these inhabitants of Oise dared to change path, they tell us

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A former sales executive who opens her chocolate factory, a landscaper who takes photos after a hedge trimmer accident, a former jockey who decides to raise goats on the Picardy Plateau after a bad fall on horseback… These are not the inspiring career transition stories which are missing in the Oise.

A few weeks ago, the editorial staff ofOise News launched a call for witnesses on this topic. To our pleasant surprise, we received several dozen testimonial proposals and were thus able to discuss with some of these daring who decided to take the plunge.

Their journey has not always been a long, quiet river (some have even returned to school in their forties), but all have in common that they have paid attention to the little voice that has been whispering in their ears, sometimes for years. Testimonials.

Hairdresser for 15 years, Véronique is flourishing today as HR Director

Véronique Skoric has chosen to trade in curlers and perms for Excel spreadsheets and job interviews. The one who started with a CAP in hairdressing at the age of 20, decided at 35 to leave her job to work in the Human resources. To do this, she was able to use the Professional Development Council (CEP).

Still too little known, this public service, the common thread in supporting workers, is aimed at both independent employees and companies and allows the creation of “tailor-made” courses.

I didn't even know all that was possible. I am lucky to have completed my entire work-study course and to have received good advice.

Having gone through the crisis of her thirties, it was while typing “professional retraining” one evening on Google that she came across a toll-free number. This will lead her to a professional development advisor.

Together, they set up a professional transition project (PTP), which allows employees to take time off from work to train without loss of salary. For the thirty-year-old, this period lasted 6 months. “We reviewed all the possible mechanisms together, and it turned out that this was what suited him best to secure his project. But Véronique already had a well-finished project when she contacted me, which is not the case for all candidates for a change of life,” recalls Caroline Vilain, professional development advisor at Avenir Actif in Beauvais.

Today, Véronique still manages team schedules, but on a completely different scale than that of a hair salon. After several work-study training courses and having passed her “International Human Resources” degree, she is today Director of Human Resources at Isagri, in Beauvais, on a permanent contract.

Former sales executive, she opens her own chocolate factory

Another spectacular reconversion, that of Laëtitia Boudra. As a child, this globetrotter imagined bathing in Mr. Wonka's chocolate fountain, like in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. But his parents took a dim view of this new activity.

My family wanted me to follow an academic path. Chocolatière, that scared them, because it didn't look serious enough. My journey has been full of challenges!

It was therefore without telling those close to her that she decided to discreetly resume studies in chocolate and pastry making at the CFA in Compiègne, despite the constraints of her schedule as a sales executive in a prestigious car rental company. .

5 years ago, through self-sacrifice, she opened her own chocolate factory, Praline stopover. Since then, she has invested heavily in this project to excite the taste buds of gourmets and even offers a range guaranteed “without products of animal origin”.

“I managed to retrain myself”

Terrible ordeal at the time, his dismissal ultimately turned into a godsend. Six years ago, Gaylord Monnier was fired from the waste treatment center where he worked. Then comes the time to question things… “I had the impression that I could only make waste,” he confides.

He then followed the advice of a second-hand dealer friend.

A friend told me that with everything I knew about waste, I was going to become the king of oil by opening a flea market.

This friend had obviously had a hollow nose, since today Gaylord even participated in the show The French Antiques River Cruise produced by the American channel Discovery Channel.

By clearing out stores, bankrupt boutiques or individuals, Gaylord recovers vintage nuggets which he resells in his warehouse that looks like Ali Bab's Cave in Mortefontaine-en-Thelle. “I myself managed to retrain myself, literally and figuratively,” smiles the manager of The Brocant’Oise.

This former jockey switches from horses to goats

Transforming the accidents of life opportunity to seize. This is also what Sébastien Barbier did. Ten years ago, this former high-level jockey at Chantilly and Lamorlaye, who had racked up 70 victories including a trifecta at Saint-Cloud, had a serious fall from his horse, depriving him of his jockey license. “I broke my neck during a cross-country race,” he says.

Although he has been riding horses since the age of 14, here he is, at only 35, forced to give up his passion.

It is finally while visiting a goat farm during a ski trip in the Vosges that he clicked with his wife, Véronique. “I am a good eater and I like being in contact with nature. So I said to myself why not open a goat farm? »

Sometimes you have to listen to your desires! Ten years later, and after having passed a professional certificate of farm manager (BPREA) at the Airion agricultural high school, he opened La Barb'iquette, an artisanal goat farm.

For the record, Sébastien is also preparing to regain your jockey license very soon and to get back in the saddle to compete again. “It’s proof that when you have passion, it never completely leaves you,” comments his wife Véronique, a former pharmacy technician, who now supports him at the goat farm in Plessier-sur-Bulles.

Tony Granato, 30, turned his photography hobby into his passion

It was also a stupid work accident that pushed Tony Granato to change his life. Then aged 20, this former landscaper was seriously injured using a hedge trimmer.

I stuck my hand in a hedge while the machine continued to run. Which earned me around twenty stitches in total. I had to get up, find another activity.

During his sick leave, he acquired a small Canon camera. “You know the simple ones, with the zoom that pops out.” He then begins to carry out a parallel activity of DJ around Compiègne and begins to shoot friends as well as customers of the night establishments for which he officiates on the decks, which will open a lot of doors for him. “What was just a hobby quickly became a passion,” he slips. His emerging notoriety subsequently allowed him to cover showcases d’artistes.

Now 30 years old, Tony heads a team of three people. And to Pont-Sainte-Maxenceit's impossible to walk past its spectacularly decorated store without looking up. This is probably just the beginning. “I don’t intend to stop there,” promises the photographer, who has just established a partnership with the Majestic cinema in Compiègne to produce videos for them on TikTok.

Without the Baccalaureate, Sandrine works with disabilities

For some, this professional reorientation has taken root during confinements.

This is the case Sandrine Bassée, 42 years old and former fire safety agent on the Massey-Fergusson site in Beauvais. At a period in her life when she felt “that no professional development was possible for her”, this former ambulance driver and volunteer firefighter made a decisive meeting at Beauvais hospital.

“When I was applying to become a maintenance worker, a hospital manager encouraged me to return to my studies.”

While she only had the professional certificate in her pocket, she now works at IME Pastels of the Red Cross in Beauvais. The fact of not having the Baccalaureate could have been a hindrance for her but it was not.

After a first aborted attempt at GRETA in Hauts-de-France during Covid, it was finally at Airion Vocational Training Center that she successfully completes her Educational and Social Support (AES) diploma. “Today I am happy to get up every day to go to work,” she confides.

When the opportunities are not there

If all these stories are of course dreamy, it happens that the outlets are not there for candidates for a change of life.

Muriel, 45, is struggling to find a job near Chambly, in the south of Oise.

This summer, she returned to school to obtain a license as a manager of human resources. But for now, she still hasn't found a job that satisfies her. “There are few offers. Lots of fixed-term or temporary contracts. And salaries close to the minimum wage,” she notes.

According to this mother, the unstable political context experienced during the summer period has undoubtedly played a large part in the reluctance of employers until now. “All hiring is frozen. Companies fear being taxed, or no longer receiving enough help to sign apprenticeship contracts.”

However, she does not despair of quickly finding the right fit. At least that’s all the harm we wish him.

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