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Bastien Bonnefoux, BPCE: 'We consider SKEMA's positioning competitive and heading in the right direction'
From 27 May 2024, French companies can choose the higher education institutions that will receive their apprenticeship tax balance. Bastien Bonnefoux, a campus manager at Natixis within BPCE's Mobility and Recruitment Services Center, in charge of relations and partnerships with schools, explains why the investment bank chose SKEMA Business School.
Can you tell us a bit about your company and your involvement in the training and skills development of young people?
Natixis is the international corporate and investment bank of BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France, which finances nearly 22% of the French economy. Every year, Natixis and BPCE recruit over 2,000 young people (interns and apprentices) in France, as well as 80 international volunteers (V.I.E) for international positions.
The positions we offer students enable them to acquire a concrete professional dimension by making them confront the reality of the professions in a constantly changing global context. Our managers and experts are used to forming true partnerships with their interns and apprentices. We expect our interns and apprentices to quickly gain autonomy and a real sense of responsibility. Our IT and collaborative tools are among the most efficient in the market, allowing every student who joins our teams to familiarise themselves with their use, which enhances their position in the job market.
Our promise to young talents is as follows: we strive to shape a company where excellence and the human factor are paramount, where we build each other to act with impact, which involves acting efficiently and respecting our CSR commitments. We are committed to offering our clients innovative and responsible solutions, and by recruiting from renowned institutions such as SKEMA, we ensure that we stay connected to the latest training and the world of economic research and development.
Why did you choose to support SKEMA within the framework of the apprenticeship tax? What factors motivated your decision?
SKEMA is one of our target schools. Natixis maintains strong close ties with SKEMA, and we appreciate the school's approach to bridging the gap between students and the professional world by organising forums, thematic conferences, and business trips to enrich their career choices. Some of our experts teach at SKEMA as well.
What advantages do you see in investing in the education and training of young people through institutions such as SKEMA?
The world of banking and finance is evolving rapidly in France and globally; professions are transforming, and certain strategic skills are becoming scarce. It is essential for us to stay close to students from universities, business schools, and all institutions that facilitate and encourage continuous exchanges between companies, the world of research, and education. Training must correspond to the real and concrete needs of companies. We encourage this fruitful interaction between our professions and fields of excellence. We consider SKEMA's positioning competitive and heading in the right direction.
Can you share an anecdote or experience that illustrates the positive impact of your collaboration with SKEMA?
During a recruitment forum on SKEMA's Grand Paris campus, we realised that many students were not well aware of the professions in general inspection in banking. However, excellent career paths are possible in this field, and beautiful professional trajectories can be built by joining general inspection at the beginning of one's career. Thus, in conjunction with the school, BPCE's general inspection organised a conference at SKEMA last March to present the roles of inspectors. We are convinced that we inspired some vocations!
Why did you choose to recruit students from SKEMA? What specific attributes or skills do you appreciate in the graduates of our school?
We particularly appreciate the profiles from the Mastère Spécialisé Expert en contrôle de gestion, audit et gestion de système d'information, as well as the Mastère Spécialisé Manager en Gestion de Patrimoine et Financier. The academic knowledge of SKEMA students allows for rapid integration into internships, apprenticeships, or international volunteer positions. Moreover, we generally observe a good general culture among SKEMA's profiles, which is essential because, as we can sometimes forget, the professions of international banking and finance are at the crossroads of economics, geopolitics, and even history!
