At the L’Étincelle restaurant in Nîmes, an unusual business meal to help students face their future

Une soixantaine de convives, étudiants et professionnels, répartis sur deux sessions, se prêtent à l’exercice. Midi Libre – E. Be

BTS et Licence en profession immobiliers de Philippe-Lamour se sont retrouvés attablés avec des pointures du métier afin de travailler leur approche, tandis que les élèves du lycée Voltaire s’activaient en salle et en cuisine.

It was a rather unusual business meal that took place this Wednesday, December 11, and will be repeated next Wednesday, at the Voltaire high school in Nîmes. At the heart of the L’Étincelle training restaurant, the second year Bac Pro hotel and catering students were in action, in the dining room and in the kitchen, some for what represented their first “real” full-scale exercise, in front of customers. At the table, among the thirty or so guests, there were varied profiles. And for good reason, students in the BTS or professional real estate degree program at the Philippe-Lamour high school rubbed shoulders with professionals in the field, in order to work on their approach to customers and their gift of the gab in real conditions.

Working on customer contact

“It's an idea from the teaching team that we decided to support and finance”, explains Jean-Luc Dimeur, headmaster of the establishment on Rue d’Occitanie, who also came to supervise his students while tasting the dishes prepared by Voltaire’s young apprentices. Fifteen Lamour partners, who regularly host interns or work-study students within their agency, have agreed to play the game in front of potential future collaborators.

Professionals facing future professionals

Like Eric Camilleri, director of the Camilleri Gestion agency in Nîmes and former class sponsor. “The work-study program is a very good thing for young people, because it allows them to get to grips with the reality on the ground,” says the man who also went through this training method when he was younger. “Our main goal is of course to be able to hire them at the end of the work-study program. It takes time, but it's also fun.” In front of him, between two bites, Émeric and Enzo, both in their twenties, were able to gain the expertise of a professional in the sector. And make contacts that may be an asset in their future.

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