I also teach fitness and yoga, consult on nutrition and weight management, and am a reiki healing practitioner. These services may be included with my personal assistant responsibilities. I would enjoy supplementing my "job" income with private sessions in my home or my clients' homes in these areas.

I plan to move to Paris in February 2007 as a divorced mother of a college student. I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Merci! Justine

Lille is only one hour by TGV from Paris and besides it's always nice to have a reason to go there.

At any rate, if you want to meet, send and email with date, details etc. If not, then good luck with your visit.

Steve [email protected]

Your teaching skills may be just the thing to distinguish you from the herd during your job search....especially if it's something that you like to do. If you are well-versed in MS Office, that will be of interest to many companies, especially those that don't have a budget for employee education.

Sorry, I can't help with your questions about pay levels in Paris.

There is a national medical care plan in France, but I'm not 100% of the qualifications for coverage. I was covered immediately upon issuance of my Titre de Sejour (i.e. when I first arrived in the country and started working) and I'll be covered as long as I'm employed here.

If you want to meet up during your visit to Paris, let me know. My email address is [email protected].

Does anyone else on the forum have any great suggestions regarding employment in Paris? What's the pay like for restaurant service, and would they hire an American with good French speaking skills and service experience?

one more question today -- how shall i go about learning about health insurance in france, my options if i am self-employed, work for a school, restaurant or corporation, etc?

i plan to visit paris in january and would love to meet some of you Americans in Paris. Is there a face-to-face networking group that you belong to?

thanks so much. Ciao! Justine

I live in the North of France near Lille and I can provide some insight on the general job situation here.

To put it bluntly, your chances of immediate success finding a job in Paris are probably quite slim. The unemployment rate in France is persistently stuck at 10% and there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight. There are English-speaking locals in the big cities and you'll confront a clear preference to hire French nationals, except in the case where a foreigner has unique skills. Your list of skills is formidable, but there are many people already here with similar abilities, especially in places like Paris, Lyon, etc

However, that doesn't mean that you cannot find employment, it only means that you need to be prepared (emotionally and financially) for the possiblity of a long search. If I can give you some unsolicited advice, when searching, you should de-emphasize your generic skills and emphasize (and perhaps spin doctor) things like your "native English" skills, especially if you can write well, know English grammar to a decent degree, can handle technical writing in English, etc. Having skills in unusual software applications like databases or a potent graphics pacakge like Adobe Illustrator is also an advantage, but keep in mind that knowing Word, PowerPoint and Excel offer little if any advantage unless you are an expert user. And, you can market yourself as someone who (unlike the locals) doesn't expect 7 weeks vacation per year, etc. Other useful skills include the ability to teach (can you stand in front of a group of people and teach them something useful?) or knowledge of useful QC skills, etc. Differentiating yourself can be quite effective simply because you'll stand out from the others.

Now the good news....once you suceed, the payoff can be pleasant beyond words because France is such a nice place to live and work. It's just a pity that persistence requires a good measure of money in the bank and a whole lot of patience.

Meanwhile, I also suggest that you keep your options open geographically (i.e. not just Paris where you'll also find a very high cost of living). While the North can't compare to the South of France, it does have it's charms (sort of) and some advantages like close proximity to the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, etc and quite a reasonable cost of living. For example, I rent a 4-bedroom house with a yard & a view in a very quiet village for 915 Euros/month. In Paris, that amount would only get you a small apartment. Also, the salaries tend to be higher in the North maybe because everyone wants to be in the South.

There are also other less-well-known parts of France where you might find that the local level of English skills is quite low and that will be to your advantage.

Well at any rate, I hope this helps you a bit and good luck with your search.

Steve Strazeele, France

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