Our life in France - A big thank you to The Expat Hub for writing this Guest post.
Top tips for getting a Job in
France
The job situation is pretty bad
right across Europe with unemployment currently at a record high of
11.9%; unfortunately France is suffering pretty badly with the
national unemployment rate being 10.5% and youth unemployment being
27%. This tough market is not likely to improve for some time yet as
the EU continues to struggle with the Euro debt crisis. Despite all
of the potential hurdles, there are some ways to improve your chances
of landing a job in France. We list some of our top tips.
- If you want a job in France then learn French!!!
It may sound
obvious but you would be surprised at how many expats move to France
without knowing a word of French and still expect to walk into a job.
The French are highly protective of their native language and will
deliberately speak it at all opportunities. If a potential employer
sees that you don’t know what they’re saying then you can kiss
the prospect of landing a job good-bye.
Before you move
to France, enrol on a night class for lessons, and make sure to learn
French in your spare time. There are many websites that teach the
language, and it wouldn’t hurt to invest in some software to aid
with your learning.
- Use a recruitment agency
It will save
you a lot of time by using a specialist jobs agency. They will know
what jobs are most in demand and the ones available in a chosen
region. Make sure you use the internet as it provides plenty of
invaluable links to useful job finding resources.
- Get the length of your CV right and format it properly
The average
length of a CV in France is two pages, regardless of what job you’re
going for. Don’t try and get around this rule by using too big or
too small font sizes as the employer will not be impressed. If you
have limited work experience then one page should be fine. If the
opposite is the case the employer won’t need to know every single
detail of your past experience.
- Write your resume correctly
Most
multinational companies will expect you to both speak and write the
language of the country they are based in, and English, (which is the
international language for business.) Make sure you write your resume
in both English and French, and be prepared for an interview to be
held in both languages.
Most companies
will want to see proof of your language skills. When submitting your
CV and Resume make sure you know which type of English your potential
employer uses, i.e. American English or British English. French
employers are renowned for being very picky when it comes to the
written word.
- If you’re lucky enough to get to the interview stage then remember step one, after all if you want a job in France then learn French!!!
This
is a guest post by Expat Hub, a website devoted to giving help,
advice, and support to those in the process of expatriating–or even
those just thinking about it. You can check out their extensive
list of helpful articles and forums at: http://www.theexpathub.com/
