Professional Retraining: Dare to Change!

In today's ever-changing world of work, professional retraining is an essential means of reinventing one's career.

Whether you want to explore forgotten passions, acquire new skills or adapt to market demands, this approach can open unsuspected doors and be a real source of fulfillment.

However, embarking on a career transition can be like taking a leap into the unknown, giving rise to legitimate apprehensions: fear of failure, balancing personal and professional life, acquiring new skills, financial difficulties...

As part of the National Career Transition Day on November 14, 2024, we're sharing 3 testimonials from Continuing Education trainees undergoing career transition at theUniversity of Montpellier.

Our aim? To introduce you to profiles driven by different objectives and career plans. They've all had doubts and apprehensions, but managed to overcome them and turn them into motivating levers.

Contents

1. Emmanuelle: From midwife to occupational risk prevention consultant
2. Charles: From optician to rugby video analyst
3. Virginie: From school teacher to ecologist

Testimonial from Emmanuelle Delrue, aged 35

In 2022, having worked as a midwife for 10 years in hospitals and PMI (Protection Maternelle Infantile) clinics, she decided to retrain for a new career, following an injury that left her professionally incapacitated, by enrolling in the Risks and Environment Master's program at ESEQ (Ecole Sécurité Environnement Qualité) in Montpellier.

School career

On graduating from high school, Emmanuelle began studying medicine. Quickly realizing that she didn't like it, and being more interested in prevention, she gradually turned to midwifery, which she practiced for 10 years.

Emergence of new desires

"Little by little, I realized that as a healthcare worker, you don't have much time to devote to prevention, even though it's my main area of interest. Already at midwifery school, I was telling myself that I hadn't really found my calling and that I certainly wouldn't be doing this for the rest of my life.

I gradually became interested in everything to do with the quality and safety of care, and the impact of workers' health on the quality and safety of care."

The click

In 2022, following an injury that left her unable to work, Emmanuelle went to the ESEQ (Ecole Sécurité Environnement Qualité) Open Days in Montpellier to find out more about their qualifications and talk to Claire Chaffard, Head of Studies.

Following this, Emmanuelle found a work-study position with the SNCF and joined the class of 2022 in the Master Risques et Environnement en Formation Continue program at the ESEQ (Ecole Sécurité Environnement Qualité) in Montpellier.

Alternation, an "absolute necessity

"Without a sandwich course, I wouldn't have been able to do the training, which was an absolute necessity for me. When I started at ESEQ (Ecole Sécurité Environnement Qualité) in September 2022, I was 5 months pregnant with my little boy and I already had a little girl. It's particularly difficult to say to yourself that you're putting your family situation in a form of instability to pursue your professional career."

The emergence of a new professional project

"During the Master's course, I wanted to give myself the freedom to discover all the different facets of the profession, so as to gradually build up my professional project. On the other hand, it was a deliberate choice to change my sector of activity, not to go into the health sector, because I wanted to open up to something else, and in concrete terms, the railway helped to open up new horizons.

The health sector nevertheless remained very important to me. As time went by, my career plan was built around quality and health and safety in the workplace, rather than the environment, which ultimately seemed to me to be very technical.

Professional reconversion as a revelation

"This career change was a challenge. It was both stressful and energizing. I felt I was aligned with what I was doing, so that was a big source of motivation, but there are bound to be apprehensions.

You don't approach your first studies and a career change in the same way. When you go back to school, there are other issues at stake, particularly financial ones, and it's true that I put myself under a certain amount of pressure in relation to that, but at the same time this experience was a kind of revelation for me".

Professional integration after retraining

After 2 years of training, Emmanuelle obtained her Master's degree in June 2024.

"At present, I'm an occupational risk prevention consultant in Nîmes. I'm planning to move closer to Montpellier next January to take up a position in quality prevention, the two concepts that appeal to me most. 

In my day-to-day work, I feel at ease and I have the impression that there are a lot of things from my previous professional life that have helped me in this job.

I have the feeling that it's a lot easier and that you're up and running much more quickly when you've been retrained. I used to have a bit of impostor syndrome, wondering whether I'd be up to the job compared with people who've been in the business for a long time and who've done all their studies in it. In the end, I've realized that it offers new perspectives, a different way of looking at problems, and therefore a wider range of solutions."

Emmanuelle's advice

"If you feel the need to make a professional retraining, I advise you to talk to people who have already done it, if possible in the targeted field, contact continuing education structures and talk about this project around you to mature it, make it evolve and make it your own."

The last word

"I would like to thank the team at ESEQ (Ecole Sécurité Environnement Qualité), my work-study tutor and my family: the 3 pillars that enabled me to bring this project to fruition."

Optician turned rugby video analyst

Testimony of Charles Heiderscheid, 37 years old

After completing a BTS in optics in Lyon on a sandwich course, Charles worked for 2 years in France and 8 years in Canada. On his return from Canada in the summer of 2020, he decided to go back to school and retrain.

The trigger

"At the time, I didn't really want to work in optics in France, I wanted to work in the environment and while researching from Canada, I came across a Bachelor's degree in QSE (Quality, Safety, Environment) at ESEQ in Montpellier, on a sandwich course."

For me, going back to school was a compulsory step before I could change jobs, and not just a challenge. In France, having diplomas is important for finding a job, unlike in Canada.

Alternation as a criterion

"Finding a work-study position at over 30 is complicated. That side of things was mentally difficult, but I was prepared for it.

I talked about it with the other adults in continuing education in my class, and we all felt this difficulty linked to our age, but going back to school without the possibility of taking the sandwich course would have been financially impossible for me."

The reappearance of a forgotten passion: rugby

"After 3 years in QSE, I started looking for work, especially in the environmental sector, but all the offers were in Paris.

I had just done a 100% telecommuting work-study program with a company based in Paris, and during this work-study program, I realized that it was very complicated to work remotely, and as I didn't have the possibility of moving because of my family situation, I continued my search for several months...".

In mid-May, Charles came across an advertisement that caught his eye.

"In Canada, I was coaching amateur rugby, and, by pure chance, I came across an advert at the MHR (Montpellier Hérault Rugby) for a one-year contract."

Charles then joined the Rugby-specialized DU (Diplôme d'Université ) Video Performance Analyst program at Montpellier's UFR Staps, in parallel with his contract with the Montpellier rugby club: the MHR (Montpellier Hérault Rugby).

Training as a means of building a professional network

"The DU (University Diploma) in Video Analyst taught me to master the software used by professionals in the world of rugby.

During the course, we had a lot of input from professionals in basketball, soccer, rugby... This DU (University Diploma) enables us to build up our professional network and meet people we'd probably never have had the chance to meet.

I met the video analysts for the French 7-a-side rugby team, the video analyst for the UBB (Union Bordeaux Bègles) and the video analyst for the Montpellier soccer club. That's really the advantage of this kind of training: you can develop your network.

Building a new freelance project

Following this University Diploma in Sports Performance Video Analysis, Charles decided to go into freelance rugby video analysis.

"At the time, my contract with the MHR (Montpellier Hérault Rugby) was coming to an end and I didn't have the option of moving, so I had 3 solutions: go back to work in optics, look for a job in the environment or set up my own business in video analysis.

I decided to set up my own business and invest 100% of my time in this project. The idea is to reach out to amateur clubs that need qualified people to process and analyze video. I don't want to be attached to just one club, but to work with several clubs on one-off assignments, depending on their requests and needs."

The last word

"Going back to school means expanding your network, discovering a different way of thinking from your previous job... It's beneficial.

I'm glad I went back to school, because I've learned a lot. Even though I loved my job as an optician, I learned another trade, another way of working."

From school teacher to ecologist

Virginie Zajdel's testimonial

Virginie has always been passionate about the environment and environmental education, and in 2022, as part of a professional training leave, she joined the IEGB (Ingénierie Écologique et Gestion de la Biodiversité - Ecological Engineering and Biodiversity Management) Master's program at the University of Montpellier's Faculty of Science, alongside her job as a school teacher.

A childhood interest in the environment

"I've been a naturalist since my earliest childhood. I've always been connected with the aquatic environment and I've had an affinity for observing animals, caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies... from a very young age."

A scientific education

"I studied science, with a BAC S in maths. Following that, I wanted to be a "Nature Guide", so I took a DEUST (Diplôme d'Études Universitaires Scientifiques et Techniques) Guide Nature Multi Lingues and did an internship at the Parc du Marquenterre with an ornithologist as part of this training. This internship opened my eyes to ornithology".

Following this DEUST (Diplôme d'Études Universitaires Scientifiques et Techniques), Virginie worked as a guide in a Regional Nature Park in Les Landes de Gascogne. This internship enabled her to perfect her botanical skills.

After this initial experience, Virginie continued her studies with a Master's degree in Environmental Planning in Metz, which she was forced to stop for financial reasons. She then worked in a CPIE (Centre Permanent d'Initiation à l'Environnement), where she learned to manage discovery classes and nature organizers, and created numerous projects on ponds, rivers and forests for all ages in elementary school.

Turning to teaching

After this experience, Virginie decided to pursue a career in teaching, and took a double degree in History and Law (Licence Histoire Droit Lettres Modernes), which she followed up with a Master's degree in Modern Literature (Maîtrise de Lettres Modernes) with honors. At the same time, she worked as a student librarian at the university.

During her Master's year, she took exams, which she passed, to become a teacher of Cycle 3 pupils (CM1, CM2). An opportunity to pass on her passion to her pupils:

"I developed a number of projects, oddly enough all linked to the environment and environmental education. It was a real passion, with a cross-disciplinary approach that I really enjoyed, mixing mathematics, science and literature: we created gardens in schools, and then, little by little, I did a bit of entomology with them: raising stick insects, spider beetles, earthworms..."

The birth of two new passions: diving and marine biology

At the same time, Virginie began scuba diving during the school vacations.

"Little by little, I was able to learn, with associations, to do technical diving and at the same time, I started to do marine biology."

Departure for new adventures abroad

Always keen to learn and discover new things, Virginie took a new course and obtained a Master's degree in French as a Foreign Language.

"At that point, I said to myself: if I'm a teacher abroad, I'll be able to dive abroad. I worked at the University, taught French as a foreign language at the French Embassy in Qatar before becoming a teacher at the Alliance Française in Hong Kong."

Back to France

After being offered a position at the University of Sciences in Lille, Virginie returned to France and juggled two jobs: teaching school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and university teaching on Wednesdays and Fridays.

"It was a good fit for me. It was interesting to be able to talk to students and be with children doing environmental education. The transition between the two was sometimes complicated, so I had to adapt my vocabulary."

Transferred to Montpellier in the south of France, Virginie continued her marine biology career, becoming a marine biology instructor with the FFESM (Fédération Française d'Études et de Sports Sous-Marins).

Obtaining professional training leave as a trigger

Keen to work in science and environmental protection, she managed to obtain a 10-month vocational training leave.

"I wanted to continue the science studies I'd started, because I could see that as a teacher, I was drawn to science all the time so I might as well go all the way."

In 2022, Virginie Zajdel will join the IEGB (Ingénierie Écologique et Gestion de la Biodiversité) Master's degree program with the dual "Biodiv'In" competency in Continuing Education at the University of Montpellier's Faculty of Science.

"I had set out to complete a BAC +5 in 1 year with this Master's degree, and at the same time I learned that I was going to have a baby boy. With the birth of my little boy in January, I had to do my year in 2 parts. I spent the^1st trimester pregnant, and had to take the January and February exams the following year".

As part of her training, Virginie Zajdel joined the OFB (Office Français de la Biodiversité ) for a 6-month internship on marine invasive alien species.

A unique experience

"I really enjoy learning, so it was great to be back at university again. What's more, the students were all very friendly, and we made a great team. What was a little more special was that I had a baby in my belly, which was something I'd never experienced before."

Virginie will officially graduate from the IEGB Master's program (Ecological Engineering and Biodiversity Management) on November 30. Her 10-month professional training leave is now over, and she is currently working as a school teacher.

The birth of a new project

As part of the Fête de la Science 2024, Virginie Zajdel, in association with the University Libraries of the University of Montpellier, has designed a photo exhibition on marine biology: "Under the surface: explore the depths of the Mediterranean".

In response to strong student interest in the project, Virginie is now heavily involved in developing practical workshops on marine biology alongside her work as a school teacher. 

Virginie's advice

"I think that when you start this kind of process, you need to have the time to really invest in your conversion, and a well-defined professional objective and project.
Going back to school is very important, and I even think that if I could continue, I would."

Career transition is much more than a simple career change, it's an enriching journey that can profoundly transform your life. Although fraught with doubts and challenges, professional retraining offers the opportunity to redefine your career path and explore new horizons.

Become a Continuing Education trainee at the University of Montpellier and dare to reinvent your professional career.

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