“I will take any job, as long as I leave”

It is better to bring gloves in your suitcase. Friday October 19, the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) organized a job-dating, an employment forum, to replenish its troops. More than 80 positions were offered and as far as offices are concerned, it is clearly not next door: all these positions are located in Antarctica!

As soon as it opened, in Brest, there were already a lot of people. Some almost ready to go, with bags on their backs and big hiking boots hanging on them. With their CV in hand, each person took turns facing the recruiters… for all types of professions: “I’m here to be an electrician“, “logistics“, “anything in biology or biotechnology“, “glaciochemistry“, “to cook“, could be heard in the queue. As a result, stays of six months to a year, in Antarctica and in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF).

Hundreds of candidates at the meeting

The principle of job-dating is a brief exchange with a professional, “maximum 5 minutes” in this case. At the same time, you have to be able to meet everyone and the event was a great success: “We didn’t expect so many candidates. We opened 10 minutes early and we already had 150 people!“, exclaims an organizer.

And everyone has their own motivation. “Everyone has a chance, so a misunderstanding can happen!” smiles Willine, the last candidate in the queue, “I’ll take any job, as long as I go there” says Evan for his part. He adds, with stars in his eyes: “I have a desire for adventure, to follow the journey of my father who left in 1999. He told me stories, anecdotes, showed photos. Now I dream about it all the time“. And the young man is ready: “I like finding myself in places where man hasn’t really had time to live yet. We discover like another planet.”

Baking bread in Antarctica

Splendid photos are displayed on the walls, particularly of sunsets. There is also a snowmobile, but you are prohibited from riding it. The candidates wander among large replicas of animals: penguins and elephant seals.

This job dating is also an opportunity for future candidates to discuss with those who have already seen Antarctica. Nathan made the trip: “I was a pastry baker on the Dumont-d’Urville base. I became a baker on purpose so I could go there“And when it comes to work, Nathan wasn’t so out of place: “It looks a bit like what’s happening in France. Every morning, we will get up, make bread, pastries, pastries. The mission I chose was a winter hibernation that lasted a little over a year.“Same first name and same base, but different job for another Nathan, 27 years old:”I went to winter for mission TA71. I had the role of machine mechanic.”

“In the landscape, there are colors and contrasts that you can’t have here. It’s fabulous!”

Nathan, mechanic who went to Antarctica

at franceinfo

Nathan’s mission took place in 2020, but he has not forgotten anything about the landscape.We say to ourselves that there will be ice floes, icebergs. But in fact, we discover pebbles, earth, stone, and the light reflects on all of that. There is a contrast between dark and light, whether in the morning when the sun rises, or in the evening when it sets.“, remembers the mechanic meticulously. The other Nathan, the baker, completes the picture with flora and fauna: “We have the penguins… And then there is a whole life: seals, elephant seals, which come to the base level. It’s really alive!“

For French scientists, ornithologists, seismologists and even glaciologists, the months spent there are used, among other things, to take a census of animals, take blood or feathers or monitor the evolution and movement of ice, for example.

And when, on rest days, it is −80°C, you also have to know how to take care of: “There is the library and a projector screen, so we can have small cinema sessions. We have sofas, a pool table and then we go for a walk on the nearby islands when the ice floe is sufficient and it has been checked .”

Several selection steps

Obviously, there is no question of leaving overnight. Recruitment takes place over several phases. They are obligatory, to ensure that we send candidates capable of supporting life in self-sufficiency. Anne Savary is in charge of recruitment at IPEV: “It’s a little difficult to recruit because it’s a different commitment: you don’t go home every night. Once you’re taken, you know you’re going to be gone for a year.“