“Hello, I am the Hyper U store manager, thank you for having me. » Funny start to this job interview which is just as funny. Around the table this Tuesday morning, around ten job seekers are preparing to listen to the pitch of Nicolas Jacques, in perpetual search labor for its Savenay supermarket (Loire-Atlantique). “A big store certainly, but with strong values,” assures the director, looking for butchers, bakers, or other cashiers. “Here, we carry out our trade as traders humbly, promoting beautiful merchandise. »
In the town’s large performance hall where the unemployment rate is below 6%, around fifteen recruiters are engaged in the same exercise. For seven minutes, before the little bell rings, they must present their company and the positions to be filled in the most dynamic way possible, highlighting everything that would attract these increasingly rare candidates. “It’s up to the boss to convince,” is summed up by the employment service of the Estuaire et Sillon community of communes, which is co-organizing the event.
If some recruiters struggle to break through their jargon, others are in the middle of a seduction operation and break the ice in a few seconds. “We are looking for drivers of all ages, with or without a license, men and women,” says Gaylord Chotard, recruitment manager at Williamson, at table 8. You can work day or night, depending on your desires, there is no problem about that. Are there any people among you who like to ride? »
“Get out of the box of the classic interview”
THE reverse job datingthis is what this new recruitment method is called which tends to be deployed everywhere in France. At the initiative of Pôle Emploi, several meetings of this type have taken place in recent months. In Le Havre, for example, the transport and logistics sectors have embarked on these “less formal exchanges”. In Besançon, a session especially for young people took place last month. Because the formula would respond to many situations. “The roles are reversed, we are breaking away from the shackles of the classic interview,” explains Laurent Barray, deputy director of Pôle emploi Trignac. Candidates, many of whom have been looking for more than a year, do not know which companies will be present and are broadening their field of possibilities. Recruiters are opening up to more atypical profiles and will talk more about their values and their vision. »
During these reverse dating jobs, there are no real rules or pretenses. After the pitches, the few minutes of discussion are friendly, and we don’t hesitate to talk about salaries, hours, or service vehicles. At the end of the morning, in Savenay, the sixty participants give Pôle Emploi a small form on which they indicate to which company(ies) they would like their CV to be sent. “I checked one that interests me a lot and that I didn’t know about before this morning,” says Marie*, who has been looking for a job since this summer. It’s in my field, administration, but in a sector, medico-social, in which I had never considered working one day. »
“Troubleshoot for a few months”
So, would reverse job dating be the ideal formula at a time when full employment has almost been reached in several departments of France? For Francis Boyer, managerial innovation consultant, this is “a trend that will not last”. “The company is adapting, that’s a good thing, but even inverted, there is still this balance of power, with companies almost on their knees, which is ultimately not very healthy. As long as we remain in this conformity, the meeting between the company and the candidate will not work well. »
On the recruiters’ side, we seem to appreciate this experience considered original without believing in a miracle either. Samuel Dylis, who participated in a similar event in June, for example, indeed succeeded in recruiting a person for his company Olys cleanliness, based between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire. Problem: the latter has in the meantime already left the company… “It allowed us to tide us over for a few months, but we still have positions, particularly permanent ones, to fill,” reports the administrative manager, who offers internal training. At least, this type of meeting allows us to remove certain preconceived ideas, and to reach around a hundred potential candidates in just a few hours. Sometimes it’s not appropriate at all, but we encourage them to talk about it to their acquaintances, or to their children, who may apply for the summer. »
In Loire-Atlantique, “several hundred CVs” circulate after this type of event.” The organizer Pôle Emploi estimates that if only 5 to 7% of candidates return to long-term employment following these meetings, “the operation is successful”.