Placement supervisors are volunteers who wish to pass on their knowledge and to support young people as they begin their careers.
Placement supervisors provide guidance to placement students for their daily work, and ensure that there are clear links between the knowledge of theory taught at Esepac and the practical experience gained in business.
The role of an apprenticeship and placement supervisor
(Article L117-4 of the Code du Travail)
In the context of the apprentice’s training, the supervisor is the person who:
- welcomes the apprentice to the company
- introduces the company’s personnel and activities to the apprentice
- informs the apprentice about all the company’s rules, policies and practices
- supports the apprentice in learning their role and profession
- organises and plans the apprentice’s workstation
- enables the apprentice to acquire the professional knowledge required for their job
- keeps up-to-date with the apprentice’s educational progress and results
- welcomes the Esepac staff member responsible for monitoring the apprentice’s placement
- evaluates the apprentice’s progress in acquiring professional knowledge
The supervisor must therefore, throughout the duration of the apprenticeship contract, enable the apprentice to develop his or her own professional capabilities, and monitor his or her professional and educational progress. The supervisor is the point of liaison with Esepac.
Pedagogical tools
Apprenticeship record booklet
The apprenticeship record booklet enables the apprenticeship supervisor and Esepac tutor to note their remarks about the apprentice’s work, both in the company and at the school. The booklet is to be completed for every period in the company and at the school in order to ensure accurate monitoring of the placement student’s progress.
It also contains extensive background information about the ways in which the school and industrial placements operate.
Meetings for placement supervisors
Esepac organises meetings for placement supervisors in various parts of France, as well as visits to companies.
These meetings enable apprentices to be monitored, information about the teaching content of the courses to be provided, and for developments at Esepac to be notified.
Such interviews also provide the opportunity for an apprentice’s training to be modified, if necessary, in order to remedy any areas of weakness.
The meetings also enable the tutor to be sure that the roles and responsibilities given to the apprentice, or young person on a professional training contract, are appropriate to the teaching objectives of the course.
Some practical advice
The initial stages of the relationship between your apprentice and the company are decisive. Making appropriate preparations for the apprentice’s arrival helps to ensure the success of the apprenticeship.
- Tell the team about the arrival of the apprentice, his or her status, the course being studied and the organisation of his or her work.
- Evaluate the consequences of tutoring on production, safety conditions and the organisation of the department.
- Book time in your diary for supervising and supporting the apprentice, and for monitoring and liaison with the training organisation.
- Inform yourself about the curriculum of the course that your apprentice is studying.
- Think about the knowledge that you wish to pass on to your apprentice.
- Organise and adapt the apprentice’s work to suit the calendar of industrial placements.
- Check with the HR Department that all the administrative processes associated with the contract have been undertaken (industrial placement contract, declaration of appointment (DUE), medical visit…)
Think back to when you were just starting out in your career and use this to anticipate how your apprentice may be feeling.
