Interview of Manuelle Malot "Career guidance, between stress and business"

It’s impossible to ignore. In the streets of the big cities, in the Paris metro, in the press, on the radio, wherever education fairs are advertised, in diverse publications and events linked to education and careers, the ritual is now firmly in place: every year between January and March, it’s the season of careers guidance, particularly with the launch of the Post-baccalaureate admissions measure (APB). For hundreds of thousands of future school leavers, it’s the moment to choose which school or university to apply for. It’s a busy and stressful time for both school leavers and their parents.
Moreover, in the last few years, the process has changed significantly. First, the choice is more complicated for several reasons. In addition to the main university courses, a plethora of specialised schools and institutions in communications, management, paramedical careers, design, fashion and creation, etc. have seen the light of day. And that’s not all. “For some traditional programmes like engineering schools, a lot of new competitive entrance exams have appeared in recent years, Sophie de Tarlé, author of the guide ‘Admission postbac, mode d'emploi’ (published by L'Etudiant), told us. “In addition to the traditional preparatory classes, there are more and more undergraduate course options, each with their own specificity.” And business schools are going the same way. Add to that the increasing number of links between tracks and the split between universities and Grandes Ecoles and between the public and private sphere, and the status of ‘intermediary’, it’s no wonder that students and parents alike are feeling increasingly bemused.
Especially as they often feel that they’re more or less left to their own devices. The public careers guidance system appears relatively ineffective. The famous physiologist-careers advisers are often criticized for being out of touch with corporate life. Above all, there aren’t enough of them to go round. Given this, it’s hardly surprising that school leavers count first and foremost on their parents (67%) to help them make the right choice, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Onisep. The family comes well before information supplied by schools and institutions (32%), teachers (28%)... and careers advisers (20%)!
The creation of the APB initiative in 2009 nonetheless marks an important step. Previously, new students in France had to queue up in front of the universities’ enrolment office at the beginning of the academic year. Now, everyone can apply to their chosen university directly from home. But you still have to understand the logic of the system, and how to list your choice in the right order. And, above all, you need to think about your choices several months before the final school leaving exams.

Fear of a drop in status
However, another parameter has changed the landscape, namely the economic crisis which has led to a rise in unemployment and the fear of a fall in status. This has led families, especially in the higher income bracket, to ‘over-invest’ in education and consequently in their children's career guidance. Thus, this annual ritual can cause real stress, especially as making the wrong choice could have disastrous, and often costly, consequences. “Parents worry enormously, which makes the young people worry in turn,” Mustapha Ben Kalfate, co-director of PGE-PGO, a private preparatory school for undergraduates that has 900 students in Paris and Nice, explained. “Some even go so far as to adopt sophisticated strategies in a three-stage process. We see students who go to London for three years so that they can then apply for the international entrance exams at HEC, Essec and ESCP Europe...”
At the same time, there’s more career guidance information out there than ever before. Firstly, the long-awaited public careers guidance service (SPO) now offers a website (orientation-pour-tous.fr) and a free phone service (08 11 70 39 39). This is gradually being supplemented by a number of local certified services. At the same time, there’s a growing number of dedicated websites, press articles, books, online tests, Salons, open days and events of all kinds. “There are a lot more ways to get information today than a few years ago,” Manuelle Malot, Director of Careers and Prospects at EDHEC, told us. “This leads to less social reproduction.” The problem is this avalanche of information can be counterproductive. Far from reassuring potential students, it may leave them feeling under pressure and anxious.

A flourishing market
“School rankings, for example, have become over-emphasised, resulting in absurd situations, Agnès Baumier-Klarsfeld, from Insa Toulouse, an engineering school that has introduced a progressive guidance system for its students, told us. “Some students are guided towards such or such a school simply for its name, without taking their personal tastes or interests into account. It’s a waste of human capital and it’s expensive for society.” It loses sight of the main aim of career guidance: “You need to look at the pupil’s strengths, what really motivates them and potential careers at the end of their programme,” Manuelle Malot explained. “All the rest is secondary.” There’s another danger: young people (and their parents...) may focus first and foremost on the programmes and less on the potential careers at the end.
The weaknesses of public careers guidance services combined with fear of the future have led to a booming new business that benefits groups specialised in student information. There are two main players, L'Etudiant and Studyrama, which (along with others) annually organise several dozen Careers Guidance Fairs. Where before it was enough to see a careers advisor for a few minutes (not always very efficient, it’s true...), today parents often spend a great deal of time and money on online tests and careers guides.
And this is without counting the other new players on the market like academic support specialists. Acadomia, sector leader, has developed a range of services based on careers guidance: an online test (39 euros), a three-hour module (89 euros) and even, for the most demanding, an in-depth ‘skills assessment session’, with around 15 hours of face-to-face tutoring based on the skills assessment model (389 euros: “but it’s 50% tax deductible as a home-help service,” a representative of Acadomia pointed out). “Generally speaking, we don’t want careers guidance to be a separate activity,” Philippe Coléon, the CEO, added. “In general, it’s an integral part of our support service for school leavers.”
Coaches are another new player on the market and they raise the bar even higher with services that can cost several thousand euros. “It’s common practice for the better off to use personal coaches. Even for good students who don’t have any real problems, it’s a matter of course to use their services. But coaching is only really useful if the school leaver hasn’t left it too late and gets involved in the process. Otherwise, you’re just making yourself feel better,” Manuelle Malot told us. “It’s still not yet mainstream,” Sophie de Tarlé concluded, “but when a Grande Ecole costs between 10,000 and 12,000 euros a year, we can understand why parents do everything they can to get it right.”
Written by JEAN-CLAUDE LEWANDOWSKI