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The V.I.E.: a Career Opportunity at AGS. April 2008

The V.I.E. (Voluntary International Enterprise) is a legal framework instituted by UBIFRANCE, which allows a French company to send a young person on an overseas assignment, for a period of 6 to 24 months.

This initiative, which was created to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to expand abroad, is coordinated by UBIFRANCE. The administrative, legal, and contractual aspects, as well as remuneration and the protection of social interests are managed by the organization, offering businesses a simple and easy method to attain young graduates looking for professional experience or new career opportunities. The initiatives of UBIFRANCE are immensely appreciated, promoted, and developed by the AGS Group. For many years, AGS has trusted UBIFRANCE’s expertise and excellence in the recruitment of V.I.E. candidates, who are dispatched throughout the Group’s network. When AGS makes the choice of recruiting a V.I.E. candidate, it is a strategic choice that will benefit both the future of the company and that of the V.I.E. candidate. True to its employee training policy, AGS first offers the V.I.E. candidate an entry-level job as Deputy Sales Manager. Once this assignment is completed, the candidate benefits from a 12 to 24 month internship program, in which they are trained to become a Director. The acquisition of these particular skills by the V.I.E. candidate is valuable to the company. For this reason, AGS likes to keep the V.I.E. candidate after their training, by offering them great career opportunities, particularly in management positions with a high level of responsibility. Albin Porquez shares his own experience: “After  a  10  month  internship  at  AGS, I agreed to take a V.I.E. position in Rabat as a salesman for one and a half years. The assignment and goals that were entrusted to me offered me the opportunity to develop professionally and personally. I learned to adapt, to work with people from different cultures, and to interact in the real life situations within the workplace. I also benefited from my interaction with expatriates of various nationalities and industries. After my V.I.E. internship, I joined the AGS Group Head Office to participate in the development of our network in Africa, before being nominated as Assistant to the Operations Director. In November 2007, I joined Executive Relocations, a branch of the Group, as Chief Executive Officer.” For Antoine Duquesnay, Managing Director of AGS Botswana, the V.I.E. experience has been fulfilling on both a personal level as well as on a professional one: “After spending a year in Burundi for my final internship, I wanted to return to Africa to work in a more controlled and developed business environment. After two months of studying Portuguese and training as a Commercial Assistant in Mozambique, I left for Angola as a V.I.E. candidate in order to assist the Branch Manager. I completed my V.I.E. assignment in November 2005, satisfied with the experience but also tired after two years spent in a country that was not very welcoming. I took on responsibilities at AGS Frasers Angola and had to quickly learn the trade in Portuguese, a language in which I was not very fluent. A V.I.E. in AGS is often offered an internship as Branch Manager in order to perfect his managing skills, before being offered a position as Branch Manager. In my case this was different. Thanks to my intensive training, I was offered a position as AGS Frasers Botswana Branch Manager, where I started in September 2006." We would like to take the opportunity to wish Albin Porquez, who celebrated his 10th anniversary on February 16th with the AGS Group. We would also like to congratulate AGS Frasers Botswana for obtaining excellent results in its FAIM accreditation, which was granted for the next four years. For more information on the V.I.E. : http://www.ubifrance.fr/vie/volontariat-international-entreprise.asp