Getting a Job in France as an American
As an American in France you will need a Carte de Sejour (a visa.) This will give you right to work in France. You can find out more information about getting a Visa here.
Upon getting a job in France, you will need to sign a work contract which is either for a fixed period of time or a permanent contract.
In France, the work week is from 35 to 39 hours, depending on your employer's status. If you employer has less than 20 employees the work week will generally be 39 hours. If the employer has more employees, the legal work week is 35 hours.
All employees in France that work a full year will receive five weeks paid vacation and nine paid holidays per year. An employer can allot you extra days off, if they choose, but they cannot offer you less. This is the law.
France has very strong labor unions and anyone is free to join. In France it is up to the employee to join a union, not the employer.
If you've made it to this blog post, you're probably looking for more information on getting a job in France. Although the task can be daunting... I mean, where do you start? There are many places that can help you find a job, but as in the US, you'll want to be careful if it's a service you have to pay for.
If you're looking for some free, easy ways to start looking for a job, you may want to take a look online.
Craigslist is not only a US commodity, but can also be used to find things in France. This can be a good place to start, if you have no idea what you're looking for. It's great to kind of get ideas... brainstorm a bit, if I may.
Jobs.com also has listings for France and is great for those with more of a professional or management background. Some companies offer salary information and job descriptions on jobs.com making it easier to tell between each job.
There are many Americans who are looking for a job in France and whether it's an American company in France or a French company, finding a job can be a daunting task. It's not impossible, however, it's just difficult when you don't even know where to start. Not very many jobs are posted Online so this can quickly make something that is very easy and turn it into something that's well... very difficult. To those who are having trouble finding a job in France, I recommend the book GenXpat: The Young Professional's Guide To Making A Successful Life Abroad
. It is an amazing book and this book paired with Get Ahead by Going Abroad: A Woman's Guide to Fast-track Career Success
were able to find me my first job in France. Both of these books are full of information about how to get a job abroad, where to look, and how it makes you look good both to employers back home in the US and employers here in France (or any country for that matter.)
Upon getting a job in France, you will need to sign a work contract which is either for a fixed period of time or a permanent contract.
In France, the work week is from 35 to 39 hours, depending on your employer's status. If you employer has less than 20 employees the work week will generally be 39 hours. If the employer has more employees, the legal work week is 35 hours.
All employees in France that work a full year will receive five weeks paid vacation and nine paid holidays per year. An employer can allot you extra days off, if they choose, but they cannot offer you less. This is the law.
France has very strong labor unions and anyone is free to join. In France it is up to the employee to join a union, not the employer.
If you've made it to this blog post, you're probably looking for more information on getting a job in France. Although the task can be daunting... I mean, where do you start? There are many places that can help you find a job, but as in the US, you'll want to be careful if it's a service you have to pay for.
If you're looking for some free, easy ways to start looking for a job, you may want to take a look online.
Craigslist is not only a US commodity, but can also be used to find things in France. This can be a good place to start, if you have no idea what you're looking for. It's great to kind of get ideas... brainstorm a bit, if I may.
Jobs.com also has listings for France and is great for those with more of a professional or management background. Some companies offer salary information and job descriptions on jobs.com making it easier to tell between each job.
There are many Americans who are looking for a job in France and whether it's an American company in France or a French company, finding a job can be a daunting task. It's not impossible, however, it's just difficult when you don't even know where to start. Not very many jobs are posted Online so this can quickly make something that is very easy and turn it into something that's well... very difficult. To those who are having trouble finding a job in France, I recommend the book GenXpat: The Young Professional's Guide To Making A Successful Life Abroad
. It is an amazing book and this book paired with Get Ahead by Going Abroad: A Woman's Guide to Fast-track Career Success were able to find me my first job in France. Both of these books are full of information about how to get a job abroad, where to look, and how it makes you look good both to employers back home in the US and employers here in France (or any country for that matter.)
You know there are a "special class" of workers that can work unlimited hours. For every company, there are a certain number of workers who are classified in a certain way, where they are "permitted" to work as much as the company require. This would include workers in the tourism industry -- so think you are going to work <40 make sure you aren't one of these worker.
Also companies are allowed to delay your vacation for the first year, allowing you vacation and holiday only you have been with the company for over a year.
These workers with "extended hours" and no vacation/holidays aren't typically mentioned when discussing the "perks" of the French system...
Cool blog... I have always dreamed of living in France....
how about saying how frickin' hard it is to find a job in France that isn't teaching English! :)
I have US friends who are always in a confusion about the driving laws in France regarding US permits. Some of the US states are a straight-forward conversion, others are more complicated. Perhaps you could blog about this?
Megan - A lot of anglophones who live near us in France find it hard to find a job because they don't speak French. It's certainly not easy finding a job but the language helps!
amerigirl, director of a company are allowed to work as much as the company requires. I know that a 35 hour work week means I work thursday and friday for free. :-)
There are a lot of jobs to get in France, people love native English speakers, especially an international company. 18 years here, never hard to find a good job.
I always wondered if there were special classes of workers with different employment rules. What about the low-wage menial labor jobs--do they qualify for 5 weeks of vacation?
Hey there, this is a cool blog!
I'm originally from France and moved to California 8 years ago after I graduated from high school. I got my Bachelor's here, got married, had a kid, and now want to go back home... I haven't been in touch with the people I grew up with in France so I don't really know how to get a good job in France since I never worked there!
Any pointers would be appreciated... I'm a sales manager for Verizon Wireless and cannot find anything close to what I do/make over here but would love to work for an American company based in France...
I'm ready to give up my nice salary/cars/home and all the other fancy stuff that no one needs to "live better" in France ;-)