Apprenticeship is the best way to become a professional © Adobestock
If you decide to do your apprenticeship training, you have made the best decision to become a complete professional.
Now you will have to convince your parents and family that you have made the right choice. The arguments for convincing your family and friends, the courses and levels offered in apprenticeships, the most frequently asked questions, the steps to becoming an apprentice and how to find the right company and school are all questions we can help you answer.
How do you convince your friends and family that learning is the way of the future?
Today, even the most prestigious schools offer to do part or all of your studies in a work-study program. All the business, management and marketing schools, including ESSEC and HEC (yes, you read that right), offer work-linked Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees. The prestigious University of Paris Dauphine PSL has also started. Hotel schools have been offering work-study programmes for many years (Ferrandi, Médéric, EPMT, etc.) and others have started more recently to adapt to demand (Vatel).
Despite these examples of prestigious schools, apprenticeships are still associated in the minds of many parents (especially the generation of the 1970s) with a dead-end route
You are not alone in taking the step of dual education; there are now almost 500,000 students in apprenticeships (compared to 350,000 apprentices in the sixties and only 250,000 in the seventies) in France
It is precisely this 70s generation that needs to change its preconceptions and get up to speed!
If these figures and the increase in recent decades are not enough to convince your family, you can also tell them about the case of vocational training in Germany, which is organised in most cases on a work-study basis and whose economy and unemployment are now the best in Europe!
Are you still not convinced yourself? So, isn’t being employed by a company and being able to earn a salary while your training is paid for by the company great? Not only will you save money on your training, but you will also be able to start an independent adult life while contributing to your future pension!
How do you convince your friends and family that learning is the way of the future? © Adobestock
What is apprenticeship?
The principle of the apprenticeship is simple: you divide your time between the company and the school. At school, you take the theoretical part and the company allows you to put into practice and acquire field skills. The work-study programme makes it easier for you to enter the professional world as it allows you to build up your network!
We can say that work-linked training is the oldest way of training in a profession.
Which professions and levels of training offer apprenticeships?
Apprenticeships cover all professions: hotels, restaurants, cooking, baking, commerce, finance, HR, marketing… Today we find apprenticeships in all fields and at all levels of education, including higher education. Many universities offer apprenticeships in the final years of their programmes. Schools of Management, Marketing or Finance…offer the apprenticeship route from the third year of training or during the Masters. The most prestigious French management schools offer work-study programmes. The gastronomy professions have always trained and still train their chefs through apprenticeship contracts. Apprenticeship is not reserved for any particular profession or level of training: you can all benefit from it!
What is a work-linked contract?
A work-linked contract is an employment contract combining theoretical training in a training centre with professional practice in a company. The contract can take different forms. Read this article to the end!
What is the status of an apprentice?
As an apprentice, you are an employee of the company where you work, but you still have some student benefits. You have the same benefits as the other employees of your company: company health insurance, meals or luncheon vouchers, reimbursement of the transport card, time off work, bonuses…but also the same obligations! No more long summer holidays and a fortnight’s holiday every six weeks; from now on you will have five weeks’ paid holiday per year, like any other employee.
As an apprentice, you are an employee of the company where you work while remaining a student on the side.© Adobestock
How do you enter a combined work and training programme?
In theory, you need to have found a company first in order to enrol in a training centre; however, many schools allow apprentices to start the training while still looking for a company.
Are there any risks involved in work-linked training?
There is only one real risk in a work-study programme, and that is the time limit set by your training centre for finding a company.
If you do not find one in time, you will have to stop your course.
You may be faced with three problems:
– You will have to pay the costs of the training (be careful, it could be very expensive)
– You may have to stop the course
– If the other courses have already started, you may find yourself without a combined work/study programme and without the possibility of enrolling elsewhere; you may lose a year.
How to find a company?
Finding the right company during your apprenticeship is important because you will spend a lot of time there and you will have to learn your future job and develop all your skills. Don’t be afraid to be demanding with yourself when looking for a company!
More than 75% of apprentices sign an apprenticeship contract out of necessity…but not out of passion. The time constraint of finding a company, the stress of finding yourself without a contract and being forced to give up your training, the lack of a network… are the reasons why students will take the first positive answer, without projecting themselves into their professional future and creating a career plan. Of course, you have access to all the job search sites, where you can also find a few advertisements for work-study positions.
On Linkedin, there are company offers and you can post your CV.
Think of Talent Developer, which can save you a lot of time by finding the company that is best suited to your career plan and will enable you to achieve your professional dream.
Talent Developer accompanies you in your search to find the most suitable company © Unsplash
When should I be in the company and when should I be at school?
The alternation periods are different and depend on your training programme, your level of study and the training centre. You will receive a work-study calendar which will show you the periods in the company and the periods in the training centre. In this calendar, you have precisely the days when you have to be present in the company and the days when you are in the training centre. If there is no school for various reasons (teachers’ strikes, other groups’ school trips, etc.) you are obliged to go to your company; this is not a day off for you!
At what age can I do a sandwich course?
You can do a sandwich course between the ages of 16 and 30.
The principle of work-study is simple: you divide your time between the company and the school © Adobestock
Can I switch from a work-study course to a general course or vice versa?
If you have spent a good part of your schooling in work-study programmes (CAP, BTS, etc.) and you would like to switch to a 100% theory course, you should know that this is possible. And conversely, if you’ve just passed your general BAC and you want to go on to a work-based course, there are solutions.
However, don’t be surprised if your school asks you to do a preparatory year. You will sometimes have to catch up on theory or practical courses to keep up with your classmates.
Apprentice wages: Another good argument!
The salary is always a percentage of the SMIC but evolves according to your age and the year of study you are in!
The salary scale for an apprentice in 2021
8 concrete advantages and some bearable disadvantages of the apprentice status
Benefits:
- Receive a salary during your training
- Have no tuition fees as the cost of your school is covered by your employer or other organisations
- Gain valuable experience while still a student and combine theory and practice
- Start contributing to your pension
- Allows you to confront the realities of the profession in order to have certainty for your professional future without waiting for the end of your studies.
- Benefit from a personalised follow-up in the company
- The possibility of being recruited after your apprenticeship
- Pass your driving licence at a lower cost
Constraints:
- No international course
- Not being at the same pace as your friends in the general stream
- Having to combine work and student life
- Having the same obligations as any other employee
We hope that these arguments have helped you make your choice. If you wish to go further, you can consult the government website (I wish you good luck!).
Talent Developer is at your disposal to listen to your project and help you in your search for a training centre and host company.
Get in touch with us without delay!
Article written by Talent Developer