As a major European capital, Paris has a diverse and active employment market. Many companies have their French, European, or even global headquarters here, which makes for great opportunities in the managerial and secretarial sectors. As Paris is a major leisure and business tourist center, there are also many jobs to be had in hotels, restaurants, and museums.

If you’re coming from the UK, congratulations! As EU citizens you have full working and residence rights in all of France, so you can bypass the next section.

Do I need a visa to work in Paris?

If you’re from outside of the EU, then the answer is absolutely yes! So how do you get one of these bad boys?

In order to get a work visa, you’ll need an employer to sponsor you for the visa. For them, they’ll have to pay a tax and be willing to go through a procedure that could take up to six months. They’ll also need to prove that they weren’t able to find someone in the local job market to fill the position.

Working without a visa is not recommended. In France, working is heavily regulated and the penalties for the employee as for the employer are very heavy. Workers without a visa are generally in low skilled, backroom employment, and are generally easily replaceable.

So how can I find a job in Paris?

Thanks to the internet, it’s quite easy to put up your French CV onto an online job search site such as Monster.fr or Talents.fr. I’d also recommend uploading it to the Pole Emploi website, which is the government agency that looks after job seekers.

Also, if you have contacts in Paris, use them! Networking is quite important in filling jobs in France, and who you know is almost as important as what you know. Many jobs are filled before the advertisement is even published.

Where are the jobs located in Paris?

The jobs could really be anywhere in the region, although the major commercial centres aren’t always within the city limits. There are many offices in western Paris, particularly in the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 16th arrondissements. However, you can also find many jobs in La Defense or even to the north around Stade de France.

Do you work in Paris? How did you get your job? Share your story below!

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There are any number of resources that will help you in translating the various bits and bobs in a CV, and I’ll list a few of these at the end of the article. You should however have a native French speaker read over your CV if possible to catch any errors.

Talk about yourself

For someone from an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ background may find it odd, or even discriminatory, but a French CV requires a bit more personal information about you. Things such as your age, nationality, and marital status are standard fare on a French CV. Normally these are listed just under your name, address, and phone number. It’s also quite common to include a small photo at the top right of your CV, although this is beginning to fall out of use due to concerns over discrimination.

Some major companies have put in place an ‘anonymous CV’, where personally identifiable information is separated from the rest of the CV. Your recruiter should then only see the parts relating to your professional experience, education, and interests.

Responsibilities are nouns, not verbs

In our CVs in English we like to show a lot of action. For example we say things like “Lead a team of five people” or “Increased product revenues by ten percent”. In French CVs your responsibilities don’t start with verbs, they start with nouns. The above phrases would therefore translate to “Encadrement d’une équipe de cinq personnes’ and “Augmentation de dix pour-cent des revenus produit”.

Education – be brief

For your education, list only those degrees you have obtained at university, and you may even only list the last degree you earned. The French place great importance on your qualifications, and these should relate to the job you are applying for. If you are looking to make a career change to a new type of position or in a new sector, you will need to be extra careful in your CV to highlight skills and achievements that can relate to the position you are seeking.

What are you interested in?

The French also llike to see your interests outside of work. It doesn’t need to be more than three lines, and should be something that will either add to or complement your professional experience and set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

If you have held a position of responsibility in a club, for example, it may be worth it to include it in your professional experience.

Further reading

http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-cv.htm

http://www.iagora.com/iwork/resumes/cv_france.html
http://www.workinfrance.com/home.php?idRubrique=7
http://www.cadresonline.com/coaching/cv_lettre_entretien/index_cv.php (in French)

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If you aren’t required to have a job lined up before you come, you can always wait until you get here and pound the pavement as you would at home! France’s major cities are abound with English, Irish, and Scottish style pubs and bars that are in need of a helping hand during high tourist seasons. The work is often temporary and particularly adapted to those who plan on staying for a relatively short time and looking for some pocket money to supplement their savings. The best way of finding a job is to walk in and ask! It’s best if you manage to come in just before the start of the tourist season and the start of exams, as the work is popular with students once they are on their summer holidays.

Go camping

If you want to get off the beaten track and have a stay in the countryside, try your hand at helping out at a camping site in France. This is particularly ideal if you plan on going into tourism later on. You’ll need to organise yourself before you go, and you can start by doing a search for campsites on campingfrance.com. Cast your net as wide as possible and you’re sure to find something!

Down on the farm

If you want to work out in the sunshine and do something physical with your time but campsites aren’t for you, why not volunteer to work on a farm? There’s more to it than just milking cows and picking fruit and for most of us can open our eyes to a whole new way of life. One popular organiser is WWOOF – WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms. There’s a whole network of participating farms throughout France – have a look!

Get a work placement

This opportunity isn’t limited just to the warm weather, and is for those who want to come as part of an internship or just simply prefer office work. There are too many options for me to talk about them all in this article, but you can get started by checking with on EURES, the European job mobility portal, or if you’re already in France, you can ask at a private employment agency or at the Pôle Emploi. If you’re a student you should also get some information from your university. The major ones will no doubt have links with organisations and companies in France and can be able to help you find something.

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