News The result of a public-private partnership, the International Centre For Continuing Education In Watchmaking (CIFCH) extending the already plentiful offer of watch industry training will start up in October in Le Locle.
Following the introduction six years ago of a Federal Diploma for Watch Sales Advisors in collaboration with the Centre interrégional de formation des Montagnes neuchâteloises (CIFOM), the Association des fournisseurs d'horlogerie Marché suisse (AMS) wished to broaden the range of horological skills teaching, thereby helping to sustain the expertise of the Jura region. A public-private partnership was therefore set up. In addition to the AMS, it unites the government of Neuchâtel, the city of Le Locle and the CIFOM. From this partnership emerged the CIFCH, a new training body which will open its doors in October in Le Locle, in the building of the former Nursing School.
With the opening of this centre, together with sessions currently ongoing for the Federal Diploma, the CIFCH will have around 50 trainees on its roll. Thereafter, capacity will rise to approximately 150 students able to follow simultaneously all five proposed levels.
Initially, the CIFCH will offer three-day training courses designed for those without any knowledge of watchmaking. This course will provide a brief explanation of the history of the sector, the segmentation of products and the difference between mechanical, quartz and auto-quartz movements. It is intended for all persons wishing to make a career change and needing to acquire a minimum of information, for example to be able to work in a shop and sell "simple" watches. It is also aimed at job seekers in the sales field who wish to place their career on a new footing. This is the first level.
Also on offer are sessions of modular courses lasting one week (5 days) for those with qualifications in sales, a master’s in economics or in the field of communication, more often than not employed by watch manufacturers or commercial companies but lacking in product knowledge. These more advanced courses (watch sales techniques, complications, etc) are open to all people, including job seekers whose basic qualifications warrant inclusion in this programme. This is the second level, the third being the Federal Diploma (42 days of courses spread over two years, requiring attendance for three days a month over seven months of the year).
To meet growing demand the CIFCH will also provide, from 2010, special training for foreign nationals with a 35-day course sanctioned by an examination and a diploma signed and validated by the FH, a preferred partner of the AMS whose reputation is firmly established in all corners of the globe. This is the fourth level.
Lastly, the fifth and final level, comprising a series of courses designed to transfer knowledge between professionals, is in the preparatory phase. Briefly the aim is to recruit an individual with proven expertise in a range of special skills or processes whose career is drawing to a close, creating around them group of younger colleagues working in the same field with a view to providing explanations and passing on their unique knowledge and experience.
All four partners in this project emphasise that this major training initiative – with courses given initially in French, German and English – meets a constant demand for greater knowledge on the part of individuals employed in activities related to the watch industry. It is also a way of giving them real added value in keeping with the "Swiss quality concept".
September 14, 2009