Kristie In Paris » the job hunt

D Day

kristie — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:08:07 +0000

I’m sorry that this post has to be all in past tense. I was just so emotionally all over the place that I couldnt bring myself to post it at the time (even though I jotted down the draft). I need to post it though, because it is a turning point in my life in France, and explains all that is to come. So here it is, warts and all.

* * *

Things were not looking so good workwise in March. After being completely screwed over by Big French Bank (names not mentioned to protect the guilty), I then spent 3 soul-destroying days in London pimping myself around to all the recruitment agencies, where I was again told “Not a Chance – No Aussies Considered – Get Back on Your Ship to the Colony, Criminal“. Add that to a particularly cold and long lasting winter, and my spirits really were at an all time low.

Yes, there were more and more ads for jobs in France that seemed suitable for me. Yes, my French was improving to the point that I could probably just scrape through as “fluent”. But the rejection emails (or no response at all) came in as quickly as the jobs did.

The only real possibility, seemed to be an opportunity to work for my old employer, in their London office (an opportunity discovered thanks to the powers of wine! I’d organised drinks with my old work colleagues and, voila!, a job opportunity raised it’s head).

One day not long after, when I was explaining to M about the job ads that I’d seen that day, and all the “non” emails I’d received, he just stopped me suddenly and said “You know what, this is doing your head in. Yes, there might be more jobs coming in but you, emotionally, cant keep going much longer. Why dont you just draw a line under the jobs that you are currently working on, stop looking for more, and if none of them work out, then we just take the London job?”.

This suggestion was a relief, a reassurance, but also, a path that I didn’t want to follow. I did not want to admit defeat. I did not want the dream to end.

I kept the basic list of job opportunities, but I kept looking, just in case.

I found one job that looked perfect, but required someone with fluent French. The headhunter ended the interview quickly once she realised what my level was, and we thought it was dead, but she called back the following day to say that her client was really interested, and could she take more details.

This, is the one. This is the job that is going to allow me to keep the dream alive.

The day of the interview, everyone sent me text messages wishing me well, telling me that I was going to kill the interview etc. I was so appreciative of the support and encouragement, but it just increased my level of nervousness an extra few decibels. And those extra decibels can kill a cool calm and collected vibe at an interview.

M was rattled as well. His family had been ringing in the morning asking how it went – but of course, the interview was in the afternoon. A whole day of stewing.

It also brought home to me that this really was a deciding moment in my future in France. My own personal D Day. And I just really didnt want to think about that.

I just needed to get through the interview in the most fabulously spectacular “you would be crazy not to hire me” way.

I was fabulous.

The interview was a disaster.

I wont bore you with details, but lets just put this into a short paragraph: My interviewer, one of the principals, arrived back into the office late, forgot that he had an interview with me, couldnt find my CV (despite the headhunters sending over a full file on me), he hadn’t read my CV, didn’t know who I was, typed away on his laptop as I was speaking, didn’t ask any relevant questions, told me that they didn’t even know what they wanted from the role and that if he was me, he would just take the London job.

I rang M straight after interview. He said: “It’s dead”.

So I managed to hold back tears until I got home. M took me in his arms and let me have a big ol’ cry.

In fact, I think the hug was for his benefit as well. This has been an amazingly challenging situation for him as well. Who would voluntarily choose to have a relationship with someone who doesnt have the right to work in their country? The emotional drama is SUCH a stress on the relationship. And he’s had to completely re-think his life and his future because of me. And now it’s likely that we will have to move country.

People called through the evening, sent texts to ask how the interview went. M didn’t feel like talking about it, so just said “We don’t know yet”. I was a little more resolved, and explained the whole disaster to those who asked.

I’ve had this big weight of frustration and continued disappointment sitting on my shoulders and heart, particularly for the last 6 months. And now to have this one more boulder placed on top….

Lets just say it wasnt a particularly jovial evening.

What I suspect is that they actually have already found someone, but that person is a foreigner like me, who needs to be sponsored. To be sponsored, they need to prove that they cant find anyone else in France or the EU to do the job, and hiring a recruitment firm to send through “dummy” interviewees is just what has to be done.

I dont know. Maybe that’s not the case. I guess I’ll never know.

The morning after I got up and got back onto pushing the London job forward – testing, formal job offer, salary, benefits etc. It’s a great offer and a good job. Hopefully it will all go well and I’ll get a formal offer (although, it’s pretty sure).

And we will come back to live in Paris one day.

I have good feelings about London and still feel positive that I will be able to “live the dream” in Paris again in the future. I guess I just need some time to grieve for this first dream lost.

“The Unemployed Dilemma” and “How to live like a Pauper”

kristie — Fri, 28 May 2010 07:14:51 +0000

When you’re unemployed, you have all the time in the world – but no money to do anything.

When you’re employed you have money to do the fantastic things you’ve dreamed about – but no time to do them.

People say “oh yes, but you’ve had a year off work, that’s a good enough holiday”.

Well, yes and no. Yes I’ve had some great leisure time, and have enjoyed time with friends. But I’ve had my job hunt looming like a big black cloud over my head, ready to rain on any parade in which I choose to participate. Previously exciting things just dont rate as highly on the hype-o-meter. Oh how I dream of being able to take the TGV to Lyon and eat myself into a delicious food coma, spend a weekend in Bordeaux and make friends with a wine-producer…..

But when you dont know if you’re going to get a job this month, or next year, financial resources need to be conserved = NO FUN.

The fun I have these days is a daily game to see how little I can spend. It works. Sometimes it works too well.

I have spent the past year living a non-buying mentality. This is actually quite a trendy thing to do at the moment. The anti-consumerism and anti-waste movement is growing in popularity daily. Some people have written books about how they spent a whole year not buying anything. They made their own clothes from curtains, made manual repairs to things that broke, recycled gifts, etc.

OK, I havent been that strict, but I did give nearly everything I owned away before I left, and my clothes purchases have pretty much been restricted to replacing things that had become to old to wear (eg pantyhose with holes) or essentials (more jumpers and some woollen pantyhose for winter). I have given up my expensive makeup in preference to some nifty maybelline (with one exception – I refuse to give up my expensive face cream, but have at least saved some money by asking visiting friends to buy it for me duty free).

Now that I think of it, the only treats I’ve really bought myself have been books, and I plan on passing them on – giving them away once I’ve finished with them anyway.

[Side note: This is something else I discovered as I was packing up my life last year. I had SO many books, that I'd read once, and left on the shelf, never to be touched again. When I had my "open day", when friends came around to take anything of mine they liked, I was amazed at how much joy was created around my book collection. Even after I left the country people mentioned how much they loved reading one of the books they'd selected. So my new philosophy is, unless it has REAL sentimental value or its a book I will re-read more than once, then books get given away or sold to second hand stores. This one little gesture will make a difference to other people's lives and will cut down on the number of things I have to pack and move when I change apartments!]

Most days, I dont even bother looking in clothes stores, Sephora etc. If I do, it’s usually because I’m with a friend from overseas who wants to spend up big on something fabulous from Paris (or because I’m with M, who is a terrible shopaholic when it comes to jeans, t-shirts and Nike trainers).

But even when I’m in a shop, I might see some nice things, but I just cant bring myself to buy anything. I have officially switched off the “buy” button in my brain. Whats the point of having a gorgeous pair of red stilettos if I dont have enough money to eat at the end of the month?

Speaking of eating, I have changed my eating habits dramatically as well. In Sydney, I didnt think anything of buying my lunch every day and eating out with friends in the evening. Now eating out is a luxury and I have discovered the joys of the 1 euro, 3-pack of canned lentils! Delicious with a blob of sweet chilli sauce mixed in! Dinners and lunches out are saved for when I have overseas visitors (or for when M is paying!).

Yes, it has been an exercise in restraint for financial purposes, but not spending money has really helped me to understand the difference between “want” and “need”. And it has made me stop and think before buying.

I havent changed my attitude in general though: I still believe in generosity, I still believe that I will receive what I need (through my own efforts or the generosity of others), I believe that there is more than enough of everything to go around without me being a stingy old scrooge. And generosity is not just about material things – it’s about generosity of time, effort, thought, assistance.

I think this is one of the greatest benefits I’ve had over the year: I’ve stopped thinking that I can just buy something and offer it as a gift as a display of generosity. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE to buy presents for other people, especially when it’s something that I know they’ll really love. But with my spending capacity severely limited, I’ve really focused on ways to be generous without buying. Like ironing M’s work-shirt for him when he’s really tired, writing my Nana a big long letter, making a batch of my famous eggplant pasta dish for friends when I know they’ll be arriving home late and starving from a weekend away.

Arent these the best gifts of all?

PS I found this story about a now unemployed food-critic is learning to live off food stamps – oh the similarities in the way we approach food!

Paris – City of Pain

kristie — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:46:58 +0000

People have told me just to go to Paris. They think that anything is possible in the City of Romance.

Let me tell you, if you dont have a working visa, not much is possible work wise in Paris at the moment.

Some people think that you can magically wish for a job and it will arrive. Especially if you have a heart full of love and enthusiasm. That’s just not reality. They ask me over and over again why I havent found a job yet.

Other people love to tell me that unless I’m a french native, with perfect french skills, went to the best french university and am admitted to the french bar, then I’ve got no hope of getting a job in Paris. That too, is just utter bollocks. I have spent so much of my time finding jobs that required native english speakers, from foreign countries, with law degrees from common-law countries (or better still, just any law degrees, didnt matter where from), just to prove all those people wrong. Oh, how I wished that I’d kept a list of all those people so I could run their snooty noses in those job ads….

But at the end of the day, here I am, without a job.

I wasnt going to write about how depressed I’m getting about my job search, about how I just went to London in an attempt to get something there, how I searched for jobs across Europe, applied for paralegal and secretarial jobs, calculated how much I could earn working as an english teacher “under the table” (“black” in French).

But then someone said that I really should. People have so many romantic ideas about Paris and how effortless life is (especially when you have a fabulously rich french husband/boyfriend to support you). My story isnt like that. And maybe it does need to be told. Warts and all. Just to help other people who may also be starting to make the decision to pack up and leave their home town.

I have networked my butt off, followed up every lead and connection, built relationships. I’ve nearly exhausted every ounce of perseverance, motivation and resilience: things I thought I had endless amounts of.

I’m grateful in a way, because at least now I have some idea of what it feels like to be a “long term unemployed”. Being told “No” to nearly every job application is an emotional rollercoaster: the first few times you say, “Oh, you never get the first one, and anyway, it probably wasnt right, there’ll be better one’s soon”.

Then when you start to see the stream of “No”, you say “Oh well, at least there are plenty of jobs to apply for! As long as I keep applying I’ll get one just by the law of averages”.

And then there is more and more and more “No”.

You start applying for jobs expecting a No.

You open your email inbox in the morning to see 5 automated emails all saying “Despite lots of interest in your CV, we are unable to offer you a role.” And you laugh, “Oh hurrah! Today I had 5 “No” emails! That’s the biggest number of “No’s” I’ve had ever!”

Secretly, I have wondered why I even bothered applying in the first place.

People have said “Yes, but you’re unemployed in the City of Love! You can get out and explore and experience the city to your hearts delight!”. And yes it’s true, but the more desperate I have become for a job, the more I started to think that every second spent away from my job search could result in an opportunity lost. My job search has become a 24/7 occupation. “Days off” or “weekends away” fill me with guilt and fear.

And when you dont know when your next pay cheque is coming in, you cant spend money on things that arent necessities. M suggested recently that I should occasionally catch the train into Paris (now that I’m living with him in The Burbs), just to get my vibe back, sit in a cafe, read, do some exploring etc. OK, he’s right. But all I can think of is the 6 euro return train ride, the 3 euro coffee, the temptation to buy something in a cute little shop. If I stay at home and search for jobs, I dont spend any money AND I might find The Job.

And of course, I could have continued to live in Paris, just to keep my spirits up a bit. Hey, maybe even M and I could have rented our own apartment in Paris. But Paris apartments are more expensive than suburban apartments. And sharing his studio in The Burbs saves both of us money.

And it isnt even just Paris that has been tough. I have searched all over France, all through Europe (Belgium, Switzerland, Italy etc), without luck. I went to London thinking that surely, my Australian background will help me get a foot in the door. Nope. No one is sponsoring foreigners, even Australians. Too many good quality English lawyers still out of work.

I know that some of the enormous factors affecting my job search are:

France’s generally high unemployment rate, which crept up to 10% over the past year
General global economic uncertainty
More recently, EU economic uncertainty.

These things are not my fault. And I knew they were there before I left Sydney. I know that I am not a crap candidate.

But the doubt creeps in slowly, slowly every day: Maybe I am crap? Maybe I have nothing to offer an organisation? Maybe everyone else is smarter, better educated, more experienced, better connected than me?

And then I remember all my colleagues at my old work, so many of them demoted, made redundant, or just left without a choice. These are super-smart, mega-candidates, that people have fought to hire. And here they are, still unemployed, or setting up their own consultancies to try and keep in the job market (and I’m sure, keep sane). It’s not just me.

All I can do is keep going. It’s either that, or emotional/spiritual/physical death. I choose to keep going.

All I can do is keep holding onto the dream.

M has been a fantastic support during this time. He has watched me slowly get more and more disillusioned. He suggested that I see out the current job applications that I have for Paris, and if none of them work out, then we can formally pursue a potential job opportunity in London that has just come up. Not that we both want to live in London, and we could, possibly, live just on his income. But he said that if I dont get back to work soon, it’s my morale and my spirit that will collapse. And he’s right.

I’ve heard some really inspiring quotes over the past few days, from some interesting places!

Flashdance - “When you give up your dream, you die.”

Paul Coelho – “Fight for your dreams, and your dreams will fight for you.”

And of course, what would I do without my inspiring family and friends? The people the love and support me and encourage me to keep going? I owe them a debt to large to pay in a lifetime.

Would I change my decision to move to Paris? Never. Do I have regrets about the move? None. Overall, this has been an amazing experience, and a dream come true. Have I given up hope? No. I’ve still got a little bit of energy left to keep fighting for the dream…

Work, work, work!

kristie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:59:46 +0000

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!

Obession? Determination? Just plain stubborn?

kristie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:24:41 +0000

Sometimes I really surprise myself with how single-minded I can be about certain things.

For the past year, I have been living and breathing my goals of getting a job and settling down in Paris. Its gotten to the point where I actually cant do anything nice and relax because I keep thinking about how that’s taking me away from my job search, and how not having a job is delaying my “settling” in Paris.

I really DO need to stop and smell the roses and bit more. I’m in PARIS for christ’s sake! (Note: no religious connection intended, its just a nice phrase that accurately describes my frustration).

So, the things that I’m obsessing about are:

Getting a job in Paris – looking up recruiters websites, looking up company websites career sections, reviewing my daily job ad emails, looking up people on LinkedIn who work for companies that I’m interested in and trying to get coffee meetings with them, what other networking functions are on, maintaining contact with current contacts, etc.

Getting a job in London – as above.

Getting a job anywhere else in Europe – as above.

Where I will have dinner once I sign my contract – including who I will invite to celebrate with me, what champagne I will drink etc

What clothes I’ll buy (once I have a job) – where I will get my work suits from, what new heels I will buy, what new clothes I can buy for weekend wear etc

Finding an apartment to rent with M (once I get a job) – looking at internet and magazine ads for apartments to rent, which arrondissments (suburbs of Paris) I would like to live in (currently 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 11th. The 10th only if its in a really nice spot.), what furniture I’d like to put in that apartment, what parties/dinners I will have once I have that apartment and who I will invite, what I will cook etc

Getting a little black and white French Bulldog – what we will name him (already decided: “Biloute”, which means “little dick” in Cht’i, the language of the North of France. It’s actually not meant to be offensive, it’s more like a term of endearment. I think its hilarious!), when we will walk him, how much fun it will be to take him to cafes and restaurants with us etc

Where we will go on weekend’s away (once I have a job).

I’m dreaming about a time when I finish work for the week, M and I have a drink somewhere after work then head home for a quick comfort meal. I wake up Saturday morning and go for a jog in one of Paris’ beautiful parks, then have a leisurely brunch in a cafe, reading a French newspaper. The afternoon I’ll visit a new modern art exhibition (free), then home for a nap. That evening we start drinks, have dinner and continue on at a bar in Rue Tuiquitonne. Sunday is sleep in then croissants then meet Adam for shopping at the organic markets around lunchtime. We have a gossip and a crepe then head home. That afternoon I cook up a storm and M and I have a fantastic meal together with a lovely glass of red.

I kinda like that I’ve been so, hmm, “goals focussed”. I really have been doing a lot of “positive visualisation”! But when I cant relax and enjoy a coffee with someone because I’m wondering whether they’re going to know anyone to send my CV to, then really, I need to just chillax and get a life!

I have decided that any coffees or meetings with people now, even if for the purposes of work, will be conducted in the spirit of friendship and enjoyment of the moment.

Here endeth the lesson.

Looking back over 2009

kristie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:43:05 +0000

I was looking back at my horoscope for 2009 (thank you Jonathan Cainer), and thought that, yet again, he really hit it on the head.

I took his advance and really DID try to just not be too hard on myself even though I really DID feel like things were all too hard, not clear, being pulled in 2 directions. Just when I felt like things were going my way, they would just as quickly start to “rewind” and completely fall away. I did try to just enjoy the ride, and I think that was the best advice anyone could have given me.

I really did think I would find a job in Paris in 2009. Well, I did. I found 2. But then they didnt have time to wait until my work visa was processed. Hence – back to square 1.

I thought I would be able to rent my own apartment, and set up my own little Parisian life. Well, I did get a cool little vibe going, just in a rented room. OK, I’ll admit, it wasnt really what I’d hoped for, but I was so lucky to find great landlords and be located in the best area in Paris (the Marais .

I did NOT want a permanent boyfriend. Too many things to do, experience, see etc. And yeah. I got a permanent boyfriend. But then, turns out that he’s fabulous and was happy to come exploring with me as well. And without him, I would NEVER have had such an authentic French experience. And my French would be nowhere near the level it is now.

I wrote on my FB profile a sentence also written by Cainer for Aquarians this week:

“To live but one hour in a state of supreme joy is to fulfill the potential of a lifetime.“

And when I think about all the reasons why I felt so strongly that I needed to take the leap and move to Paris, I realise that 2009 was really the year where I lived in a state of supreme joy, despite the difficulties. I fulfilled the potential of a lifetime: for myself, and for my Mum and my grandmother, who didnt have the same opportunities that I have. All those years of crazy dreams about being a “child of the world” and living in a country that challenged my language ability and cultural beliefs – I finally did it. And maybe also (I hope), I gave those who heard about my crazy adventure, reason to keep believing in their crazy adventure, and maybe even take a more confident, excited step towards it.

Looking back over 2009, would I have changed any of it? Nope. Not one thing.

Here’s a copy of my 2009 prediction, for those who are keen on that sort of stuff

* * *

Aquarius
Aquarius Year Ahead 2009

Saturn and Uranus began to form an opposition towards the end of 2008. They continue to oppose each other all year and won’t go their separate ways till 2010. Thus the sky informs us that you are in a process which has got a lot further to take you and which won’t fully clear itself up for some while.

Meanwhile, Jupiter is in Aquarius, all year. That’s about as good as it gets. It means you are going to be powerful and strong. This, you may need to be because there will be moments when you feel as if you are being torn in two. Already you are trying to be in two places at the same time or are feeling two mutually exclusive demands upon your resources. How bad is that? It depends on whether you want an easy life.

Easy lives are overrated. Lots of people have them, some of the time, at least. They often find themselves feeling empty as a result. There is no chance of you having an empty existence in 2009. Every moment is going to be rich with meaning. There will be moments when it seems to you like it’s all too much, but all that’s needed is for you to stop trying to make everything perfect. At no level of your life do you face a situation which can be neatly squared off and put away with a ribbon round it.

The secret of success in 2009, is learning to deal with paradox and mystery. We have this idea that mysteries must be solved. Actually, mysteries are not meant to be solved but celebrated. They give life depth. You’ve got mysteries in your life now; things you don’t know about and things you don’t know what on earth to do with. Nor, will you necessarily know as the year goes by. If you are going to let that eat you up, you will get eaten up. But if, instead of struggling with the waves of change and challenge that come into your life, you build yourself a psychic surfboard and say, ‘I don’t care.’ you will cruise away from all the issues that have been unsatisfactory up until now. In 2009, along with the impossible things which you have to put up with, are all the impossible things that can only come into your life when you are thinking impossible thoughts. Many of those are going to be wonderful. Embrace them.

Latest update:

You have, I trust, read the accompanying article about Saturn and Uranus, their rare opposition and how, during 2009, they will bring sudden change and challenge to just about every established, conventional institution or organisation on earth. Of course you have. You’re a diligent detail-spotting Aquarian. You went straight there first. Or if you didn’t, you were intending to any moment.

I apologise for insulting your intelligence by telling you things you already know. Or failing to appreciate how ahead of the game you are. In 2009, though, you may be glad of all the helpful reminders and pointers you can get. Something is already taxing your strength and testing your patience. Your sign is governed by BOTH Saturn… and Uranus. Think of them as your guardian angels. Now envisage them standing, back-to-back across the sky, each facing away from each other, each determined to drag you along with them. Now, think of the tough choices you are already trying to make and the many more that await you. The good news? You can make a tense situation work for you, just by deciding to be less hard on yourself and less expectant of ‘perfect solutions’. The only way to fix what looks set to be this year’s biggest problem is through some kind of fudge. Never mind forever. What about for now? Break more rules. Treat yourself to more activites that truly inspire you. That’s the way ahead for you this year. But then, you already knew that, didn’t you!

Keeping up my spirits

kristie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:12:56 +0000

This passage was written by Blanca Vergara, and originally appeared in “Hall of Mirrors”, her free monthly newsletter, available at www.blancavergara.com. It’s an encouraging piece for me, which is something I need to help keep my job-hunting movtivation levels up. Hope you enjoy it too

“These days many of my dreams are coming true. The life that I have today is closer to my dream life than yesterday’s life. Everyday I have to make adaptations to “cope” with the wonders of my new life. Each adaptation implies more focus on what I do want and letting go of what was my past. Each adaptation demands from me to be closer to the dream and to refuse to be seduced by the mediocre and comfortable past. My vision of my dream life is my point of stability in this high speed reality. Holding on to it makes me stable in the flux and flexible for new opportunities.

Having a vision of your dream life is a self fulfilling prophecy. Having a vision of success is for your unconscious mind no different to having actual success in reality. Visualizing the realization of your dream projects is more powerful when you make real space to welcome it. Yes, I mean real space: new binders for the documentation of the new customers, empty drawers for the new clothes you’ll have, smaller size dress for your new slim body, empty hours in your agenda; open eyes, mind and heart to receive what comes…

When you are wandering in the woods, you are not lost. You are acquiring skills and life experience that will ease your way towards fulfilling your true mission. You are acquiring clarity about what your mission is and even how to make it concrete. Wonder! Close those books, switch off (preferably get rid off) that television, switch off the radio… Listen! Listen to the birds, listen to the wind, listen to your heart, and listen to your own wisdom. You have access to infinite intelligence, to infinite wisdom. You just need to listen. Listen and your wisdom will take you to your path. Don’t worry; be gentle to yourself, your path will wait for you until you are ready.“

The Problem with being Unemployed in Paris during Winter

kristie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:59:30 +0000

Hardly any overseas visitors to keep things lively
It’s too fucking cold to leave the house, which means no exercise and an any ad-hoc “lets catch up for a coffee” invitations are really not appealing
It’s grey, so mood-wise, not exactly inspiring
Seasonal affective disorder at the same time as unemployment blues is like standing with a wet blanket around your shoulders in a commercial refrigerator.

Everyone has said that this is the longest, coldest, snowiest winter in 50 years. If I can survive this one, then I’m hoping that all the rest will seem like a breeze.

The French, France, the world, work and STRESS

kristie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:49:41 +0000

Saw this article today and thought it was interesting in that it summarised some of the issues bubbling to the surface in France, but was a bit peeved that they didnt explain in more detail why there is a problem, and also, give an opinion as to whether the proposed solutions will actually have any effect.

OK, so stress counselling and France Telecom putting a ban on forced role changes is a quick fix bandaid measure to keep people from taking their lives, but does it really fix the problem?

I’m certainly not in any informed position, and I may eat my words, but I really think that this needs a complete change of public attitude and a complete change to the workplace and social system.

Everyone loves the French culture and I agree, thats something that needs to be protected and nurtured (and the capitalist in me says “and exploited for national gain”).

But France is not an island, we are increasingly more global, France needs to be competitive on a world market.

The whole world does not speak French, and having a basic level of English is not just “cute” or trendy, its essential for international transactions – a company is not less French if it hires native English speakers……

…ok, I knew I would bring this around to me somehow…..Will someone in France please give this native English speaker a job!!! lol

Enjoy the article

By Devorah Lauter

November 1, 2009

Reporting from Paris – A short workweek and the prospect of early retirement. Job-protection laws that make it almost impossible to get fired. Seven weeks of holidays and vacation time a year. Oh, and paid lunches.

A harried American worker might ask: What’s not to like?

And a dissatisfied French worker might respond: Plenty.

A wave of suicides at the country’s largest telecommunications firm has unnerved France, long viewed by many outside the country as a cushy haven for employees. Experts say the incidents are the most visible examples of the growing phenomenon of stress-induced illness in the country.

Marie Peze opened the first French clinic focused on workplace suffering 10 years ago in a suburb northwest of Paris. She now has 900 people a year consulting her.

A thin woman with wispy light hair, Peze tells stories of her patients: the “overworked pawns,” as she calls them, who have become a part of her life.

The young man who staggers into her clinic, his eyes hollowed and cupped in graying bags of skin. The woman so scared of facing her boss that she has developed ulcers, stopped getting her period and jumps at the sound of a ringing phone.

Peze says she handles an average of two to three suicide attempts a week.

At France Telecom, 25 employees have killed themselves in the last two years. It isn’t known how many cases were in response to job strains, partly because it is difficult to determine a suicide’s complex causes. But occasionally victims leave behind a note blaming their company.

“I couldn’t take it anymore . . . spending hours in front of the screen like a real mechanical puppet. . . . If only my gesture could serve some purpose,” a France Telecom technician identified only as Jean-Michel wrote before he threw himself in front of a train in July 2008. He was 53 and married with three children.

With the France Telecom suicides as a backdrop, President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said he wanted the world to change its production-obsessed measure of national wealth.

In September, he argued for a new international economic indicator of wealth based less on gross domestic product and more on “well-being” cultivated through leisure and social benefits, among others.

The idea for the “alternative wealth indicator” came from a government-commissioned study led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, with another Nobel economics winner, Amartya Sen, as advisor.

French dissatisfaction has long been attributed to a national habit of grumbling, despite what others see as a rather favorable lot — whether through frequent labor strikes or by managing to strut through Paris one’s entire adult life without cracking a smile.

And wearing a lot of gray.

“Since the French are always complaining that nothing is going well,” Sarkozy hoped to show through his alternative wealth indicator “that the situation here was less clear in terms of happiness than it appeared,” political philosopher Yves Michaud said. “They are continually unhappy, but in fact have considerable advantages.”

Experts also point to a clash between the traditional values inherited from France’s public sector and some badly managed cases of the market-flexible approach in today’s global economy.

“In every country, we have our own way of conceiving what it means to be correctly treated by our company,” said Philippe d’Iribarne, a leading expert on international job cultures.

In France, that notion is centered on a “vision that we are someone and we stay someone, because we have a profession and that profession is respected,” he said. Traditionally, one “is proud of his trade, and ready to sacrifice enormously for it.”

At France Telecom, for instance, D’Iribarne found that many of the employees had to change job positions every three years on average, often with little notice, in order to better adapt to a changing market.

As a result, D’Iribarne said, “the idea of one’s trade sort of dissolved.”

Philippe Davezies, professor of workplace health and medicine at Claude Bernard University in Lyon, agreed.

“France Telecom found itself in this position with tens of thousands of people with a different concept of society than theirs,” he said.

But most believe the problem goes beyond France Telecom, whose No. 2 executive, Louis-Pierre Wenes, was forced to resign Oct. 5 under public pressure over “brutal” organizational shifts since the company started privatizing in 1997. The last reported suicide occurred Oct. 15.

Work experiences vary widely in different job sectors here, but “a suicide strongly linked to difficulty on the job is the most dramatic outcome of a larger problem” in many French companies, said Christophe Dejours, a leading French psychiatrist and researcher on work-induced illness and suicides.

He has closely followed a “qualitative jump” in work- and stress-linked “psycho-social” illnesses observed across the French workforce. He said the illnesses “are linked to a steep increase in overall intensification of work.”

The current economic crisis is probably an aggravating factor, but does not account for the rise in job stress over the last 15 to 20 years.

Forty-one percent of French respondents said they felt stressed, and 54% said it was because of the current economic crisis, according to an April telephone poll by the French National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions.

The French tend to worry more about unemployment than their European Union neighbors — even when they have a job — because although work-protection laws make it hard to get fired, they also make it hard for companies to hire new recruits, contributing to consistently high levels of unemployment.

“What particularly strikes me,” Labor Minister Xavier Darcos wrote in an e-mail, is that “we are among three nations where the consequences of stress are the most serious, whether it is a question of deep depressions or attempted suicides linked to work.”

Darcos has launched an “emergency” plan to push companies to reduce stress. His program demands that businesses with more than 1,000 employees immediately begin negotiations with unions and other social “partners” on how to lower stress at work, among other initiatives.

Last month, France Telecom agreed to suspend further reorganization until next year, and hired the independent French consulting firm Technologia to help improve company morale.

“We don’t want any more tragedy,” spokesman Jean-Bernard Orsoni said. “What we want is to change the social contract.”

Lauter is a special correspondent.

Why I have not yet been to every museum in Paris (aka “Yes, I’m still alive, just not blogging”)

kristie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:23:52 +0000

OK, I admit, its been a long time between blogs. Apologies.

Its funny how time just slips away from you even when you’re not working. Lots of people have asked me what I do all day, especially now that I’m not going to french classes at Alliance Francaise every morning.

But looking for work is actually a full time job. As is familiarising yourself with the city and trying to make friends. OK, its a pretty comfy “job”, but still, it does get busy…..

And I have been blogging, just in my notebook, rather than on my blog page (naughty…..).

So, what HAVE I been doing?

Looking for a job!

My job-search strategy is to develop and use networks rather than send my CV out to every last recruitment agency and law firm in Paris. Every foreigner here says it doesnt work and now that the international law firms are sending ex-pats home and asking people to take sabbaticals, I know that my CV will literally end up cold and dusty in a grey HR folder. “cough”.

So instead, I’m joining groups! Like European Professional Women’s Network, Australian Business In Europe, Advance, Women’s Investment Group, Ex-Pats-Paris, Intonations and Meetup. OK, some of these have a dual-purpose of helping to find friends, but the more friends you have the more people you have looking out for jobs for you!

I’m also following up any leads. These are either contacts for actual jobs, people who know the industry or people who know about ways I can work in Paris legally without getting sponsored (which is pretty tricky given the current financial crisis). This has meant more coffees, lunches, afterwork drinks and strolls in the park than I care to remember! Yes, they are coffees and glasses of Cote du Rhone in quaint cafes and bars in Paris - boo hoo poor me – but they are still “work” related nonetheless. And they take up time!

And surprisingly, the job search process has actually been quite an emotional one for me. For lots of reasons. And thats taken a lot of time mentally and emotionally to deal with, consciously and subconsciously. There’s a whole blog on that one….

Getting to know my city and my “quartier” (suburb)!

The only way to get to know your city and your suburb is to hang out it in. Yes, sometimes that means finding a cafe, sitting in it, drinking more coffee than is recommended and watching the world go by. Sometimes this will take several hours. Its not a luxury, its research. Its acclimatising. Reducing culture shock. How can you understand the daily, living culture of Paris by staring at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre? No one can say they know Paris unless they’ve spent a good portion of their life sitting in a cafe. Its their culture, I’m just trying to fit in…..

Anyway, I’ve got at least 3 more blog posts sitting in draft or in my notebook, so I promise that I’ll get them finished and out asap!

Are you happy now Adam and Andrew? Huh?