Uncertain identity orientations : New workers generation and professional socialisation

The entry of young workers' generations to employment in a context of job uncertainty and work rationalisation policies questions their professional socialisation as a process of unstable identity construction in front of a plurality of standards. Between a managerial project of professionalisation carried by the organisation and job ideals built by their previous work experiences, they have to construct their own professional practices by confronting the model of an autonomous and productive worker which is valued by the institution. The study of the process of professional socialisation of young financial advisers apprentices of La Poste brings to light very different positions around the model of the "good adviser" portrayed by the organization. The combination of four elements, namely the professional models carried by young people, significant others in work, representations of work and objective conditions of apprenticeship, allows to understand how they build these positions and shows identity uncertainty around the apparently paradoxical order between advice and sale. This study is based on a territorial comparison (Mediterranean/Parisian region) as well as on a generational survey led on The French Post office. The combination of several investigation techniques (participative observation within the HR Direction at La Banque Postale, longitudinal panel survey conducted on financial adviser apprentices, monograph of post offices and exploitation of statistic data) allows crossing of biographical paths (personal and career) and the structural elements of employment politics analysis, work, and training at La Poste.