A life as a model executive… until Covid 19
From commercial executive to teacher, administrative, development manager and receptionist in a tennis club, the sexagenarian has changed status, sector and profession. But above all, Thierry Sevel is happy and finally, he is no longer, and no longer wants to be a good little soldier.
He has been all his life, “until the cold shower”.
She watered it right after confinement. Commercial Director of a logistics company in the Paris region, he was told, like many executives, “that we had to reduce the sails”. His box had lost 40% of turnover because of the Covid 19, and the reduction in airfoil in question was the abolition of his position. “I was just the ticket with my three short years of seniority only”.
In eight days, the one who had climbed all the levels of his function, from simple salesman to regional management, ending as national director, from large groups like Rank Xerox to this famous logistics SME, found himself unemployed. “We negotiated quickly. Cut the cord, as they say. We didn’t part as friends, but on good terms, as they say. »
Leaving Paris for the provinces, he did it!
Here he is at home, with his wife, “and in one weekend, the decision was made”. That of leaving Ile-de-France for the good air of Aix-Les-Bains, and not for a few days, but for good. “We had a great holiday there and we fell in love with the area”.
Direction Savoie therefore, but as a good logistician, Thierry prepares the ground. Between the sale of his house, the purchase of another in the Alps and the work on it, eight months pass. In the spring of 2021, the couple finally settles down. But what to do ? Inactivity is not his thing. So Thierry starts looking for a job. It’s difficult. “Above all, I was just copying and pasting my professional experience trying to find the same type of position”. A mistake, until he discovered, 4 minutes by bike from his home, the Aix-Les-Bains tennis club. And especially until he remembers that he has been practicing this sport for years, and that he even passed, and obtained, a patent as an instructor.
The senior CDD puts his foot in the stirrup
He therefore crosses the street and makes an appointment with the sports director of the club. To offer him what ? “Everything: I could be the Swiss army knife of the club”. Above all, Thierry evokes in front of him an unknown type of contract, of which the boss of the club was unaware of the existence: the CDD senior. “It was Olivier Sonie, my Pôle emploi adviser in Aix, who helped me a lot and guided me on this procedure”. This is a fixed-term contract, lasting a maximum of 18 months, intended for people over 57 years of age. In addition, it is not necessary to note a precise function, nor to stipulate a number of hours engraved in marble. This is what suits and convinces the sports director of the small club: he needs someone capable of taking care of both reception and administration, and who is also likely to give lessons while canvassing sponsors. Right on top of Thierry’s multiple skills, and without breaking the bank since he only works 15 hours a week on average.
Zero regrets
Thierry Sevel at his new workplace, the Aix-Les-Bains tennis club
So, for a year and a half, he finds every day his club of 600 licensees with 17 tennis courts and 4 employees. And Thierry is delighted. In less than a year, he has already convinced a dozen companies in the region to sponsor the structure. At the same time, he gives lessons to the youngest, while providing reception at the club house when necessary. Obviously, his CDD will end at the beginning of next year, but he has no doubts about its renewal, since it is possible and already envisaged. And after ? “We will always manage”. Sure, “we had to reduce the sails financially”, as he points out. But he lives in the place he has chosen and has a job he has chosen too. Which is priceless.