The thing is Brian, I thought that the way forward was to get our children to become multi-lingual and that is part of the reason that we as a family en masse stopped moving around europe with OH's work and chose to stay in la Belle France! It turns out that even with the best that we can do with our language skills, the french don't give browny points for the effort (though it is lovely to chat to local people) but onwards and upwards as they say!
I was told, although I am a bit old to worry really, that my UK degrees were not valid, especially my doctorates. I said that they should acquaint themselves with EQF regulations to which France is a signatory. If the people I was trying to get work with had put their words to me to paper it would have gone to a tribunal and caused them a lot of bother and expense. But they wrote a 'sorry but a better candidate' letter...
Thanks for your words of encouragement Davinia, sounds as if we've been a very similar situation to you - my OH took a job as a 'plonger' in a local restaurant - but as the money was so awful he now works back in the uk! I have a degree in Psychology but work cleaning gites (see where an ology can get you!) - and I have met numerous people here with very good skillsets, not necessarily english but anyone that is not of french nationality and they cannot get jobs equivilent to their qualifications/experience. This country has such a wealth of resource here that could be tapped into - think of all the money that would be saved on training someone to do the jobs we are already qualified for - it just seems such a waste!
I understand your frustration, my other half finally got a job with Adrexo delivering the free publicity. He was a bank manger in the Uk but needs must and it keeps the roof over our heads.
We both have registed with l'auto entrupeneur but business is slow. Last year I tried to get a job as a chamber maid in a small 10 bedroomed hotel. I was given all sorts of reasons such as I did'nt have a work permit. A lady from the british consulate who we knew we were having financial difficulties phone the owner and asked why he did'nt give me a trial as the job was still advertised and he had been unable to fill the position for 3 months.
He was shocked to hear it was no longer nessasary for me to have a work visa and he agreed my language skills were sufficiant for the job. He still refused to give me the job for unknow reasons. In the uk I worked in an 85 bedroomed, 4 star award winning boutique hotel as a duty manager and wedding co-ordinator.
All you can do is keep trying, get you cv written in french and in some circumstances be a bit cheeky!! my other half got his job by emailing Adrexo every week following his application chasing if they had made a decision or not.
Good luck x
I appreciate all of these replies, but we have lived here ten years and he was being turned down before the ecconomic crisis and I would say that over that time he has really tried improving his language skills (though now times are tougher for sure) When I went back to uk recently, I was staggered at how many people in gainful employment had foreign accents, some of them very difficult to understand! Maybe it is a combination of all the other shite going on, but I think the french don't really give anyone a chance, unless as you say Andrew, the language skills are near on perfecto - true the whole communication thing is so important - but he recently worked in Amsterdam where the lack of the 'local' language is just not an issue!!
;-)
That's what I have to keep reminding myself
e "speriamo che sia meglio...!"
ha ha, love "agree" Stuart, who needs to agree, you just need to get paid at the end of the day!
I am on my second stint in France and will probably stay put now. 15 years in total and I still don't understand the French way of doing things, or should I say, don't agree ;)
Too true, three or four years ago I had too much work but now I have a tiny trickle that we can hardly live on in reality. Just hope things improve for us all.
It's que sera, sera!
Brian and Nick have already given good answers, unfortunately if they want you to be able to speak French, it's often to be able to speak it like a native/near-native. The other point is that it is extremely difficult for the French too at the present time. And perhaps the fact that jobs were easier to find in previous years in other countries does not b=necessarily mean that that is still the case - it's bloody hard everywhere at the moment. I'm changing careers, as is my French OH, me due to a dried up freelance work which was very lucrative before the current crisis, my OH because the school is closing because they can't find/keep enough pupils. Both of those factors are external and exist outside France too. I have friends (french) who are finding it just as difficult in an area which traditionally has very low unemployment. It's not just your OH, or France, we are after all in one of the biggest global financial messes that has ever happened and people seem to forget that and think it's all down to the fact of being a foreigner in France. Bonne chance quand même ;-)
Exacto Nick!
It's tough in France, but that is not to say it is impossible. Andrew Hearne, Brian Milne and others have come up with reasons for this, but the common denominator always seems to come dow to being able to communicate, not just speak the language, but to be really able to comunicate and prove that you understand the French way of doing things.
Wish there was an answer to that one. Firstly, the French set standards that are high when it comes to language and I suspect a fair few French actually fail them as well. Then Europe is gradually becoming multi-lingual and monolinguists are finding it harder. Even those of us with a 'basket' of languages find it hard anyway. My wife has four almost perfect, I have two perfect and two very high standard and between us we have bits of others. We're not getting any work anywhere, we would quite honestly move to another country if it was the only way but perhaps there are too many people after every job and those who come out closest to (bloody rotten) perfect get them.