Mentor for Work-Study Students: Training to Provide Better Guidance – A Meeting with the Trainers
Training to become a mentor for work-study students (on apprenticeship and/or professional training contracts) is essential to provide the best possible support to your new hires at the company.
Micro-certification1 “ Serving as mentors for work-study students ” consists of 17 hours of training spread over 2.5 days.
As part of this training program, you will learn about the challenges of work-study programs, the role of the mentor, the mentee’s development within the company and at school, the various stages of mentoring, and the transfer of knowledge, skills, and interpersonal skills.
To best present this training program and introduce the next two sessions, we invited Céline Legay and Blandine Pitie Euzet, both of whom are instructors for this training session.
Table of Contents
- Training that addresses real needs
- The Work-Study Mentor: Role, Responsibilities, and Challenges
- A teaching approach that adapts to the participants' needs
- Two upcoming training sessions are planned
A Short Training Course That Meets Real Needs
Work-Study Programs in 2024: Some Statistics
In 2024, France recorded a total of 1,042,543 work-study students (including both apprenticeship and professional training contracts), of which:
Despite these rising figures, 53% of SME executives feel they do not have the time needed to mentor a work-study student and that they are not trained for this role (source). To address this, some SMEs are implementing personalized support programs for work-study students and investing in training for mentors (source).
The Objectives of the Training
The Continuing Education Department collaborates with the Ensup-LR Apprenticeship Training Center (CFA) on various projects focused on work-study programs, specifically apprenticeship contracts (administered by the CFA) and professional training contracts (administered by the Continuing Education Department).
For several years now, the CFA and the Continuing Education Department have been co-hosting a webinar for prospective work-study students and their future mentors to cover the key concepts of the work-study program, which—despite its growing popularity in many companies over the past several years—still remains a source of confusion.
The short training course “Mentoring Work-Study Students in the Workplace” was designed to complement this webinar, with the aim of going beyond one-way information sharing to offer a comprehensive training program built around discussion and the sharing of experiences.
The objectives are clearly defined:
- Define the regulatory framework
- Placing the role of tutor within its context
- Identify your role and responsibilities as a tutor
- Defining Your Rights and Responsibilities
- Support the mentee and maintain the right attitude throughout the process
- Assessing to Support Progress
To add to this article, we spoke with Céline Legay and Blandine Pitie Euzet, who are both instructors for this training program.
Céline LEGAY
“With a background in science, I have been working for 25 years in work-study programs as a development coordinator. Before joining the CFA ENSUP-LR and the academic world, I worked at two other CFA institutions, first in the healthcare sector and then in industry.
I also work as an adjunct instructor at the university, where I teach courses on the ‘Career Plan.’”
Blandine PITIE EUZET
“With a background in communications and nine years of expertise in learning development, I apply my skills to ensure the success of training programs. Currently, I oversee the development of training programs at the Montpellier IUT and Paul Valéry University through the CFA Ensup LR.”
The Work-Study Mentor: Role, Responsibilities, and Challenges
The mentor plays a key role in supervising the work-study student.
It is one of the three key players essential to the smooth operation of the work-study program. This is referred to as a “triad”: the work-study student’s mentor, the academic advisor, and the training organization (CFA or Continuing Education Department).
Given the importance of this role and the responsibilities that come with it, it is absolutely essential that the mentor be a volunteer rather than someone who is appointed. The level of commitment will be completely different if the mentorship is imposed by the organization.
"To inspire others, you have to be inspired yourself!"
Céline LEGAY
When it comes to human relationships, it’s important to keep in mind that mentoring can be complex at times. It is therefore essential that the mentor be committed and motivated by a desire to guide someone and share their knowledge.
"The tutor's primary challenge is to help students succeed."
Blandine PITIE EUZET
The mentor works alongside the training program to introduce the work-study student to the profession and help them envision their future in the field, thereby enabling them to determine whether this career aligns with their expectations and career goals.
Céline LEGAY: “It’s absolutely not a failure if the work-study student realizes that the job or the company isn’t what they envision for their future, as long as the mentor has explained all the ins and outs to them.”
A teaching approach that adapts to the participants' needs
This “Mentors for Work-Study Students” training program is built around a key value: sharing. Learning isn’t limited to the transmission of information; Céline and Blandine emphasize their commitment to offering a participatory learning experience.
Whether or not participants have previously served as tutors, their backgrounds and experiences contribute insights that enrich the discussion.
Blandine PITIE EUZET: “Depending on the type of organization they work for (small group, large group, public institution, or private company), there are clear differences in the support provided, particularly in the internal procedures that are in place.”
At the end of each training session, the CFA Ensup-LR and the Continuing Education Department analyze participant feedback and propose adjustments.
The first training session ended on February 7, 2025. Based on feedback from participants, Blandine and Céline plan to make changes to the format, tools, and methodologies used.
Blandine PITIE EUZET: “It’s important to keep things dynamic so that the group can engage in discussion. We’ve found a tool—which we can’t talk about yet—that we’d like to use in future sessions to make the training even more dynamic and practical.”
Are you interested in this training course?
A training session is scheduled for this year:
- Day 1: September 24, 2026 (1 day)
- Day 2: September 25, 2026 (1 day)
- Day 3: December 4, 2026 (half day)
To apply, contact sfc-formations@umontpellier.fr
- Subject to approval by the Committee on Education and Campus Life ↩︎