Question hiring, the SNCF sees things in big and in color. In the closet the chain interviews in offices. The company organized a large recruitment forum on Tuesday on the top floor of Ground Control, a former postal sorting center near the Gare de Lyon converted into a multidisciplinary space. Under the yellow, red and blue neon lights, the candidates wander between the different stands. From novices, who can discover the profession via virtual reality headsets, to the more seasoned who have come to finalize their recruitment process, all profiles are welcome.
The forum is mainly focused around the maintenance and driving professions, the most stressed on the Transilien network. The railway company wants to recruit 400 train drivers, 150 people in charge of maintenance in Île-de-France, in 2023. “We also need 200 “station” agents who manage customer relations, and a around a hundred executives, in particular engineers, and managers”, affirms Nathalie Rigaud, director of human resources of an external agency which organizes the event. In total, 900 positions are to be filled throughout the Transilien network.
Many professional retrainings
A large number of candidates are in professional retraining. A bus driver therefore presents herself to make a shift in her career, and move from the road to the railways. Others have much more surprising backgrounds, such as this former chemist who came to apply because he “likes the autonomy, the responsibilities of being a driver… And the little buttons [sur le tableau de contrôle] “. But for the young Orlando, 19, it is a real vocation. “I’ve been passionate about trains since I was little,” he says.
In recent months, he got a bit lost and thought about “joining the RATP”. Finally, he returned to his initial project and applied to the SNCF, whose working conditions several drivers praised to him. The young candidate, CV and cover letter in his backpack, did not come to try simulators. “I have a lot of contacts in the middle. I have already been in a real driver’s cab several times,” he says. Paradoxically, he seeks to hide his enthusiasm from recruiters. “This job is no joke”, explains the man who wants to be taken seriously.
“It’s mainly a question of motivation”
Pôle emploi pre-selected 430 candidates, invited to attend the forum. The prerequisites are broad. Anyone with at least a CAP or BEP can apply. “It’s above all a question of motivation, explains Léa, head of recruitment. In any case, we train them ourselves after recruitment. Seventy interviews are also scheduled to finalize the hiring of other candidates. “That makes us 500 people. And we expect almost as many volunteers who would come spontaneously, ”says the HRD. Just enough to fill vacancies in Île-de-France.
However, hiring does not stop once the 900 positions are filled. Just over a year from the Paris 2024 Olympics, but also on the eve of the installation of a new technicentre in Mantes-la-Jolie and the extension of the RER E line, people will certainly be recruited in anticipation of future staffing needs. “The last time we announced 600 vacancies and we hired 700 people,” adds Nathalie Rigaud. So advice to the most motivated, you have every chance.