3 May 2023
In 2019, Fabrice Ursach, 42 years old, joined the Icam, Brittany site, for three years of continuing education. More motivated than ever, he arrived with only a baccalaureate in his pocket and graduated, validating a complete training that allows him to access new professional perspectives.
“When I was younger, it never crossed my mind to study engineering. I was really the student who just did what it took to get the average! And yet, many years later, Fabrice Ursach decided to go back to school, to Icam, Brittany campus. “The approach is not the same. It’s a choice and it’s easier. We are much more willing, more mature. And with professional experience, you also have a certain expertise and more understanding. An experience he acquired as a production team leader for 16 years in a plastics company, for cosmetics, in Morbihan.
A more complete program offered by Icam
“My objective was to progress professionally and reach more important positions, so I started looking at job offers that interested me. I realized that in 99% of the cases, you need a 5-year degree. With an electrical engineering degree, I didn’t have that level. No question of giving up! His research led him to Icam. What appealed to him was its more complete program and the three years of training, “which gives you time to work hard. I also exchanged ideas with people who had taken the training, and in particular a colleague from my company. The feedback only confirmed his choice, and nothing slowed down his desire to continue. Do you need a 2-year degree to take part in continuing education? Fabrice will do a VAP85 (validation of professional experience), the equivalent of a VAE but without a diploma, to prove that he has a two-year degree. To give himself the means to do so, he will take courses alone. And before embarking on the three years of training, he decided to take the one-month preparatory module at the Vendée site, which is not compulsory, “but which allows me to bring myself up to speed, to get back into a more academic way of working.
A group phenomenon that pushes you
What followed were three years of relentless investment. “When you go back to school, it takes time. You have to succeed in maintaining a balance, finding a work methodology, finding a rhythm so as not to interfere with family life. The preparatory module helps to do just that. The first two years in Nantes alternate between 1.5 days per month of classes on Fridays and Saturday mornings, his position within his company and personal work. “In fact, you are never alone. There’s a lot of whatsapp exchanges and mutual aid. There were about 20 of us, with different experiences, but all in the same process. There is really a group phenomenon that pushes you”. The third year at the Brittany site was 100% face-to-face. Fabrice, whose work contract was suspended during this period, financed this final year almost single-handedly. On two occasions, he was refused and could not benefit from financing for professional transition. He then dipped into his savings and continued on. “It would have been a shame to get to that point and have to stop.
Training that gives you more legitimacy… and confidence
Especially since his goal of reaching more important positions became a reality only a few months after the end of the training. Fabrice first became a production manager in an industrial laundry in Corsica, and since the end of March, he has held the position of production sector manager for a high-end food processing company. “The fact that you have this training gives you more legitimacy to apply for this type of position with responsibility. Going from supervisor to executive is also financially secure.
So Fabrice has achieved his goal! But above all, it is a real personal satisfaction for him to have succeeded. “I had left school a long time ago, with a baccalaureate in my pocket, whereas everyone else in the training had at least a baccalaureate+2. At 42, I was also one of the oldest, the average age being 33. Proof that by working, you can make it! You realize that it’s possible and it develops your self-confidence.