Advice for young grads from MEDEF, BNP Paribas, Accor and Areva

The work is out there, even if it's difficult to find. But you mustn't say This is what I'm qualified for so I'll only get a job if it matches my qualifications.' If HR managers take this attitude too, then I'm afraid it's a case of ne'er the twain shall meet'! So said Laurence Parisot, President of Medef, during the season's first Puissances jeunes attitude meeting, launched by the employers' organisation on Monday 29 June 2009 in Paris to bring together young graduates and HR professionals (AEF n°116369). This attitude is even more serious in a market like the one we're currently going through where jobs are so scarce, she added. Medef also launched a campaign to promote sandwich programmes. This runs from 24 June to 8 July, and from 5 to 20 September. From the end of August, young job seekers will be able to get in touch with firms directly and vice versa on www.misersurlavenir.com.

LAURENCE PARISOT: ABUSIVE USE OF WORK PLACEMENTS HR professionals tell young grads that their first work experience, in whatever form or shape, is one of the keys to getting a job, reminding them how difficult it is today to find a job or even to get an interview. Focus on getting a job! Laurence Parisot insisted. In fact the President of Medef insisted that it's crucial for work placements to stay within the framework of an academic programme only. She deplores the abusive use of work placements by some leading firms. To the culprits she says: Go easy on the placements!, adding Universities are too ready to go along with it! With order books full for the next three years, Areva is continually taking on new staff, Jérôme Emery, head of the recruitment department, told us. We've been hiring between 10,000 and 12,000 people a year for the last three years, including 4,000 in France. Our recruitment target is ultra-technical but, contrary to what most people think, Areva doesn't just take on graduates from the Polytechnique and Centrale Paris, but also looks for other academic profiles.  Managerial skills are also needed and the successful candidate is above all someone who knows how to work in a team and is ready to learn from others. This is vital to assimilate the technical constraints linked to security. SPEAK FROM THE HEART WITH A SHINE IN YOUR EYES

You should target specific job sectors, show your enthusiasm in your eyes and speak from the heart, was the message Cathy Kopp, General Manager of HR at Accor, had for young graduates. She believes we need to promote jobs in the service sector, which counts for over half of all jobs in the private sector but which are still not well-known enough. She thinks this is mainly because teachers don't talk about them enough. I invited around forty teachers to visit [an Accor site] but they didn't come, Cathy Kopp told us with regret.

Carolie Leroy, HR assistant at BNP Paribas, advised young graduates to attract employer's attention by paying special attention to the quality of their CV and cover letter. The group will recruit 3,000 people in 2009. Over half of them have undergraduate or graduate degrees, and are mostly for jobs in the sales sector. We're looking for a wide range of profiles though, she told us.