Rouages: "Every agent must be able to change jobs if they wish".

Virginie Fattore is a career path advisor in the Recruitment, Training and Support Department of the Human Resources Department. Every year, she assists UM staff with their career transition, mobility and training needs. She introduces us to this mission in the "Rouages" video series produced by the University of Montpellier.

" I was originally trained as an occupational psychologist, so becoming a career guidance counsellor made sense. It's an environment and a mission that appeal to me ", confides Virginie Fattore. With her frank smile and dynamic yet discreet presence, it's easy to imagine the career guidance counsellor helping you through the transitions we all go through in the course of our careers.

Virginie Fattore continues: "Today , our environment and our professions are constantly evolving. That' s why it's important for every agent to be able to change jobs if they so wish. Important, but not so simple. In fact, the help of a professional is often essential to learn how to make the most of one's career path and skills. Virginie and her colleague Chantal Bouschon provide this help every day, offering unique, personalized support.

Supporting internal and external mobility

It was to take better account of changes in the various regulatory texts published on mobility and career paths that, in 2015, the University of Montpellier, itself engaged in a merger process, decided to create two career path advisor positions within the recruitment, training and support department of the HRD. The aim: to offer a new service to staff wishing to retrain internally or outside the university, but also to support internal mobility and training projects for staff who, while remaining within the UM, wish to change department or mission.

We intervene in a very wide range of situations," adds Virginie Fattore. This year, for example, we supported an administrative agent who wanted to retrain for the ambulance profession, for which he is currently training, but we also helped a language teacher who wanted to switch to teaching French in a secondary school." These offers complement each other, since a retraining or reorientation will generally require the implementation of a training project.

Individualized, personalized support

For agents, a simple e-mail to the recruitment, training and support department will trigger an initial interview, from which the career path advisors can tailor their response. " If these questions relate to specific points concerning the employee's situation, such as administrative procedures for mobility or professional training leave, we will provide information or refer the employee to the appropriate department".

If, on the other hand, the agent wishes to work in depth on his or her career path, the consultant will offer individualized, personalized support, starting with a career assessment. " A career assessment is an analysis and evaluation of a person's professional and personal skills, aptitudes and motivations. It should lead to the definition of a realistic career plan," emphasizes Virginie Fattore. Every year, around fifty employees are monitored by the career support and monitoring office.

Listening and discretion

While the job of career path advisor naturally requires a perfect knowledge of how universities work and the various statutes of the civil service, it is also, and above all, human qualities that will come to the fore. Empathy, open-mindedness, the ability to listen, but also the ability to analyze, because each project requires an appropriate and unique response. Finally, " discretion is essential. All exchanges remain confidential," insists Virginie Fattore. It's important for agents to know that nothing they tell us will leave the office unless they ask us to. Appointments outside working hours can also be arranged for staff who do not wish to inform their superiors of their approach.