Profile-based recruitment: signing a permanent contract without a defined project, a risky gamble or a career accelerator?
"What if I’m left without a project for several months after signing?" "How do I make a career decision when the project isn't defined yet?" These questions often come up for candidates discovering recruitment based on profile in engineering consultancy firms, an approach that prioritises skills, experience, and potential, even before a project has been identified.
However, this method of recruitment is grounded in a very concrete market reality. According to a report by the Institut Montaigne, the French economy will need to recruit nearly 100,000 engineers and technicians per year by 2035 to meet market demands and challenges. At the same time, companies are adapting their practices. A 2026 APEC study shows a return to less aggressive recruitment strategies and an increased focus on the alignment between recruited profiles and company needs. In this context, recruitment based on profile relies on a balance between anticipation and alignment: anticipating company needs while hiring individuals whose skills match the challenges of upcoming projects.
At agap2, hiring before a project is formally identified is not about volume, but about a conviction: anticipating our clients' needs while recruiting experts whose skills, potential for growth, and aspirations are in line with the challenges of the sectors we support. Our goal is to build coherent career paths by offering every talent projects that are in sync with their expertise and professional development.
Nevertheless, this approach can raise legitimate doubts : a lack of visibility, fear of the unknown, or the worry of making a poor career choice. So, what does recruitment based on profile when choosing to join an engineering consultancy? Through the journeys of Johan and Aurélie, recruited based on their profiles at agap2, discover how this approach works in practice and what it can really bring to a professional career.
From uncertainty to opportunity
Recruitment based on profile: a leap into the unknown?
Recruiting based on profile can be unsettling because it reverses a well-established logic in engineering consultancy: project first, expert second.
This approach can naturally raise questions. This is what Aurélie, a supply chain equipment manager at agap2, felt. After twenty years in the same company, she was hesitant to leave a permanent contract without having any visibility on her first project. Her initial reaction was "What does it actually mean to be recruited based on my profile, without a defined project?" A natural fear: leaving a stable situation for "the unknown".
What reassured her was not a vague promise, but a clear explanation, topics already identified, and a logical rationale: "If you are recruited based on your profile, it means the company is already looking ahead to projects you can contribute to, in line with your skills and background."
That is the whole point of profile-based recruitment: not recruiting without visibility, but recruiting with a vision.
For Aurélie, profile-based recruitment turned into an opportunity. She quickly joined her first project, then broadened her expertise by discovering new industrial processes, varied production environments, and assignments she would not have considered had she stayed in a more linear career path.
Discovering consultancy beyond a job description
Beyond the way you are recruited, profile-based recruitment also offers another discovery: how an engineering consultancy operatesBefore their first project, experts recruited based on their profile discover a new side of consulting: client interactions, business development, opportunity creation, and the support they receive to identify the project best suited to their profile. They gain a more concrete understanding of the inner workings of engineering consulting.
This is what struck Johan, Client Quality Manager. Upon joining agap2, he discovered a reality he hadn't previously known:
"I didn't really appreciate the difficulty of developing certain client opportunities and the work that goes on behind the scenes to identify the projects we can contribute to. Recruitment based on profile allowed me to better understand the commercial challenges, the client relationship, and how opportunities are built."
Aurélie, for her part, was mainly worried about joining a company without any real points of reference. She ultimately discovered a different reality: regular discussions with the teams, agency events, and close contact with colleagues allowed her to gradually find her place within agap2, even before being fully settled into a project: "I was afraid of not having a connection with agap2. In reality, there is a lot of follow-up and support." This support allowed her to gradually integrate into company life and approach her first project with more confidence and a clearer sense of direction.
Well before their first project, engineering consultants begin to better understand the environment in which they will be working.
Recruitment based on profile does not just prepare for a future project: it also allows you to discover consulting from the inside and gradually find your place within the company.
Recruitment based on profile: more than just a starting point, a career accelerator
A different way to build your career path
Recruitment based on profile fosters a long-term vision of one's professional journey. It offers greater clarity on development prospects, allows for long-term planning, and helps to gradually build a a career path that aligns with their profile.
That’s what Johan noticed as soon as he arrived:
"I quickly felt that there was a genuine desire to build a career path that aligns with my experience and ambitions."
This approach allowed him to discover a variety of industrial environments, from medical devices to microelectronics, while developing his expertise in quality requirements.
For Aurélie, this career path approach opened up perspectives she would never have considered:
"When I was recruited, I couldn't have imagined the projects I would go on to discover. I’ve been able to evolve in very different environments, with support that has allowed me to build confidence and get to know myself better professionally."
These paths are not the result of a promise made at the time of hiring. They are the result of a gradual process, made possible by being recruited based on their profile by a company that offered them the opportunity to grow over the long term.
Mutual trust that transforms a career path
Recruitment based on profile is not just a different way of hiring. It is based on a relationship of trust that is built over time and supports the expert throughout their career.
For Aurélie, this trust was built gradually. agap2 recognised her experience and her ability to evolve, and she chose to trust the company to support her in her professional development :
"I trust them; I’m entrusting them with my career."
By discovering new industrial environments and new ways of working, Aurélie has developed skills, particularly in cross-functional management, while gradually gaining confidence:
"At the beginning, I sometimes doubted my ability to take on certain challenges. The projects and the fact that I was supported throughout my journey allowed me to gradually gain confidence and dare to step out of my comfort zone."
This is therefore likely where the true strength of profile-based recruitment lies: a relationship founded on mutual trust.
Today, it is Aurélie's turn to reassure future agapiens. People currently in the process of being recruited based on their profile regularly contact her to discuss her experience and better understand this recruitment method. If her testimony resonates so much with candidates, it is because it answers their main questions: how can you plan ahead when the first project has not yet been identified?
Because yes, profile-based recruitment can seem daunting because it requires accepting a degree of uncertainty at a time when many candidates are primarily looking for visibility. But this visibility is built gradually thanks to a long-term vision, a local support and a trusting relationship.
More than just another way to recruit, profile-based recruitment offers a different way to build your career: no longer by choosing only a project, but by choosing a company capable of supporting your development over the long term.
Become an engineering consultant!
