| Sumario: | Since the 2000s, European directives have promoted a policy of active oversight for job seekers: less passive compensation and more control and active employment integration measures. While this policy works for individuals who are ready for the labour market, it hurts those who are not, particularly those in France who receive RSA benefits (Revenu de Solidarité Active - Active Solidarity Income). Such individuals may be supported by RSA advisors whose role is to assess and develop their employability. In this article, we examine the links between RSA advisor representations of employability and their support practices. Using a mixed-methods approach in two studies, we found differentiated representations of employability and varied support practices among these professionals. We also found two contradictions between their conceptions of employability and their practices. First, although most of them believe that several actors (the beneficiary, the labour market and the education system) share responsibility for employability, their support practices remain oriented primarily toward putting the onus for employability and job seeking solely on their recipients. Second, while RSA advisors superficially believe in the institutional discourse that "everyone is employable," they do not perceive all their beneficiaries as immediately employable. Thus, in their everyday practices, they may exclude some from employment access programs.
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