Job Market and Back-to-School Trends: Opinion of Younes MOUHIB, CEO of Positif Conseil

Half of our assignments concern sales representatives.
Overall, the first half of the year was satisfactory in terms of recruitment for our activity. In fact, we achieved 2/3 of last year's turnover in the first half alone. Structured companies continue to hire. They are looking for high-potential individuals, regardless of their specialty or previous sector of activity, even if it means training them later.

Overall, the year has been normal in terms of macroeconomics, with the usual dip we know (holiday and Ramadan period).
In terms of sectors, we can note that large-scale distribution, agri-food, banking, construction, and offshoring continue to drive the job market, despite the fears of a crisis expressed at the beginning of the year. For example, the real estate and construction sector continues its momentum, despite the crisis being discussed. We are in high demand for works engineers and works supervisors. These are profiles responsible for managing the entirety of a real estate project, from design to completion.

We also note that certain professions are still in high demand, sales representatives in the first place. They are in high demand across all sectors: technical sales representatives, business or client managers... In fact, 50% of our assignments in the first half of the year concerned these profiles. We don't have too much difficulty finding good profiles.
Finance professionals are not left behind, as we have moved from classic profiles such as accountants to more specialized profiles such as management controllers and auditors. Some are required to have a better command of international standards such as IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), for example.
Quality professionals are also required to master certain techniques (AS400), and IT professionals to master certain tools such as ITIL.
We have also seen strong demand for engineering positions, particularly in industry and construction.
The market is recording more than usual offers for purchasing and logistics positions.
A better control of general expenses has led companies to surround themselves more with these profiles.

Posted on October 4, 2010

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