Life as a Stagiaire in Paris

So since I've finished the first part of my Master's degree (all the courses part) it has now begun the official "stage" part, or internship for Anglophones.

Being a Stagiaire in France is much like being an intern in America- long hours, low pay, brain and back breaking work... except I have been lucky enough to be accepted for an Intern at the AmCham.  Even though the pay is still the minimum required by France (436,05€ a month), I have the possibility to meet and network for my job hunt coming up in October of this year.

So what's it like?  Well I'm sure every internship is different, according to the sector, mine is a development and membership focused internship.  Basically I have to meet important people, do some member retention, fundraising challenges.. every day is a little different but always interested and down my path.

Of course, being a Stagiaire I am on the "stagiaire diet", meaning because I can pretty much only afford my rent and groceries, eating out is not an option nor a luxury.. so I end up eating:

My poor intern lunch, 1,50€

Which is all right, I normally am so busy leaving for an hour to eat at a fancy place wouldn't be really possible.

Stage Culture
Because Universités in France are so intense, most students don't end up working during school sessions.  In the States I pulled a full-time job in order to pay for rent and food, but in France it's impossible.  Believe me, I tried, last year when I started the program I was working 20 hours a week, it was impossible.  School is about studying, intensive and repetitive classes, unclear professors... because the culture is not one that provides "books", the information is pulled from going to the classes themselves.

Thus, students tend to pick up summer jobs to get some pocket money- and then in their 4th and 5th year rely on internships to get professional experience.  That is a big problem as well, since most jobs after University have a paradox (you need experience to work, but you need to work for experience), so many French graduates work a few years in terrible positions in order to build the experience.

"Ouais, je n'y resterai pas, j'y quitterai dans quelques années après je ramasse suffisamment d'éxperience..."

Now for those of you who aren't from the expensive schools that will hold your hand and find you an internship, here are some sources of internships, I'm not sure how it works overseas, but through a French université it is required to be paid if it's more than 3 months.  Also, internship cannot be a direct copy of a salaried position (meaning interns can't be receptionists).

Here are some sources:
http://www.directetudiant.com/theme/stage - Stage source, in French
http://www.stage.fr/page/accueil.aspx - Stage offers, in French
http://www.frenchamericancenter.com/english/internship.asp - American Internship resource, in English

One Last Thing...
Even though I hear about a lot of Americans hopping planes and installing themselves in Paris because they believe that it's so "international" French isn't obligatory.. it is.  Every position you will be in will expect a level of French.  I've seen many American wives (usually the ones that end up dragged over) stuck because they can't find work.  Some of them don't need work, their husbands tend to make enough, but they feel useless.  (Like Julia Child says, "All these wives, they do NOTHING here, it's terrible") So if you find yourself in this position, enroll IMMEDIATELY in French classes.  Learn the language or else your career won't advance.

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Advice: Writing a Letter of Motivation

Oh-là-là.  The letter of motivation, one of the most important letters that we write in France and pretty much obligatory for entrance to University as well as for jobs.  The worse?  If you don't follow the specific structure of the letter, than often the professors or hiring managers will toss the letter without a second thought.  A letter should be precise and not more than 2 pages (recto-verso).

Here's how to form the letter, it's important to know that the location of the information does matter, thus, for example, Number 1 is located in the left hand upper corner, etc.:

1: Information of the sender, aka, YOU.

(ex: Sasha STEINER, Address, Phone number, Email address)

2: Name/Status of Destination

(ex. M. Zoo, Title, Address)
*NOTE:  Look up the name of who you are writing to.

3: Place and Date

(ex. Lyon, le 19 avril 2011)

4: Subjet or Object

(ex. objet: demande d'inscription pour...)

        5: Madame/Monsieur,

6: The content, focus on:  previous experiences, future aspirations, travels and other pertinent information.  This will usually be around 8-9 paragraphs, please DOUBLE CHECK your French and avoid using slang or familiar French.  Use, of course, the 'nous' form instead of the 'on' form, and check for simple errors such as COD or what type of auxiliary verb was used for the passé.  If you can find a French french to edit, do it, it will be the best decision you've made.

7: Polite exit... MOST IMPORTANT.. Write as following:  "Je vous remercie de l’attention que vous porterez à ma candidature, et dans l’attente de votre réponse, je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées."  The parts in bold can be replaced by the appropriate term.

8: Signature

9:  (In TINY print) P.J. (pièce joint), and then a listing of any documents you are including with the letter.

Any questions, feel free to email.

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Advice: How to Find Work

Alright, so I've decided to share a secret of mine that I've been holding in for awhile.  Now that I have a constant flow of customers and a paid internship on the side, I feel comfortable enough in sharing my little secret of how to find work in Lyon.

First off, understand that it will take work, patience and perseverence... it's not an easy job market in France or in Europe.  There is a crise d'économie everywhere you look and it can cause some potential problems for those of us who are needing to pay for ourselves while living abroad.  I'll break down the ideas according level of French and experience:

You Don't Speak Barely Any French
If you barely speak any French it might be beneficial for you to try working for companies that are in need of a Anglophone.  Baby Speaking is always hiring for baby sitters and teachers- but the problem remains that they are just expanding so you may not have a permanent pay check until after you leave.  On the side, you can post up some ads around your campus or around the internet (try LyonWeb or Vivastreet) explaining you are looking to baby sit.  Worse comes to worse, you could try to apply for cleaning positions that don't need you to speak.

You Can Get Through.. and you Know Some Future/Past Tenses
If you can hustle through French then you can try applying to some English speaking places... Vieux Lyon has some British Bars.  Drop by (before busy services) and drop off a resume with a letter of intent, prove you are an Anglophone and that you could be useful to the company.

You can speak, but Sometimes Get Confused
If you feel you are able to understand/speak at about a 75% fluency rate then you might be able to try applying to some bilingual companies (Wallstreet Institute, Berlitz) or even try your hand at applying for teaching english in a school.  The problem with teaching is that you need some level of experience (unless you tutor on the side), and patience.  Teaching is not for everyone, if you are bad at explaining or have difficulties understanding why our language is the way it is, try applying for something else.

You Are Fluent
Well, good for you, in that case you can pretty much apply to any position.  Know that there are many people fighting for the same position so outline your strengths due to living abroad.  If you are fluent in French you could try to work in a company that interests you- remember to understand that companys are rigid in hiring... they have taxes to pay for employees and contracts to obey.. this makes it difficult to get a contract, but worth it if you try.

Some Other Ideas
-American Places (My Best Bagels, Donut Times, Little Britain, Bars in Vieux Lyon)
-Restaurants with Tourists (Vieux Lyon)
-Hotels or Tourism Places
-Bilingual Assistant Positions
-Tutoring via Postings around Campus
-Baby Sitting
-MacDo (very common for Université students to work here)

Remember that it may take time to find a job but to research as much as possible to find something.. look on any website and think in French.  Often it's a simple word such as:  Baby Sitter to Garde d'Enfants that can give you a client or a person.. we forget that we are in France and many jobs are posted in French.  Some key words:  garde d'enfants, enseignement anglais, bilingue anglais, poste, traduction.

Good luck with the search.. something will pop out.  OH, and one last thing, don't be afraid to charge what you are worth for tutoring or baby-sitting.  I once turned down a job that offered 8 bucks an hour because it was for two children and it was a lot of hard work.  Simply say, merci, mais ce ne m'interesse pas.

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