How I Found a Job in France

I knew when I moved to Strasbourg that it was going to be challenging – I don’t have a master’s or even a particularly useful-looking bachelor’s degree, and my French was strong beginner on a good day. It felt like everyone I met was working as an English teacher, getting PACs-ed (French civil union) or married, or studying a master’s degree. How, I would wonder to myself while curled against the French man I love on our secondhand couch, does one carve out a place for herself when she’s only pretty sure about what she doesn’t want to do?

What followed next was a series of months full of uncertainty and frustration

I absolutely detest feeling uncertain, which might surprise some people given my wanderlust-y-seeming lifestyle. For me, the feeling of uncertainty has always bred the question: what else could I be doing? This, I have learned, is a dangerous, double-bladed source of motivation that has cut me down far more often than wielded successfully. It feels like perpetual FOMO, but like, coming from within myself. It’s a drive to feel like I am interesting/educated/driven/creative while simultaneously working to become Someone Who is Interesting/Educated/Driven/Creative.

Here’s the thing with creative people though – we tend to land on our feet, even if we’re actively getting in our own way. In the end, I ended up kickstarting my French with an intensive, 20-hour-a-week, three-month language course that also had the effect of introducing me to new friends, the American expat community in Alsace, and (mostly) curing my fear of public speaking thanks to several required presentations in French.

This all happened even though I slipped into the gray area between perpetually moody and depressed for several weeks part way through, too. I’m not going to gloss over it and say “but it was so worth it” because everyone is different and I can’t unequivocally say that my strengthening experience would be yours as well, but in the end, that’s what it did for me. It also taught me to be kinder to myself, if a little sternly.

Over time, the little things you do for yourself add up

As I’ve written about in an earlier post, I spent the beginning of 2020 in the US working as a field organizer on a presidential campaign, then got caught in the US when Covid-19 hit and booking flights back became the new playing the lottery. When I finally made it back in May, I knew that I would stay here and work as an English teacher or an au pair again if I had to, maybe even get PACs-ed. That’s how strongly I felt about wanting to stay in Strasbourg.

And yet, even this feeling almost wasn’t strong enough to get me to apply for the job I ended up getting in France

It came down to three applications with pending decisions: a full-time remote freelance writing gig that I was actually qualified for on paper, teaching English as a language assistant in France with the TAPIF program, and business developer in a French start-up expanding their digital marketplace to the UK/Ireland. The latter position I had applied to on a whim, after an afternoon of lying on the couch feeling angry with the world for not dropping any opportunities into my lap. I growled and worried over a cover letter and resume for a couple of hours, sent it off, and fully expected not to hear anything in reply.

A rejection did come shortly after, but from the freelance writing gig, which had required an unpaid writing trial that amounted to four hours of researched work. (Sidebar, fuck that. You are a crap person if you don’t offer any form of compensation, be it financial or otherwise, to someone willing to jump through hoops to freelance for you.)

Then came the TAPIF response. To paraphrase: “Congratulations! You’ve been placed in Orleans/Tours!” (I had specifically requested only Strasbourg and my friends here had assured me that it would be almost a sure bet given Covid-19 and the fact that I already have experience as an international ESL teacher. Neither the universe, nor the French, were feeling especially benevolent, apparently.)

Finally, the third: Received a phone call inviting me to interview for the business development (BD) position in the French start-up.

I had one week to decide whether or not to accept the TAPIF decision, and the first round interview for the BD position fell just before that

I decided to wait out TAPIF and see how the interview went. When it went well and I was told shortly thereafter that I had advanced to the second and final interview, I had to decide what to tell TAPIF. In hindsight, I suppose I could have told TAPIF yes and then backed out if I got the BD job, but that’s not how my mind works. So, I told TAPIF no, without knowing if I actually had the BD job, nor what I would do if I didn’t get it.

In the end, I think putting myself out on the shakiest limb worked for me. I had to advocate for myself in the subsequent job interview like never before, but in the moment, I realized I wasn’t afraid I wouldn’t get the job. I was afraid the employer wouldn’t choose the best person for the role, who I fervently believed to be myself. That seems to have made all the difference.

Today, I submitted the dossier to officially change my visa from “student” to “salaried”

I start the BD job on Monday and everything, somehow, is now manageable. The next time I go to the prefecture, it will be to pick up my new visa card. In any case, on the topic of how I found a job in France, I clearly have a lot to say, but I also fervently believe that there is no “right” answer or concrete path. Uncertainty rules my life, but I’ve never felt more capable. Maybe this is how it feels to be Someone Who is Interesting/Educated/Driven/Creative.

Other articles of interest

–What You Need to Know About Visas in France (Student vs Au Pair)

–Reflections of an Au Pair

–The Phenomenon of Dating French Boys