Noé Morel, probation officer at the Vaud Probation Foundation

When I graduated from high school, I had various interests, including security (police, for example) and wood engineering. I wondered whether I should go to a university of applied sciences (HES) or a university; in the end, I opted for a bachelor's degree in political science. After my Bachelor's degree, I decided to go on and do a Master's in Criminology and Security. During my last semester of study, I did a short placement in a home for teenagers. It made me realise that I wanted to work in a social field. At the same time, my dissertation was about the way the police communicate in their recruitment videos. I did several interviews about police jobs, which made me even more interested in becoming an inspector. When I finished my studies, I did a placement with the Cantonal Police. The placement with the Police was an extension of my dissertation. When it was over, I tried to apply to the Academy. I was narrowly beaten. I was disappointed and a bit lost. This short period of job hunting was quite unexpected for me. I thought about improving my German to extend my job search to the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In the meantime, I applied to the Fondation vaudoise de probation, and my application was accepted - not for the post that was advertised, but for another one! I spent two interviews and half a day with the team to get to know each other better. At the end of the process, I got the job of probation officer.

The Fondation vaudoise de probation has four distinct sectors: prisons, probation mandates, open sentences and workshops. It works on behalf of the Vaud Prison Service. The Foundation employs around fifty people, including 6 in my team. The probation officers are graduates of social schools or universities, with a fairly young average age. I work in the open sentencing sector. What I like and what motivates me is working with the people I follow. You have to build up a relationship of trust, working effectively with very different profiles. In my day-to-day work, I'm responsible for setting up and carrying out 2 types of sentence: community service and electronic monitoring. My work involves an overall assessment (financial, professional and family situation), an implementation plan, then regular meetings with the offender to monitor the execution of the sentence on a personalised basis, with the offender's employer where appropriate, and with the network of other parties involved. I particularly appreciate the dynamism of the activities, the trips home and the networking. As in every job, there are more administrative aspects. Given the nature of the work, the administrative part is perhaps more substantial than in other sectors. You have to keep a record of your actions, produce statistics and communicate with the prison service.

The fact that I took the competitive examination for the police academy enabled me to practise job interviews on several occasions, and it's important to be able to practise this particular exercise. And don't forget that when you're looking for a job, you can't control the opportunities that come your way - you have to let them surprise you! Finally, a word of advice before choosing a course of study: it's very important to consider your choice of HES or university. In Switzerland, you can have very interesting career paths in both cases. I would add that university education does not offer direct or automatic job prospects. You have to make more of an effort to think up your career plan, in addition to the market, which obviously varies.