So do Nick Ord, Alexander Watson, Zoe Buckley, Damaris Stevens, Cate dal Molin and a fair few others. Some of them are in 'proper' French jobs, certainly Alexander and Cate.
Thank you! You and Tracy do indeed have what French people round here would consider mainstream jobs - so maybe it is just peculiar to this area that so many of the AEs I hear about (& get asked about) seem to do not very well-defined things involving 'a bit of this & a bit of that' and (to my certain knowledge) quite a lot of grey if not black work (& not for or with French people!).
Suzanne I went into teaching (in GB and here) because of my children - having the same hours and holidays makes life a million times easier (& I didn't see the point of having children at all if I was going to spend 8 months a year on the other side of the world from them, which is what my previous job entailed).
Tracy - agree about the adapting to what is needed - my plan is to be flexible and basically I know something will come up. I speak French, I've done my TEFL course just in case that comes in handy but I am very open to whatever is available and will look for opportunities. The key thing for me will be fitting around the children which is where self employment works really well and there's a lot that can be bundled in under the title 'business and IT consultancy'. I'd happily work for French companies though and perhaps that's something I'll look at when the children are all at school full time.
I've worked for the CCI, an IUT and the rectorat, all as salaried vacataire then later as a prestataire de service from 2009 when the AE scheme started as the rates were better. I turned down some replacement teaching on a cdd which could have lead to a cdi... I'm now in the "normal" set up having created a SNC with my OH, we're both TNS, commerçants or buralistes to be more precise. The only non french AEs I know are those on sfn, not sure about hte stats but I think the vast majority of AEs are French. As for your "mainstream" comment, yes , I'm in the standard mainstream now but never really felt that way when i was an AE as there were so many prejudices about the statut !
I worked for french companies until 9 months ago, my last job was in a wine cellar selling wine, primarily to French people, I was the only non French person in the company and when I left after 4 years I was replaced by another French person. In Burgundy I know several Brits of working age and the majority of us work for French companies as there are not many non-French companies in the area. My husband is an AE carpenter but before we moved here, he had a UK company doing the same so it was only natural to take the AE route. I have also decided to go self employed (as a tour guide) now but that is down to wanting to choose my own working hours (we have young children) rather than no other option. Prior to my job in the wine cellar I was employed as a coach driver for a French company driving passengers between Geneva and the French Alps - that shocked a few people:-)
The thing that most of my friends have in common though is that we all speak French and have adapted to the jobs that are available rather than sticking to what we are qualified in. The only English speaking person I know that would like to work but doesn't, is the only one that can't speak French.
I think that is very much the case. Even before freedom of movement, when I first had my fellowship in Berlin I had to have both a resident's and work permits. If an employer asked for them they came easily because employing people from other European countries was considered normal. Fast forward to freedom of movement and naturally, they simply take in the best from wherever, pay them well and look after them. Not to compare with French practice and certainly not with rural Dordogne.
The comparison with Germany is interesting, I have only personal & therefore anecdotal evidence - Where my parents live in the Black Forest (Freiburg) there are lots of EU-origin foreign people BUT they all seem to be Drs/Lawyers, work for GmbH/AG of one sort or another or teach at the University ie have 'mainstream' jobs which German people can understand. But obviously Freiburg can't really be compared with rural Dordogne.
One of my little bits of work whilst I was unable to work properly last year, was to look at apprenticeships in the EU/EEA. I spent a lot of time in Eurostat wading around looking at what people are doing. Apprenticeships made me look at other things to understand why people sometimes move to different areas and countries to do particular things. Anyway, the point is I vaguely remember that this country has over two million people from within the EU engaged in economic activities, which is how work is usually described, and the breakdown certainly put UK citizens at around 10% of those. It meant all people working, including AEs of course (but not the many people working 'black' naturally). Considering the Dordogne is fairly representative of all of France, where only 2% of all AEs are foreign as somebody posted once I think, then it looks like around 200,000 UK people are in regular paid work. There are far more working in Germany than here, I think it was close on 400,000. That is not many for a country of this size in reality. I was not looking for breakdowns, so I have no idea what they might be doing precisely.
hi Veronique, i like Sheila don't have my qualification recognised in France without I understand doing a conversion course so I'm registering as Ae doing the odd bit of business and IT consultancy but mostly to British clients.
Thanks Brian - I was wondering (because I don't actually know that many expats, at least not EU ones) and the ones I have met seem to think it odd that I do work for a French organisation & am not living some weird peripheral life-in-exile. Mind you I don't know many people my age who are 1/2 and 1/2 like me & have always gone back and forth between GB and France & worked in both (or elsewhere) and are now living here in the sticks.
What I am curious about is the amount of people who have what French people would consider mainstream French jobs in entreprises or shops or as fonctionnaires of one sort or another etc
There is a statistic that shows that only 2 or 3% of AE's in the Dordogne are from the EU. I found in on the Prefecture site when I was thinking about the 'Working in France' group (where this question really belongs!). Anyway, I also found that SW France has the second highest density of people working in specialised artisanal, crafts, as all forms of artists and a few other similar creative fields. People like my OH and I as children's rights consultants are amongst an uncounted minority niche. There are also quite a lot of people apparently writing, translating, language teaching and in the equestrian sphere. It seems that there are far less people in the field of hospitality (B&B, gites, hotels, restaurants, etc) than I had imagined on the basis of how many there are in this immediate area.
That all seems to give away why people are working alone and thus AEs far more than any other group stand out. I think the statistic showed the largest group is, as we all probably assume, retired but there are a large number resident here but working outside of France in unnamed fields.
I imagine their reasons are many and varied. For example, we holidayed in France for 20 years, and often spoke about the possibility of experiencing life here. When I was made redundant (through lack of work - no one buying or selling houses, etc.), we decided to make the leap. We started improving our French language skills (still a work in progress!), I obtained a TEFL qualification and we are here now almost two years. Galleries in Ireland are still getting the odd sale and Henry can ship paintings back as and when required. So that's us in a nutshell. I know others are here having married a French person.
I think we are as integrated as we can be. We are making friends in our village - we are the only Irish who live here, but I find the British here somewhat reserved, and after 2 years, there are some whom I haven't even met yet.
Thank you Sheila - there are so many expat people doing lots of different jobs here bearing no relation to their original qualifications & I wondered whether it is by choice or necessity!
What does seem a bit odd to me is that so many people younger than retiring age are here doing stuff all on their own or in a circle of English speaking people and not that happy about it, not really part of French life & consequently not perhaps as integrated as they might like to be.
Hi Véro. Although not British nor in Dordogne, I am AE (teaching English, doing B&B, residential art and cookery courses) because my legal qualifications would not be recognised here. Henry has worked all his life as a professional artist, so has never worked for anyone, although he insists he feels like my unpaid servant! :-)