“Youssef: co-op student in BNP Paribas Personal Finance and volunteer firefighter from Val-d’Oise, he tells us about his committed double life”
Youssef El Abdi, a student at the Paris School of Business and in apprenticeship in the Purchasing Department BNP Paribas Personal Finance as a Junior Buyer, tells us about his double life!
As a co-op student, his days are already full between his studies and his job, but Youssef decided to expand his field of activity by becoming a volunteer firefighter in Val-d’Oise (Paris, 95). He has been working at the Enghien les Bains fire hall for 2 years and has been with BNP Paribas Personal Finance since October 2020.
“I always wanted a life full of action, outside of my studies and work. Following the various events, such as the terrorist attacks or the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris, I immediately took a part of responsibility, I told myself that I had a role to play, especially on the free time I could give, and why not integrate a fire hall in France.”
For him, the gift of self is an important value, which is why, after a series of sports tests and a six-week training, he joined the ranks of the Val-d’Oise fire hall as a volunteer firefighter.
These two activities bring him a balance between his passion and his field of professional expertise. The banking and first aid sectors seem remote, and yet he finds parallels between the two worlds: as a Buyer, the management of a file is done according to a strict process, the same is true for firefighters during an operation.
BNP Paribas Personal Finance, he acquires communication skills, an understanding of clients’ needs, and is becoming more rigorous. These soft skills are useful to him, to understand the victims in the field, or in the daily tasks of maintenance of intervention equipment.
“As a Buyer in BNP Paribas Personal Finance, you have to understand the customer’s need from the first second, and it’s exactly the same with a victim in intervention, you have to understand their pain and what happened.”
In the same way, his experience at the firefighters brings him the composure and the hindsight necessary to carry out negotiations in his working day.
When he joined the company, his colleagues and managers were curious, enthusiastic and caring about his commitment. This has even given rise to vocations in some!
Today, he puts his firefighting expertise at the service of BNP Paribas Personal Finance by joining the fire protection teams.
In the future, Youssef would like to continue volunteering as long as possible and climb the ranks within the fire hall, why not by becoming a non-commissioned officer of guard, always on his own time.
This personal investment is recognized because since last October, he was selected to be the face of the recruitment campaign of the Val-d’Oise firefighters, thanks to its multi-activity profile. We will soon see Youssef on various communication materials to promote this beautiful citizen engagement!
If you also want to get involved as a volunteer firefighter, do not hesitate anymore they recruit! Like Youssef cross the line: all the information here!
Follow the news of the Val-d’Oise fire department on Facebook, or on Intagram @pompiers_95
Other of our employees also lead a double life, discover the story of Valérie, between the Marketing Department France and meditation.
