Edifying story that was told to me this week… Far removed from the effects of our leaders on television sets. A day at Pôle Emploi for a young unemployed woman with a project quickly turned into an obstacle course.
Here is Natalie. She is 37 years old. For ten years, she worked as an executive assistant in the same company. This small company of less than five people is experiencing difficulties and has to part with part of its staff. The leaders agreed to reduce their emoluments for months in order to keep their team, but nothing helped. Taxation and the evolution of the market do not allow them to keep their staff. Only the two partners continue the adventure as employees. This small company specializes in time management and offers training — in addition to other IT services — to its customers. Nathalie has an idea and talks about it with her leaders: she would like, she wishes, to train in sophrology. She attended sessions. She thinks it suits her. She found a school that offers one year training. She is very motivated. Its leaders are interested in its project and push it in this direction. They even think that it will be possible, in the future, to use his talents and offer these sophrologist services to their clients. Together, managers and employees prepare a file to present to Pôle emploi.
Nathalie calls the Pôle Emploi and receives a very favorable reception by telephone. The counselor talking to her thinks it's great that she has a plan and is so motivated to make it happen. Nathalie will receive an appointment notice…
Nathalie, her file under her arm, arrives at the appointment.
She reread her file late in the evening. She knows exactly what she's going to say. Not that she wants to show a false image of herself, but she has only one wish: that her will and her motivation emanate from her. She sits opposite a counselor who is not the one who spoke to her on the phone. She is confident and eager to explain her project to him. The counselor listens. She takes a lot of notes. Nathalie is happy to have this ear. She is delighted that her project is heard. After a moment spent talking, the counselor raises her head and summarizes: “You are looking for a job as an executive assistant and you have the project to practice the profession of sophrologist according to the following criteria; for a minimum gross hourly wage of x euros; for a one-way journey of up to 45 minutes from your home; full-time on a permanent contract…”
The counselor raises her head and looks at Nathalie: “That's right, yes? Nathalie answers in the affirmative, that's right, but she adds that she wants to adopt the status of self-employed entrepreneur after her training.
The counselor continues:
“Currently, you benefit from personalized assistance and you are involved with Pôle Emploi in active job search procedures.
Your objective is:
— TO BE SUPPORTED IN DEVELOPING YOUR PROJECT
You have started to think about your professional project.
You have taken steps related to the profession of sophrologist. To better understand this profession, you have taken sophrology sessions yourself. I invite you to continue your reflection by meeting other people. You have found a school, but it costs 3500 euros that you are ready to finance. To help you in this project, project support. We remind you that to help you in your research, we provide you with:
— job and training offers
— free access tools (telephone, photocopier, internet terminal, etc.)
— documentation on research techniques jobs
— job search workshops
— labor market information…”
Where we realize that our current President of the Republic would have been a wonderful adviser to Pôle emploi! Some sentences have neither head nor tail! Technocratic Newspeak in action. Nathalie does not want to be accompanied to develop her project, she wants to know if Pôle Emploi supports her training or not! Otherwise, she takes out a loan to do her training. She wants concrete answers and the answer is a compound of ready-made sentences just trying to comfort her by confusing her, to explain to her that she is totally taken care of from now on, that she has nothing to fear… But Nathalie fears nothing but not being able to do her training! While she is offered to consult multiple free documents for information, we refuse to give her the information she needs! Kafka, get out of this story! Nathalie even specified that she agreed to finance her training on her unemployment benefit or by taking out a loan! The world is crazy, said the song…
The counselor will take strong action.
She looks at Nathalie with the air of someone who has understood the problem, of someone who sympathizes, who even has empathy, it's normal nothing is done in the modern world anymore without empathy. She says to him and writes to him: “I confirm your registration for the service: Confirm your professional project.
You have an appointment on Monday, December 1, 2014 with the service provider ALTEDIA at the following address ... , in accordance with Articles L. 5412-1 and R. 5412-1 to R.5412-8 of the Labor Code, to remove you from the list of job seekers.
Please accept, Madame, our best regards… The Director »
This “Confirm your professional project” service lasts 12 hours spread over 42 days from December 1, 2014. Nathalie is distraught! She must take training with a private organization to confirm her professional project. A training that will last 12 hours! Training offered by Pôle emploi with a private organization. Taxes well used and a gold mine for this company, no doubt. Even if it is beyond my purpose to decry the qualities of this company that I do not know, I wonder about this obligatory course for someone who knows exactly what he wants to do.
So here is in the France of 2014, how a young woman with some experience finds herself oriented in spite of herself. Nathalie will of course finance her training as a sophrologist herself. She will do everything to remain unemployed for as short a time as possible. She wants to regain her autonomy and not depend on a system that will always seek to deaden her enthusiasm and her motivation under a jumble of administrative rules. This system, like the world in which it exercises its power, has a name: totalitarianism. A soft totalitarianism, of course. A comfortable totalitarianism even. A totalitarianism all the same, because a negation of the person. A denial of what makes the person, where he lets himself be put to sleep by a soft voice, lets himself be tucked in comfortably, only to realize, after a while, that the sheets and blankets of his bed are a straitjacket.
Update note: the "technique" consisting in immediately placing someone in skill assessment training perhaps costs taxpayers, but above all allows the job researcher no longer everything made one with regard to statistics. It is therefore obvious that the figures given each month are false, that everyone knows, from politicians to the media, that everyone doesn't care like a Gigne, and that the situation can only worsen.
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Hello, I just read your story published in 2014 "History of Nathalie". 3 years have passed since then. I meet the same concerns with Pôle-Emploi. I worked for 26 years in the tertiary sector and I worked for the same company for 17 years until October 2016. Following pressures suffered at work, I was on sick leave for 9 months (Burn- OUT validated by the doctor advice: CPAM). Since then, I have been followed by a psychotherapist. Impossible to return to the office. In order to give meaning to my life, and to reconnect to my values, I chose to perform a training in sophrology. It is recognized that in fifty, another life begins. It's true ! I therefore talked about my professional project with Pôle-Emploi (professional retraining), when I register in their service: in July 2017 (right for 1095 days). I found myself in front of a person who advised me to go back to work in the tertiary sector and that I had to accept the offers that I was going to offer me at the risk of being radiated. She also explained to me that my training was likely not to be accepted because sophrology is an "unreliable" profession, and that there is no future in this sector. In addition, it costs € 3590 for 6 months of training spread over 4 or even 6 days of face-to-face per month. The theory comes in addition: a lot of research, reading, in addition to the preparation to validate each module. I am therefore faced with another concern because the hours of training are less than 40 hours in the month. Between July and December of this year, I had a telephone interview on November 16, 17 in order to talk about my professional project. I reiterated to this person what I had said during my registration: I am in professional retraining and wish to carry out a training in sophrology. At the end of the interview, she informed me that a professional project advisor would set me up in the next 3 weeks, in order to tell her about my training project and that I had to carry out Additional research on sophrology. I had already carried out research via the Internet, view conferences. I have been reading personal development for over 30 years. I was in telephone contact with two training center directors. These people understood my request. My family entourage, friendly and even professional (when I worked) know my personality: benevolence, taking care of the other, attentive, listening, good adviser ... tell me: sophrology is really the job that best corresponds to The person you are. In order to put all my chances to obtain funding, and to be able to exercise my new job as soon as possible, I contacted the Fongecif with whom I obtained an appointment two days after my request for maintenance. The deadline of the joint committee being on 01/01/2018, I am asked to get closer to the Pôle Emploi so that they provide me with a certificate specifying that they will continue to uninder me during my training. This document is important for the validation of my file. So I sent an email to my "advisor" of this administration two days ago to ask her to send this document. Here is my email:
Madam,
being wishing to carry out my training in sophrology (certification registered in the RNCP), I obtained an appointment today with FONGECIF and a financing request file was given to me. In the case where FONGECIF is accepted, (the practical days or even 4 or even 6 days a month), they need a certificate of the employment center specifying that I will be compensated outside of presentation. Could you send me this certificate before January 7, 2018 final date for submitting file. (plus the politeness formula).
His answer:
Hello,
this document will be given in January after entering training not before - thank you
So I phoned to get in touch with my adviser but I couldn't get her adviser on the phone.
I therefore re-explained the purpose of my call, the sending of my request and the response that was given to me. This person gives me the same information: your project must be validated by the advisor, the training is expensive, it takes less than 40 hours. / month, it's a job where there is no future, you have to rethink your project, do other research and find a job... It's exhausting, to find yourself facing this administration, facing a wall, pretending not to understand, not to hear, not to be taken seriously. Need more information! Show your motivation! … It's disconcerting, destabilizing, even humiliating!
I don't know where to turn anymore and I really need help. Yours will be welcome. Thanks