Working in France
Where There’s a Will, There’s a
Job
By Liza Hall
Want to work in France? Whatever your
reasons, you can do it--with willpower, patience, and a
little ingenuity.
First, there’s the matter of a work
permit. The country's recession has made under-the-table
jobs hard to find, and if you get caught working illegally
the punishment is dire: immediate deportation plus a
five-year ban on visiting most of Western Europe. With all
the legal loopholes and exchange programs available, there's
no point risking it.
Before you start your search for a
job in France, ask yourself a few questions: Do you want to
work short term (less than four months) or long term? What
marketable skills do you have? Do you require a job in a
particular field, or would you settle for almost anything?
Can you go it alone, or do you want to bring your partner
with you? Are you adaptable, resilient, curious? Finally, do
you speak some French or have time to learn before you go?
Combining Work and Study
Studying in France is another way to
get the right to work. If you register independently instead
of going through an exchange program, college, or art
school, tuition is less than $200 a year. Even if you do go
through an exchange program, you can still work. Simply put,
students and teachers can work up to 10-20 hours a week
during the school year; 20-39 during the summer. All other
jobs follow the 20-39 pattern. Of course, teaching pays
better than almost any other part-time job, so the limit on
hours is not such a problem--especially when you discover
how inexpensive France is. (Writers on France seldom mention
the ridiculously low college tuition, the cheap to
reasonable rent, and the public transportation that
eliminates the need for a car.)
Here's how being a student works:
Call the French consulate nearest your home, explain that
you want to study there, and request the latest edition of
their book,
Je Vais en France (I'm Going to France)--it's packed
with practical information on everything from getting into a
French university to buying shoes. This will be your first
experience with French bureaucracy: the consulate may be
closed for no apparent reason or arbitrarily refuse to send
you what you want. As the French say, "Il faut insister."
The requirements for studying in
France are: Good French language skills, college sophomore
or junior standing or above (not always necessary for art
schools), and proof of "sufficient financial resources."
That means someone has to give you a notarized statement
swearing that they'll send you the equivalent of about $500
a month. You need the statement to get your student visa.
You can apply to as many universities or art schools as you
want--it's free. Instead of an application form, you just
send in a letter--in French, of course--and whatever other
documents each university requires. Once you're accepted,
you send your acceptance letter, proof of resources,
passport, etc. to your consulate. After a week or so, your
passport should come back with the student visa in it. Try
not to buy a ticket beforehand because if there's a glitch
in your visa application you may need to postpone your
departure.
Once you have an address in France
and have registered for classes, you can apply for your
carte de séjour, the French equivalent of a green card.
You should get it in two to three months. Once it's in your
hands, you can apply for a job. Meanwhile, you have to be
able to support yourself without a job. Once you have papers
and a job, the Direction Départementale du Travail will give
you a form for your future employer to fill out. You return
the form and a letter explaining why you want to work (don’t
say it’s because you're short on money).
If they feel you would be taking a
job from a French person, you probably won't get it. The key
is to find jobs most French people couldn't get--teaching
English, translating, providing cultural orientation to
French people who are moving to America, giving guided tours
in English or whatever other language you know, etc. Just
brainstorm: how would employing you help a French company
compete? How would working for a French company deepen your
knowledge of France and make you a better French teacher
when you return to America? If you can't think of a good
reason, make one up. If it sounds pro-French and has been
checked by an educated French person to eliminate mistakes,
you're nine-tenths of the way there.
Career-Track Jobs
If you already have a career in
America, there are two other ways to work in France. First,
if you work for a multinational company, you can request a
transfer to France. Your company takes care of the details.
If you’re a high-tech wizard,
super-executive, or an entertainer, your skills may be so in
demand that the right French company will be willing to
handle all the paperwork for you. Disneyland Paris,
www.disneylandparis.com, formerly EuroDisney, is known
for its willingness to hire Americans in both artistic and
administrative posts. I know an opera singer who's now
earning upwards of $40,000 a year at Disneyland Paris for
part-time work. He spends half his time singing country and
western songs in a Disneyland bar and the other half in an
arena being pursued by buffalo during the nightly Buffalo
Bill Revue. He views this as a stepping stone to "real"
work.
Whatever your special skill or niche,
a little research could be all you need to find a French
company willing to hire you.
Tricks of the Trade
Not enough money to meet
"sufficient financial resources" requirement? Surely
someone can write that notarized statement for you. If not,
then either apply for some credit cards or use the ones you
have. Use balance transfer checks to transfer credit card
money into your bank account to meet the requirement--as of
this writing, it should come to about $6,000 a year. Now ask
your bank for a letter that says you have that in your
account. A statement works as well as a letter, as long as
it does not show that you put $6,000 in there all at once.
Now, send the bank’s letter or statement along with your
visa application as proof of financial resources. Voila.
Not enough money to live on while
waiting for a job? If you're going to be an independent
student in France, only apply to universities that make you
eligible for financial aid. (Contact the U.S. Department of
Education for specifics.) Then apply for a student loan. If
you can't get financial aid, try a scholarship or grant. If
all else fails, postpone your trip to France long enough to
get a job and save up. If you absolutely can't wait, of
course, you could live off credit cards. (Note: bring some
traveler’s checks if you want, but the easiest way to spend
your American money in France is with a credit card or via
ATMs. French ATMs are free and they convert dollars from
your American account into francs at a better exchange
rate--with no commission--than you'd find anywhere else. If
you have a Visa debit card or one with the Cirrus logo on
the back, all you need to use French ATMs is a four-digit
PIN code.)
French banks won't let you open an
account (unless you're a student at a French university)
until you have a job. Forget about opening a checking
account unless you're very good at handling your money. If
you bounce a single check in France, it goes on your record.
A savings account with a "carte de retrait" (ATM card) is
all you need; since French ATMs don't charge you to use
them, it costs nothing.
No health insurance? When you
apply for your carte de séjour you must prove you have
health insurance. Can you have someone—anyone—send you a
letter from America that says you have health insurance,
stating the insurance company's name (use a real one), the
policy number (make stuff up), and the "fact" that you are
covered for the next year? As long as the letter is on good
letterhead stationery, it will almost certainly be enough.
This may be necessary even if you do have insurance because
French authorities usually require you to show that you're
covered for the entire time you'll be in France, and most
American policies run from month to month.
You don't speak much French?
Well, learn. You have to learn it sometime; if you're going
to work in France, you might as well start now. Take French
classes, rent French movies, buy French language courses on
cassette or CD-ROM, trade English lessons for French ones
with any French speakers you know. (Note: if you're going to
France, learn French from a European French speaker.)
No student visa? If Council
looks like the right program you, but you don't have the
time or money to go back home to apply for a visa, remember
that people who live fairly far from their region's French
consulate usually apply for student visas by mail. Get all
the documents you need for a student visa together and send
them, along with your passport, to a person you trust in
your hometown to send to your local French consulate. A week
or so later, the consulate will send it back with the visa
inside. As with all important documents send it in a way
that's traceable. During the time your passport's gone, you
should lay low, behave, and always carry some official form
of ID with you. You're supposed to carry your passport with
you at all times in France, but if you carry ID, you’ll be
off with a warning if you do get stopped.
Cultural and Practical Job
Tips
Applying for the job: Follow
the French resume format and get yours written or at least
corrected by an educated native speaker of French. If you
can't find any in your town, ask the consulate or scan the
web for a qualified translator to do it for you. A more
low-budget option is to surf the web for educated French
people, offering to write or correct their resumes in
English in exchange for yours in French. In France cover
letters are (gulp) hand written. So write your letter, have
a French person check it, then use your nicest handwriting
and a good black pen on unlined paper. Photos are very much
appreciated on resumes in France. The standard format is
wallet size or a little smaller.
The interview: Unless the job
is brutish manual labor, don't dress down. On second
thought, don't dress down even if the job involves slopping
pigs on a farm. To French people, the American idea of
dressing down looks like a homeless person who just finished
a once-a-year trip to the laundromat. Even for McDonald's,
dress like you would for a corporate job interview in
America. Here are the basic rules:
- Dress up. Tame that wild hairdo;
wear a little makeup (if you're female) but not too
much; no tee-shirts, sandals, sneakers or boots, and so
on.
- Carry a nice bag (briefcase,
purse, laptop computer bag). Even small children carry
briefcases in France. Backpacks are for camping.
- Shake hands if the interviewer
is standing up and close enough to do so. Don't do the
big, pumping, manly American handshake. Just once up and
down.
- Don't sit down until you’re
invited to; it's bad manners.
Aside from that, you should act
pretty much like you would at an American job interview: be
yourself, except very polite. You will be asked the same
kinds of questions, but they may be more personal ones than
American law permits: marital status, child-bearing plans,
etc.
LIZA HALL an Ann
Arbor, MI native who spent seven years living and working in
Europe, including four years studying in France. |
