Finding Jobs In France : A Guide For Jobs In France

SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE WHEN LOOKING FOR WORK IN FRANCE

Then prepare your CV and a cover letter to meet French expectations.

Before starting to look for a job, identify the type of position you are looking for. 

• Keep an eye on sites with job opportunities and create email alerts by saving your search criteria. Pole Emploi (Employment Centre) lists job ads from all of the sites. The APEC (the Association Pour lEmploi des Cadres the Management Employment Association) site also has some, so make sure you check them regularly.
• Take the time to update your CV and adapt it to the job offer you are applying for.
• Be sure to send in spontaneous applications to companies that interest you, so they get to know you.
• Be careful with your ereputation and the information about you that everyone can access. Recruiters are more and more frequently using the social networks to form an idea about the applicants they are thinking of calling in.
• Go to job fairs to meet recruiters. CV and cover letter in hand, you will have several interviews in one day. As you wont have much time to win them over, make sure you are wellprepared.

USE YOUR END-OF-STUDIES INTERNSHIP WELL

The end-of-studies internship is often mandatory. It lets you develop some understanding of the work world and apply the theory and skills you learnt during your years of studying. If your programme does not require an internship, nothing is stopping you from doing one anyway: it is a good way to pad out your CV and develop a professional network that you can later mobilise.

GET HELP LOOKING FOR WORK

Alumni associations, Bureau dAide a lInsertion Professionnelle (BAIP - Professional Insertion Assistance Offices), company relations services, recruitment forums... Many establishments offer graduates help finding work.

Graduates (four years after A-levels/high school) can contact the APEC (Association pour lemploi des cadres). They can help you look for work. Otherwise, contact the Pole Emploi agency: they assist all job-seekers, regardless of their level of studies.

ACTIVATE YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

Let those around you know that you are looking for work and find out about the companies that are recruiting in your field. The professional social networks, such as LinkedIn, will let you put your CV on line, maintain and develop a professional network (former classmates, colleagues, counterparts…) and respond to job offers.

The alumni networks such as France Alumni, a platform for foreign graduates of the French system, are highly-effective tools when it comes to finding work or for learning about the companies that interest you.

The France Alumni network is a network of former students from the French system of higher education. It lets you stay in touch with your classmates and gives you professional opportunities.

FRANCE ALUMNI: A GLOBAL NETWORK

Present in over 100 countries, the France Alumni platform includes more than 265,000 students and former students from the French system of higher education. It lets them maintain close contact with France by publishing articles and organising get-togethers around the world.

THE FRANCE ALUMNI DIRECTORY

The France Alumni directory works like a professional social network. It lets you find contacts within companies that you are interested in to showcase your French degrees and experience. You can create a profile, fill in personal information and get in touch with former classmates or any other member of the network.

FRANCE ALUMNI THEMED GROUPS

On the France Alumni platform, there are themed groups that bring graduates together in different areas of interest. These groups let you create or develop contacts. Join in on a conversation and thus increase your professional opportunities.

FINDING A JOB WITH FRANCE ALUMNI

France Alumni helps you develop your career by listing lots of job and internship offers, in France and abroad. You can also get advice from alumni and read about how other people used their French experience to get ahead professionally.

ACTIVE AND PRESTIGIOUS PARTNERSHIPS

The institutes of higher education, companies and institutional partners have dedicated spaces on France Alumni so that they can easily communicate with the alumni. Follow them to keep an eye on their news and so you dont miss an opening.

FRANCE ALUMNI NEWS

Stay connected to France via the pages of the France Alumni ( https://www.francealumni.fr/en/) site. In particular it has a cultural schedule, articles on French and tourism suggestions for the next time you go to France.