the issues of young graduates and students. Thus, we have 2 to 3 contacts per day whom we respond to regarding global questions. Our support is also our training center. Then, there’s the work we do for the university. We work with students. It’s very important for us to explain how things happen after graduation. It’s true that our audience doesn’t necessarily come from university but also from schools and all higher education education. Our goal is to make them understand, as soon as they have time, i.e., within the scope of their studies, that one must prepare for leaving (education). It’s not at the last moment that one prepares. At the last moment, we found the internship that corresponded.
Back to our audience, we work within universities, UTC (Unit of Free Education) job search techniques. We have been working with the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, across all campuses, since September 2009. Altogether, we have managed to handle between 60 and 80 student requests up to today. After that, there are those who come to see us. Since 2008, we have handled about fifty requests.
NP: Have you received feedback from young graduates who have found a job?
AT: Yes, because our support doesn’t have an end. We have a follow-up; we create bonds, and we take an interest. Young graduates come back to tell us where they stand. There is a person who tried three times to pass the IUFM competitive exam to become a teacher. He didn’t succeed. Today, he is in charge of a mission. We had a young woman who was completely lost in terms of her professional project, who entered the local mission in Marseille. Then, we assist someone who came to see us about a network issue. She realized that she needed to work on her professional project. The network is only a tool serving a project. So, we worked on her project. As a result, she restarted her studies in something that suited her this time and not something that had been a matter of opportunity. She discovered another path and returned to her studies. Her professional project was really to become a consultant in personal development. She needed to return to studies to have more skills to offer. In the meantime, she found a job to achieve this. She works in a school and also has a position that allows her to highlight her skills but also to work on projects related to what she wants to do.
NP: Have all the people you’ve supported found a job?
AT: There are people we are following or have followed because they are seeking a professional contract. There are people we have followed because they were looking for training to access an internship in a company. These people, currently seeking an internship, have all found one so far. There are also people still looking for a job today. But they know where they are looking in, which is a time-saving. And we continue to accompany them.
NP: Even if the person has found a job, do you continue to follow them?
AT: Yes, we continue to support them for a while because we have formed a relationship. When we find a job, we feel ecstatic, and the company we join is the most beautiful in the world. However, afterward, there is a return to reality where we need to learn to manage life at work. So, we support individuals, help them make decisions, manage their day-to-day life and work. We are here for professional integration, yet they are also life questions. Personal obligations bring about other obligations. We offer support, endorse the person through processes, and continue to follow them. There’s a principle that just because someone has found a job, it doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily stay. Another objective is to remove the barriers that prevent people from retaining their jobs. It often happens that one gets hired and stays only for the 2 months of the trial period or that a temporary contract doesn’t get renewed, etc.
NP: What does this association offer compared to Adecco or Pôle emploi?
AT: First, we are not a Temp agency. Also, we are not a public service but an association addressing specific needs, those of young graduates. That’s perhaps the difference with Adecco and Pôle emploi, which deal with the general public. We address specific issues we know well. Moreover, we have a personalized, individualized approach. Currently, it’s crucial to note that Pôle emploi receives its beneficiaries once a month. The employment center advisors handle almost 100 cases. They can’t devote the same time that we can. Currently, we don’t manage a portfolio of 100 to 150 cases. We have the time to take the time properly. We have been receiving a young woman since October 1st. She agreed to connect with us. We meet her 1h30 per week. We work on her project, her hurdles, her limits based on her foundations, meaning our objective is to understand what she has in mind, her professional objectives so that we can work with her on support. I believe that without knowing the person, their personal background, what they want to do in life, their projects, we can’t help them.
We develop the project, we support the individual within the framework of the project, and we also conduct follow-ups. However, we have established a department to further this guiding effort. We realized, following discussions with our young graduates, that many had a very poor CV in experience and skills. We thought a solution had to be found for this issue. That’s why we established the training center, which is one of the association’s activities. It’s not our main activity, but it contributes alongside all the association’s activities to reinforcing the whole process we want the young graduate to enter. Initially, they join within the association framework, and we work on what they want, what they don’t want career-wise or professionally. Once their professional project becomes clearer, our aim is to say “you have these skills.” Thus, we enter the job search toolkit discussion. Then, there’s the skill area we wish to develop because they have these skills and these abilities. But, it must be formalized, applied. This is where the training center comes in.
They enter the training framework where we convey basic tools. The young graduate enters a company internship period that validates everything we have emphasized before. There is the internship period with a real work exchange with a company and the young graduate. While they are in training, we conduct follow-ups with the company, the intern to ensure they feel supported. Moreover, we have implemented a competency booklet in which all the skills related to the position are listed and validated month by month by the company, the intern, and ourselves. There’s a continuous effort from the start to the end throughout the entire internship phase to work on the competency progression. In addition to their CV, their ability to effectively market what they have accomplished, they also have an official document that can value their internship experience.
