Montpellier Management: Apprenticeships—the Key to Employability!
On January 1, 2017, ISEM and the Faculty of AES merged to form Montpellier Management. The institute has become a leading university school in management at the European level and which, from its inception, has focused on incorporatingapprenticeships into its programs to enhance its students’ career prospects.
“Apprenticeships are a path to excellence that is now firmly established in higher education and trains students in a wide variety of fields,” says Pascal Mandelbaum. The administrative director of Montpellier Management explains: “Apprenticeships are one of our institute’s strategic priorities. They enable us to forge numerous partnerships with companies and are a key factor in our students’ employability.”
529 apprentices
With 50% of its academic programs open to apprenticeships, Montpellier Management is the component of the University of Montpellier with the largest number of apprentices: a total of 529 students—more than 15% of its student body—have opted for this program, which allows them to gain exposure to the working world and earn a salary while pursuing a state-recognized degree. “From the start of the academic year, our apprentices alternate between periods of classroom study and periods of on-the-job training,” explains Marie-Christine Lichtlé, director of Montpellier Management. This heavy workload—both practical and intellectual—ultimately explains why only the most capable students choose this type of program. “The employment rate for apprentices is much higher than that of students who have followed a traditional academic path,” continues this management sciences specialist, who, convinced by the program’s merits, opened the Master 2 program in “Marketing, Media, and Communication”—which she co-directs—to apprentices in late 2016.
Step 1 Toward a Permanent Contract
An apprenticeship is often the first step in the process of securing stable, long-term employment. “Upon completing their training, many apprentices find jobs at their host company or through the professional network they built during their workplace placements, ” notes Marie-Christine Lichtlé. “In 2016, we took on six students (apprentices) from Montpellier Management, primarily in support roles: auditing, inspection, management control… 40 to 50% of these contracts subsequently led to permanent employment,” explains the human resources department at Banque Populaire du Sud, where, as in many companies in our employment region, the tax (tax credits) and financial benefits of apprenticeships (with the region of Occitanie covering the full cost of the salary) continue to attract many recruiters.
The Institute as Seen by a Student
Romain Wastiaux, 23, a second-year apprentice in the Master's program in Finance
"I decided to pursue a career in finance after a AGE license (General Business Administration). So I enrolled in the Master's in Finance from Montpellier Management as an apprentice, in order to gain experience in this professional field while continuing my studies.
"In addition to my degree, by the end of the current academic year I will have gained no less than two years of professional experience in this industry. Those two years will really make a difference to recruiters!"
Key Figures
- 3,583 students
- 92 Professors affiliated faculty members (university professors, associate professors, PRAGs, PRCEs, ATERs)
- 590 professionals
- 58 IATS staff members
Apprenticeships: The Reform in Question
Introduced in higher education in 1987,the apprenticeship program has since expanded significantly at universities and is attracting more and more students every year. In early 2018, the government announced its intention to “massively expand” apprenticeships for those under 25.
On February 9, the Minister of Labor presented the first measures aimed primarily at shifting the current funding model—which relies exclusively on public funds—toward a market-based approach. The bill currently being drafted is expected to be definitively adopted at the start of the new academic year.
The apprenticeship reform is expected to take effect no later than January 1, 2019.