Work & income in France

Finding the right employer

Some French candidates have a tendency to apply mainly for jobs with big companies. Do not be like them, do not disregard PMEs (Small and medium-sized businesses)! Of course, career management is less organized, but it is these kinds of companies which are recruiting…Small and medium sized businesses also have other advantages. As a result, human relations are more pleasant there and the employees are more versatile and autonomous. In addition, you will be able to rapidly obtain strategic positions. Then, you must be on the same wavelength as the company which you are considering joining. Therefore you must feel close to the values which it conveys. “A genuine corporate culture is sometimes more attractive than tangible assets”, confirms Michel Gibert, consultant at BPI. Also make sure that your employer is aiming to integrate you into his team and that he is striving to improve his employee follow-up policy. In this kind of company, you will find an ear which is attentive to your desire for progress.

Choosing a company which encourages internal promotion.
To find the right employer, you must go beyond the sales pitch published in the company’s advertisements or sales leaflets. To obtain information about the internal promotion, in-house training and mobility policies in use within the company, you should seek out its employees. You can meet them at forums or trade shows or by contacting former employees clubs. “This is a logical approach in order to form an overall and objective opinion about a company. A young graduate can obtain information about jobs, duties, career development, work conditions and the sector of activity…”, states Marc Guyot, president of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ former employees club (www.clubexpwc.com). You will notice that sometimes the former employees have very different opinions.

Establishing career objectives
Career objectives are very important in France. They will allow you to define the job that you wish to carry out, to target the ideal company and to provide you with persuasive arguments for future recruiting officers.
All French companies are required to develop career objectives. Regardless of who you speak to, during a job interview, the person will ask you what you learned during your years of training or the skills which you developed in your last job. To be able to answer these questions intelligently, you will have to think about your career objectives. For this, you will need to develop three points. Firstly, you will have to establish your academic and professional skills. Then, you will have to identify your strong points and areas for improvement. Finally, you will have to transform all of these elements into a potential job. The objective of this exercise is to define the job which is suitable for you, in what sector, in what kind of company, with what level of salary and in what region. This overall process will help you during an interview, to show your future employer that you are the ideal candidate.

Comparing your objectives to real life
Your career objectives must be realistic and achievable, considering the job market. Once you know enough about what you want, you will need to go in search of information about your socio-economical environment. So, inquire about the current needs in the working world, discover jobs to look into, but also take an interest in new jobs and developing sectors. Today, seeking out information is even more important as the job market is not very obvious. Therefore, you will need to carry out documentary research, to have direct contacts with professionals and to analyse job offers…To obtain information, many solutions are available : the job description sheets of the Apec (job centre for managers), of the ANPE (job centres) or from guild chambers or chambers of commerce and industry, professional organizations and trade associations. Trade magazines are another source of information.

The Curriculum Vitae
In France, the CV is often the only document reviewed by recruiters. It must contain clear information about your past and present experience, and your plans. What this means.
You must set out your French CV so that the information is presented in an organized and balanced way. Leave a margin all the way round the CV, and spaces between the different headings. A larger left-hand margin enables the recruiter to add his or her notes. In France, the CV for a new graduate should be one page long, neither more nor less.

Personal details and experience
The first information shown should be your surname and forename, your age, a private address in France, and personal telephone numbers and e-mail address. You should then list the posts you have held, and your achievements. You can include experience from internships or casual jobs. Give the exact dates you took up a post, the job description, and the responsibilities you had for supervising others, managing turnover and meeting commercial objectives.

Education and skills
Give as much information as you can about your formal education (just higher education). Give the year you obtained a qualification, the type of establishment and its equivalent in France. State also your languages and your level of proficiency.

Other interests
These may be raised as topics of conversation during the interview. Stress those suggesting dynamism, stamina and creativity.

Covering letter
In France, the purpose of a covering letter is to explain to the recruiter why you are applying for a job in his company. It should encourage him to make an appointment with you. It must be written in French.
In France, the objective of a covering letter is to make your application stand out. But it is also recommended to write a very standard letter. Therefore, you will have to adapt the style of your letter so that it is original enough to appeal to the recruiter but also fairly standard, thus reassuring him.
The layout of the letter must respect a standard format. Your name and address must appear in the top left hand corner of the letter. On the right, put the name of your town and the date. Further down, still on the right, put the name of the addressee, the name of his company and his address. After this comes the main body of the letter, which should take up two thirds of the page. Whether your letter is hand-written or typed, it must only take up one page and your signature is obligatory, at the bottom, on the right.

A short catchline
The first phrase is important. It must be composed like journalistic catchline. It is customary to start by speaking about the company by replying to the implied question: “Why are you applying to this company in particular?” You must be able to prove that you are interested in the development of the company and its strategy.

Genuine skills
The core of your letter should include the part referring to your skills. What is your profile and what would you like to highlight? What can you contribute to the company to which you are applying? Use action verbs. Imagine yourself in the position to which you aspire. Prove that you know what you want by targeting a particular sector of activity or even certain responsibilities.

Requesting an appointment
The request for an appointment comes at the end of the letter, as do the traditional ‘courtesy formulas’, the ‘formules de courtoisie’. There are numerous versions of these formulas, which are used where ‘Yours sincerely’ or ‘Yours faithfully’ might be in English. Examples are ‘Veuillez agréer, Monsieur X, mes salutations distinguées’ and ‘Je vous prie de recevoir, Madame Y, l'expression de ma considération’.
Finally, remember to follow-up (either by telephone or in writing). In this way, you will prove that you are motivated.

Online job application
Even if it is being sent electronically, an online job application must not differ from a standard one. It should be just as precise and appealing to the recruiter and include some rules of common sense.
On Internet, as competition is more fierce, it is important to have a flawless CV. When you create a document (CV and a letter), intended to be sent by Internet, your principal concern must be to ensure that your addressee will receive it in the best condition. For this, you must observe some rules. This endeavour to simplify the job application procedure does not mean that you should choose to overlook polite phrases: the Internet does not remove hierarchical levels in a company. Therefore, it is imperative to begin your electronic message with a phrase like: “Hello, please find enclosed my CV and my letter of application.“ And to finish with:”yours sincerely“, with your name, address and telephone number. It is highly recommended to include a letter of application. It allows the recruiter to discover your expectations. It also allows him to know if you are interested in finance or information technology. The first rule to bear in mind is that an electronic CV has exactly the same layout and the same content as a CV on paper. Therefore, you must list the different positions which you have occupied.

Understanding the technique
“In order for your online CV to stand out, you must be aware that recruiters only read CVs which are selected by the “machine”, explains Corinne Zerbib, author of the book “Rechercher un emploi sur Internet” (“Searching for a job on Internet”, 2005, J’ai Lu). By peppering your CV with key words, you will have the best chance of overcoming this hurdle.“ To allow the recruiter to read your documents, your files must be saved in a standard format. Use software which can be read by everyone. Your documents should be in a standard Word format to enable the recruiter to open them easily. If you are using extremely uncommon software, the person will have a compatibility problem and will not be able to open the attached documents which you have sent. The interchange format RTF (Rich Text Format) is the one which is most commonly used. It will allow your documents to be read both by owners of Macs and PCs. To use this format, you will initially have to open your CV or letter. Go to “Save as“ and save the document in the RTF interchange format. If you do not want the layout to be distorted, it is advisable to use the PDF format (Portable Document Format).

The job interview
The interview is a standard and necessary part of recruitment. In France, interviews are normally conducted in French. A brief outline of how to approach and behave at the interview so you perform well.
The interview is an opportunity for each side to find out about and impress the other. Both sides have an agenda: the recruiter needs to “sell” a company and a job, whilst simultaneously assessing the candidate’s technical and interpersonal skills; the candidate wants to be sure that the job offered actually meets his or her set of more or less clearly-defined requirements. Essentially, the recruiter must feel that the candidate has been proactive: that he or she has found out about the business, the job, the activity sector, the market and the interviewer. He or she will know what the job entails and its level of responsibility. Such preparation beforehand enables the candidate to ask the right questions.
Presenting your experience effectively is another important part. When recruiting, the consultant will have some concerns. Reassure him or her with phrases such as, “This job helped me handle customers more confidently”. Your overall aim is to demonstrate that you have the qualities to add something to the business.

Ask questions of the recruiter
Don’t be content just to respond. From time to time, the candidate must swap roles and do the asking. If not, you risk being considered a passive person who will simply go with the flow. Start with questions about the job and about working within the company or the group. Ask why the post is vacant. If it’s a new job, ask how it will fit into the overall company structure. Ask the interviewer about a typical day, should you get the job, and about the current management style. But don’t begin with questions about subsidized lunches: this suggests the wrong scale of values. After the interview, don’t forget to thank the interviewer. Move forward to the next stage by asking when the recruiter expects to make a decision. You should also ask if you may telephone, if you have not heard anything by the decision deadline.