« CEO for One Month » – Cyriaque DE BEAUMONT ranked among the five finalists of this extraordinary challenge
07/19/2021
Since 2014, the Adecco Group’s “CEO for One Month” program offers every year a unique opportunity to a student or a young graduate to become the right-hand man of Alexandre Viros, the President of Adecco Group France, and to work by his side for 30 days. This year, more than 20,000 students sent their application. Among them, Cyriaque DE BEAUMONT, a student in Master 1 in Finance of the Grande École Program at IÉSEG, had the chance to take part in the final stage of the challenge – the “bootcamp” – and was ranked among the five finalists. Let’s hear his experience.
Cyriaque, could you please introduce yourself in a few words and explain how you got the idea to apply for the “CEO for One Month” program?
After obtaining my high school diploma at the age of 15, I quickly found my way by joining IÉSEG. As an extrovert and a good communicator, a curriculum in a business school seemed to be the perfect fit for me. On IÉSEG’s campus, I met some ambassadors of the Adecco Group who presented the program “CEO for One Month” which I found very inspiring. I had already heard about the “bootcamp” as it got a lot of attention from the media, especially on Instagram, and I decided to give it a try. When you sign up for the challenge, you know that it will be tough and that you have little chance to succeed. The application process was very simple and accessible to all. In total, there was more than 20,000 registrations for this edition, including about 40 students from IÉSEG.
What was the recruitment process like until the « bootcamp » stage?
It is not a usual recruitment process, there are many different tests but we do not need to send our resume nor a cover letter to apply. The selection is mostly based on the candidates’ personality and the way they function in various situations. They look for atypical profiles who have an entrepreneurial spirit, people who are curious and humble. The tests we take (personality test, written tests, interviews, group work, etc.) aim to assess our analytical ability, our way of thinking, our sense of judgment and reflection, as well as our team spirit. We have to explain our background, where we come from and why we are here. The elimination process is made of different stages including new tests every two weeks: after the first step, there are only 1,500 candidates left, then 150 and finally 60, until we are only 10 left to get to the “bootcamp”. What is interesting is that after each test we receive a complete feedback from the Adecco Group. There is thus a real exchange, which allows to learn more about ourselves and to identify areas of improvement.
What was the « bootcamp » like ?
The « bootcamp » started with two intensive days of remote tests, including crossed interviews, business case studies, meeting hosting, brainstorming,… and even a video game! I was quite surprised by this last one because we are being observed constantly in order to evaluate the way we make choices, and our ability to find solutions and keep cool in stressful situations. For the record, I learned two days before the online tests that there would be a power cut at my place, so that added a certain amount of stress beforehand! At the end of the first day, we also had a unique opportunity to speak with brilliant and kind top managers of the Adecco Group.
After these two intense days, only five of us were selected to take the next step, which consisted of an immersion in a company. I thus had the chance to spend an entire day with the CEO of a large company, partner of the Adecco Group.
The day after, I also took part in an immersive day at Humando – a company of the Adecco Group that helps people reenter the job market. I visited temporary workers on a Bouygues construction site. During this day, our curiosity, our adaptability and the way we act with different people are evaluated. That day was particularly meaningful to me – I saw people who were sincere and happy to do their job. This made me realized that the human aspect is extremely important within a company; people need to be happy with their work, the financial aspect is not the only thing that counts.
What happens next ?
After these four intense days, we move on to the Grand Oral in front of a jury composed of 5 CEO from the Adecco Group’s partner companies. Even though I did not win the final stage, I am very satisfied with what I have accomplished. It was a very enriching experience that taught me a lot thanks to the various feedbacks received after each stage. These allow us to be in a constant improvement dynamic throughout the process. We learn to be the best version of ourselves. Now, I know my strengths which I can count on (leadership and authenticity) and my areas of improvement (my sometimes too “academic” way and my listening skills).
In the end, all the tests that we took allowed us to create a real bond with the Adecco Group since they were following our evolution for several weeks. This challenge allows them to have an in-depth knowledge of the candidates, and also allows us as candidates to know ourselves better and get to know the company. I was able to establish a valuable relationship with the Adecco Group and I am sure that the adventure with them is just starting.