Graduate Programmes as Career Booster in France, Reasons of a Success

For the first time in France, 700 young graduates were interviewed for a survey on the increasing attractivity of the graduates programmes – and only a quarter of them unlocked the holy grail of the graduate jobs.

According to to the study published by Lesechosstart.fr , most graduate roles are open to freshgraduates from top-tier business and engineering schools/universities, especially graduates of business schools.

A majority of 54% students that were embarked on a graduate scheme in France are business postgraduates. 23% were engineering students, 16% graduated from French universities and 14% from foreign universities.

What is a graduate scheme?

A graduate scheme (also known as a graduate programme in France) is generally defined as a structured training programme led by an employer to develop the next generation of talent in their industry.  A typical graduate scheme lasts between a year and three years with rotations in various disciplines and fields, such as: operations, logistics, finance, marketing, human ressources, research and development, management.

Contrary to what the name suggets, a graduate programme is not related to courses led by universities. This training programmes are used a career launching opportunity for high-performing candidates.

Beat the odds: getting into the most sought-after graduate schemes

Although the role of this programmes is to create a pipeline for future employees, landing these highly-coveted places mainly requires :

• a lot of hard work and research about the company’s culture, mission and values,
• a positive stress mindset and good skills in performing under pressure, as the recruitment process usually consists in several rounds of testes, exercices and interviews
• a good Toeic score is required to pass the English proficiency tests to qualify for a graduate programme such as at Mazars
• entrepreneurial thinking, a startup mindset, consumer centricity are part of the requirements  to enrol in some of L’Oreal’s graduate scheme

Orange graduate programme is one of the most sought-after schemes in France. Adaptibility, communication, personal and intellectual autonomy and creativity skills are valued well beyond a degree from a top-tier university or school.

Unsurprisingly, the beauty parade of companies ready to offer high-wage, high-skilled jobs includes France’s most attractive employers to work for in 2019: LVMH, Airbus, BNP Paribas, Renault, Microsoft, Carrefour, Danone. However, with more than 49% of university degree holders 25-35 years old not being interested to stay with same employer for 2+ years, the key challenge that most organizations face is retaining this talent.

Capturing and winning the loyalty of those Swiss Army Knife Employees is a two-way street.

To retain talented employees, businesses have to develop the employability and skills of their graduates at global scale, hence enabling them to be ideal candidates in various markets around the world.

Curious to find out how can EMLV Graduate School of Management can help you to reach the top ? More information about its programmes.