Work, work, work!

I came to Paris knowing that finding a job without working papers, and without being fluent in French, was going to be hard. Add in  labour laws that favour employees (therefore providing a MAJOR disincentive for employers to hire new staff), a high unemployment rate (currently 10%)  and a global financial crisis, and you really have to be a glutton for punishment with ovaries of steel to be a job-hunter in Paris.

I came anyway.

Even if I dont find a job this year, the research and the contacts will be invaluable for the future. And with my passion to live in France, my motivation, perseverance and resilience has been pretty good.

But there have certainly been some pretty big differences about job-hunting in France that I wasnt expecting.

For example, the fact that unemployment is akin to leprosy. Maybe you’re a Nobel Prize Winning Neuro-scientist, maybe you were the head of a global investment bank – it doesnt matter, you’re unemployed and therefore unintelligent (all your qualifications seem to have magically disappeared with your pay-cheques) and likely to spread your unemployed germs to those gainfully employed.

I find this amazingly apparent every time I go to a EPWN (European Professional Women’s Network) event. Maybe it’s just because the French are still learning how to network, but I can now guarantee that once a French woman finds out that I dont have a job – that’s it. End of conversation. She will usually also turn her body slightly away from me and towards the closest French woman. I thought it was because I was a foreigner, but I noticed that they were actually more interested in American women who had good jobs. What a way to feel welcome….

My old flatemate (who grew up in Paris) told me that I should just wait until I have a job, and watch how many French people decide they would like to be my friend…..

This really explains why the French hold onto whatever job they have, even if they are absolutely, thoroughly miserable there. That soul-destroying job is better than no-job leprosy.

I saw this article late last year which included a quote by Xavier Darcos, France’s labor minister:

“Nonetheless, a job, even a highly stressful one, is better than unemployment, he said. “For us, unemployment is the absolute failure,” Mr. Darcos said. “We prefer to have people who don’t feel totally happy at work, or to work part-time, rather than people being unemployed.

The unemployment rate in France stood at 9.8 percent in July, up two percentage points from a year earlier. It probably would have been even higher without government programs to subsidize keeping workers in the auto industry and others on the payroll, at least part time. ”

During the recent regional elections, I watched a broadcast where members of the various political groups all participated in a discussion televised live on TV.

The members of France’s governing political party (the UMP, headed by Nicolas Sarcozy, and generally right-leaning, although still pretty left by Australian standards) were trying to explain that France needs to create more jobs in general, not just try to find ways to improve the effectiveness of national job-seekers service and job board (the government run “Pole Emploi”, a bit lite Centrelink).

The faces of the left-wing parties dropped, eyes wide with horror. Heresy! Blasphemy! Mais non! The government must create and find the jobs for its citizens!

It was a hilarious clash of French/Anglo culture and I loved every minute of it.

I also read that the French regard people setting up their own business as a type of failure. “Oh no, the poor things have had to resort to creating their own job!”. I know lots of French women who have decided to get out of the rat-race and set up their own companies, so I wonder if maybe at least this idea is starting to fade.

Do I feel sorry for myself? Yes. But then, I realise that it’s not just foreigners who get a tough time in France. I’ve met several French people, highly qualified and experience, who have been looking for a job for more than a year. So I think, if they cant find a job, then what hope do I have? At least for them, they can access state-funded unemployment benefits and get good job-hunting assistance from Pole Emploi, which takes off some of the bitter taste.

But anyway, I’m not a French citizen, and I’m not entitled to the warm hand-holding of the Pole Emploi. I’ve done so much research on all the different ways I can work in France, that it makes my head spin. So here is what my year of research has uncovered for those of us not entitled to work in France…

*   *   *

Auto-entrepreneur

This is a fairly new government initiative. Sarcozy’s catch phrase is “work more to earn more”, which can also mean “work more to win more”. A lot of people said “yes, but the poorest in the community are typically stuck with the 35hour working week limitation – how are they supposed to earn more?”. So auto-entrepreneur was brought in as a tax and administratively efficient way to set up a business on the side. It was also seen as a great way for women during child-rearing phases to work part-time, on their own terms.

The other brilliant thing is that they didnt exactly draft the rules that tightly when they set up the scheme. So you can technically apply for this “status” with ANY type of residency card – even one that doesnt allow you to work (like mine). Theoretically, I could apply over the internet, then turn up to the prefecture and ask for a new carte de sejour with a working permit. I dont know anyone who’s tried it, but it could work….

The downsides: for people providing a service, there is a Euros 35k limit on income pa. That really isnt enough to live off. Especially when I’m not getting any state benefits.

And it is still a very undeveloped regulatory regime, with the potential for further tightening of regulations (including to carve-out foreigners). I just cant afford (a) to earn so little and (b) to risk having my residency card annulled.

Consultant/Start up own business

Yep, I could be a consultant or start up my own business. If I want to have the flexibility to earn lots of money, then I cant use auto-entrepreneur. I need to set up own company. This is not like in Australia though. The French wont allow you to pay $100, fill out a form and have your company ready in 2 hours. You need to pay (it costs a bomb), fill out your forms, prepare a full business plan, provide financial forecasts for the next 2 years, have solid documentation to verify your financial assumptions such as letters of intent from potential clients, and formal research reports on the industry and market. Most French people use a lawyer and an accountant to help them through the process. It is possible, but the whole thing takes forever and costs a bomb. And anyway, what would my business be? And apart from that, I dont think I really want to work for myself either. This just isnt an option for me.

“Stage”

This is essentially a trainee role. I was applying for them until I found out that you actually have to be registered as a student with an educational facility where on the job training is an essential requirement to the completion of the qualification.

Again, not me….

Working Under the Table (“Black”, “Cash in Hand”) and using fake papers

This next section is going to sound really racist. People who know me will know that this isnt true. I’m also only generalising about a certain part of the population, not saying that every member of a particular race is the same. Maybe I’m wrong, but this information is based on news reports and people I know that have close-knowledge.

In general, working cash in hand seems to work well for North African and Tunisian men. If you have a family member or a friend who already has the right to work in France (perhaps because they were squatting and the police randomly selected them to get their papers, or perhaps they had a marriage of convenience with a French citizen, or, they have been lucky enough to be sponsored), and if you kinda look like them, then you can take a bad photocopy of the carte de sejour and give that to potential employers as proof of your “right to work”. This works well for restaurants and cafes where all the hard, heavy work of cleaning and cooking takes place. The restaurant may suspect that the person has fake papers, but will turn a blind eye in order to get some cheap labour. I said to an acquaintance who worked in a restaurant that I would be more than happy to wash dishes for some cash, and whether I would be considered if I turned up and applied. He laughed and said there is no way they would employ a “rich” white woman in the kitchen. And besides, I dont have access to fake papers, so I couldnt even make it past the first stage. Talk about reverse discrimination! lol

Australians find it strange when I tell them I cant work under the table at bars and restaurants, or for any employer actually. The difference is that employers are fined Euros 15k if they are found to have illegal workers on their premises. And there are actually officials who come to check employment sites and verify that everyone employed has valid papers.

So employers sone want to get fined, and me, I dont want to get caught and sent on the next plane back to Sydney, never to be allowed back into France again, and with zero possibility of getting working papers.

Other “black” options are English teaching. There are heaps of people giving private English tuition here in Paris. I could too. But I’m not a qualified English teacher, so I cant charge the same as the language schools, or qualified private teachers. I’ve worked out that I could charge around Euros 20 per hour. So I would basically have to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week to get just enough to live off. And with most kids in school all day, and workers in the office all day, there’s just no way I could squeeze enough clients in to pay the rent and food.

Writing – I’ve been talking with lots of people about ways to get my working papers here without sponsorship, or just ways to make money to live off while I’m sorting things out. People keep reminding me about how well books on Paris sell in Australia, the UK and the US. Some of these books are really poorly written, really self-indulgent, or just plain ignorant. It doesnt matter though, people will still buy them! And I have to admit that they’re right because I think I have probably bought every stupid book on “an Australian living in Paris”, even if they were stupid. And someone said to me that I could easily turn my blog into a book, take couple of snaps of classy looking women sitting in a cafe to make a pretty cover and voila! There could at least be some bucks hitting my bank account. I’m not sure though. Its a long lead time. And I dont know if I would respect myself if I sold out and wrote something with a Cheese Factor 9.

But anyway, lots of people seem to make money from it. Take Bryce Corbett – an Aussie journalist in Paris, who wrote a book and also wrote articles for gourmet traveller (I’m assuming he was paid for these articles!). There’s also the American woman who started the blog “French word a day”, and was approached by a publisher to compile all her posts into a book (which continues to sell amazingly well years later).

This all sounds great. But its not reliable, and wont ensure there’s euros in the account every month (or even every year). Yes, you can do this from the comfort of your own home, without the French government knowing about it, but that’s not my objective. I want to live here LEGALLY. I dont want to have a clandestine writers studio and claim to be “on a sabbatical” for 20 years. And what about my “real” career? Everything I’ve worked and studied for? I just cant leave that behind…

Working Holiday Visa

I’m too old.

Student Visa

Students are allowed to work 21 hours per week. OK, its not fantastic, BUT it’s enough to live off, its enough to get you a part-time job in a big company, it’s enough to get you a “stage” job AND it’s quite easy to flick a Student Visa into a full-time sponsored working visa (about 2 weeks, so I hear).

Too good to be true hey?

Believe me, I tried.

The problem is that you must be studying to further your existing studies. I tried to get a student visa with a confirmation from Alliance Francaise that I was a registered student. The visa application asked for a copy of my educational qualifications. My law degree obviously isnt relevant to my French language study, so I didnt provide it. What a nice surprise when the guy at the embassy told me that studying French in France just didnt cut it.

The only way this can work is if I do a Masters in Law here in France. These are all 1 or 2 year full time courses, and cost on average Euros 12k. That’s A$24k, people. And your course has to be full time to qualify you as a student. I just dont have the time, or the money, to take this option…..

Sponsorship

This is my Holy Grail.  This is where a company says that they want to hire you and they go through all the formal processes to get you your working papers. It’s pretty much the same process as in Australia and the UK….EXCEPT that (1) the French government would rather give these jobs to one of the 10% of it’s unemployed citizens, so they will try every trick in the book to delay the application and (2) the company has to prove that there is no one else in France, nor in the entire EU, who can do the job. Oh – and it costs money.

So, the only type of companies who are willing to go through all this blah blah are large, rich, international organisations (international lawfirms, consultancy companies, branches of companies like Apple etc).Which is great, because these are the type of companies that I think I would work best in, and who would value my English language skills and international experience. There’s also a better chance that they are specifically NOT looking for a French candidate, which is also great for me.

You local bar will most certainly NOT go to the trouble or the expense, when they have 5 new CV’s handed across the bar every week.

So the problem? The problem is that the process to get sponsored takes minimum 2 months, sometimes 3 or 4. And most companies just cant wait that long to hire someone, not when there’s a fresh faced Pom with their bright and shiny EU passport that means they can start work immediately.

And the crisis is still showing it’s teeth here. Companies are just still too scared to hire, and this goes double for the risk-adverse French.

So while I’ve been close to getting 2 jobs here, they’ve both been pulled at the last minute because it would take too long for my papers to be processed.

And who knows how many more I’ve missed out on because they’ve seen my application, seen “Australian” and put my CV in the rejected pile.

Still, I gotta keep up the faith, something will come along, one day, I just know it…..

The Not So Direct Option – Marriage

So when I spoke to an immigration lawyer, she actually suggested this to me as a viable option. I choked.

“I’m not that sort of person!” I protested.

But she had a point: if we intend to get married one day anyway, there’s no shame in just bringing the date forward a little for practical purposes.

Hmmm…..

The downsides?

By the time I get all the necessary papers from Australia, translated, with all the proper approvals and stamps, and we organise a date with the “Maire” (in France it’s your local Mayor who is the only person with authority to marry you), and we get married, and I get all my documents into the prefecture, and I get my shiny new carte de sejour with the right to work……it will be 6 months later. And financially, mentally, and career-wise, I dont have 6 months up my sleeve. And that’s just to GET my papers – I will still have to find a job after that. So maybe a year’s process if I took this option? I just cant do it.

And, call me proud, but I want to get my papers because I earned them myself, and not because I met a hot Frenchman at a cafe.

And, call me practical, but getting married is a stressful event anyway, let alone when its being done for papers. I just dont want to put our relationship through that.

And, call me romantic, but when I get married, I want it to be on our terms, in our time, when we feel that it’s right to make a commitment. I dont want to reduce a special event to a technicality.

Et voila! C’est fini!