Candidates and recruiters dance on October 19, 2023 in Bron, near Lyon, during a workshop “From dance to employment” organized by Pôle Emploi (AFP/JEFF PACHOUD)
“Forward, backwards… We put everything in, the arms, the legs, the smile.” Whether they are employers or job seekers, Emmanuel, Abdou, Thaïs, Stéphanie and the others move and sweat together, for this dance workshop organized by Pôle emploi to facilitate recruitment.
The objective of this job dating day – designed on the model of the “From the stadium to employment” experience developed on sports fields – is to offer a different meeting space to candidates and recruiters from the cultural sphere local.
The first workshop took place this week in a rehearsal room in Bron, in the Lyon suburbs, with a series of musical exercises bringing together around sixty participants of all ages and physical conditions, barefoot, in socks or Sport shoes.
“Normally an interview is: sending CV, receiving, very formal face-to-face interviews. Here what is interesting is the aspect of getting things moving, dancing, anonymity… which allows you to de-stress “, underlines the choreographer Abdou N’Gom, who came to look for the right profile to replace the administrator of his company.
This 50-year-old professional would never have thought of dancing with the candidates for a position of this type. But he says he is ready to “repeat the experience” because he has noted that “the bodily approach makes it possible to detect aptitudes” and “brings a different sensitivity”, with, according to him, a mirror effect between bodily engagement and commitment to work.
Candidates and recruiters dance on October 19, 2023 in Bron, near Lyon, during a workshop “From dance to employment” organized by Pôle Emploi (AFP/JEFF PACHOUD)
The aim of the organizers was precisely to “offer something other than traditional recruitment interviews”, with a strong prism on interpersonal skills, “highly regarded” in the hiring process, explains Sabine Danquigny, director of the regional agency Pôle job “Scene and image”.
“Today, employers tell us ‘finally, for me technical skills can be acquired, what is important is the way the person will behave’”.
– “Comfort zone” –
The rules of the game are the same as those of the “From the stadium to employment” meetings: participants are identified by their first name only during the dance workshop, until the moment of the face-to-face meeting, in a box classically equipped with a desk and two chairs.
“For the candidate, it’s a way to promote their profile, their talent. For the company, it’s a way to identify people who could perfectly fit into a position,” explains Sabine Danquigny.
Some employers were “a little cautious” and we had to convince them, demonstrate to them that the workshop offers indices of typical aptitude “communication, leadership, decision-making, reactivity, adaptability”, details this 54-year-old former dancer, in office since the creation in 2010 of the specialized culture branch.
Candidates and recruiters dance on October 19, 2023 in Bron, near Lyon, during a workshop “From dance to employment” organized by Pôle Emploi (AFP/JEFF PACHOUD)
The dance sequence, composed of very simple movements, with guided figures and free expression in groups, teams or pairs, was designed by Mourad Merzouki’s company, very geared towards new audiences and “non-dancers”. “. “The idea is really to involve each participant, to invite them to move, to have fun,” explains the fifty-year-old choreographer who came to contemporary dance through hip hop.
The company’s partnership with Pôle emploi allows us “to get out of our comfort zone and reinvent ourselves with projects other than dance programming or welcoming artists…. And I believe that we are in a society where you have to invent somewhat unusual meetings,” he says.
Looking for a job, Kaïs Gherbi, 23, came to Bron “on the advice of his advisor” and said he managed to “free himself” during the dance workshop whereas “in an interview, we are always a a little stressed, with a sinking feeling in front of the employer.”
“There was a great energy in the room,” says the man who doesn’t really intend to find his dream job here – assistant director – but is happy to be “networking”. The day allowed him to introduce himself to a casting director who came to look for new silhouettes for a TV film project.
© 2023 AFP
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