Sommaire
You are considering a career change or professional retraining by carrying out a skills assessment, but how do you go about it, where do you do it, and how do you finance it?
What is a skills assessment?
It is an assessment that allows you to envisage a professional development or simply to reorient yourself towards another profession. It allows any employee or job seeker to analyse his or her situation, skills and motivations as regards his or her future project.
A career may be progressive, or it may not suit the employee, who will choose to change his or her life and profession at a certain point in his or her life. It allows for reclassification within a company, professional retraining or career development.
It takes place in three compulsory phases, which will be carried out by a chosen service provider from outside the company, namely
- a preliminary phase, which makes it possible to analyse, determine and define the project,
- an investigation phase, which will allow the project to be constructed and different alternatives to be considered,
- and finally, a conclusion phase which will provide the results of the assessment and the possible means for carrying out the project.
So how do you go about it and who can benefit from it?
Who can benefit from a skills assessment?
In principle, any employee in the private or public sector, as well as job seekers. It can be discussed with the employer and can take place during working hours with the employer’s agreement. If the employee chooses to have a free skills assessment outside working hours, there is no need for prior agreement from the employer.
The jobseeker can directly ask his or her job centre adviser to help him or her with the process
Financing
Depending on the approach chosen, the cost of a skills assessment varies. The average price is estimated at 2 000 euros. However, assistance is available.
Free skills assessment: eligible for the CPF
The skills assessment is eligible for the CPF, better known as the Personal Training Account, which can be used to finance it or to cover part of the costs. It can also be financed by the company that hires the applicant employee
Individual Training Assistance (AIF)
It can be paid for by the employer, by Pôle Emploi using the AIF (Aide Individuelle à la Formation) or by using one’s CPF, if enough rights have been acquired during one’s professional career, otherwise, by one’s own means, if no other financing is possible for the applicant.
However, there are online skills assessments available on the Internet, which are labelled “free and without obligation”. But let’s not forget that it is the CPF that will take care of this assessment “free of charge”, following the rights acquired during one’s career. Nothing is free!
Calling on the CEP
Think about getting information by contacting the CEP (Conseil en Évolution Professionnelle) to be accompanied in your steps, and to be able to consider different possibilities for carrying out this assessment.
