Job offers have been scarce for young graduates since the appearance of the coronavirus.

However, there is assured the general director of the Association for the employment of executives (Apec) Gilles Gateau, in the program "La France Bouge" on Europe 1. He thus gives some advice to prepare to face the labor market.

The finding is clear: in 2020, there were 42% less offers accessible to beginners than the previous year, according to Apec.

Dropped on the job market since September, young graduates are struggling to get their first job.

But there are still sources of optimism, assures Gilles Gateau, the general manager of the Association for the employment of executives (Apec), guest of

La France Bouge

, Wednesday.

Apec now offers nearly 43,000 offers accessible to beginners on its site.

On Europe 1, Gilles Gateau offers some advice to newcomers to get their first job.

Think about work-study 

If you haven't finished your studies and are looking for a way to integrate the job market, it is always time to turn to work-study programs.

And good news, "there is no drop in hiring on apprenticeship and professionalization contracts", emphasizes Gilles Gateau.

Before adding: "It's a good sign!"

And for him, it is above all an asset for companies to hire young people.

They "are an energy that companies also need in this difficult time that they are going through", continues the CEO of Apec.

Turn to small businesses

Once the studies are finished, it's time to write CVs.

And there, young graduates tend to target large companies.

"We send our CV, we make spontaneous applications at L'Oréal, at EDF, etc.", says Gilles Gateau.

Before recalling that "half of the hiring of young graduates after a license, a master's or a doctorate, is done in companies with less than 250 employees".

It therefore encourages us to do a lot of upstream research so as not to forget small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its requests.

Choose your sector well ... even if it means straying a little from your initial project

Today, the Apec.fr platform, which brings together executive job offers, has “42,392 offers accessible to beginners”, according to Gilles Gateau.

Among these offers, there are 11,000 in commerce and marketing, 5,700 in studies, research and development, 6,500 in finance, 8,000 in IT, and 600 in communication.

>> Find all the shows of La France bouge in replay and podcast here

So to find a first job, you sometimes have to move away from your chosen sector.

A single watchword: adaptation.

“Knowing how to adapt is to take the side step that can open up to a very different career. We are no longer in a world where the first company in which we are hired or the first profession that we exercise determines a whole career, "recalls the director of Gilles Gateau.

According to a survey carried out by Apec, half of those under 35 are even considering changing jobs in the next twelve months.

For the director general of Apec "we can therefore enter a fixed-term contract or a permanent contract and then bounce back on something else".

Do not compare to previous promotions

The average salary for first hires for a young executive in 2019 is around 32,000 euros per year.

But this will undoubtedly decrease with the economic crisis resulting from the health situation.

"What we tell the young people we receive in the workshops is not to rely on the hiring wages of the previous class because it is no longer the reality of the market", advises Gilles Gateau.

But he finally recalls that the important thing is to try, to apply and especially not to fall into a form of "wait-and-see" until the economic situation improves.