The French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor is looking for new staff. It offers more than 80 jobs. One condition was essential to apply: being ready to work at the end of the world, in Antarctica.
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.
:quality(50)/2023/10/19/job-dating-emploi-institut-polaire-antarctique2-653195d846cac967440876.jpg)
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 Antarcticaat 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!“
:quality(50)/2023/10/19/job-dating-emploi-institut-polaire-antarctique3-6531a275aed44236949298.jpg)
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.“
In addition, extracts from staff diaries are displayed, to better understand daily life on site, often far from the postcard: “November 25: Marc has just learned of the death of a friend. He asked us for a moment. He went out, and when he came back, tears were still frozen on his cheeks.” “Very ill. This boat is hell on the stomach. Everything is moving, it’s even worse when I close my eyes. Cruising doesn’t fun me at all anymore.”, read the candidates.
“The thermometer shows -32 this morning. There is nothing around us but white.”
extract from a diary of a scientist present in Antarctica
Aude Sonneville manages the Institute’s communications: “We continue to dream of Antarctica, it is a land of exploration. But we must not forget that there is a very difficult environment: temperatures, very high winds.” Without forgetting the human adventure: “You are with a group that you did not choose, people who are not your friends, and you are going to be locked up for 12 to 14 months in this polar terrain in extreme conditions,” she recalls.
:quality(50)/2023/10/19/job-dating-emploi-institut-polaire-antarctique-65318db68bf68783569903.jpg)
The selection is made via different tests, explains Anne Savary: “We will interview people and study CVs. There will also be technical written tests for certain professions. Then, we will send people for medical examinations, to ensure that they are in good health and that they are psychologically fit to go for wintering.. Wintering with 20 or 30 people, in one of the two French bases in Antarctica, located more than 1,000 kilometers from each other. The chosen candidates will only have to wait for a possible departure in October 2024.