Job Discussion Forums

[unclejoe80]

Hello,

I am curious as to my chances of finding work as an English teacher in Paris. I have a bachelor's degree and also a TEFL cert. Along with this I have about 6 months experience teaching primary school level and secondary school level in Thailand.

So, what kind of chances do i have to find a job in Paris? Is it only more experienced ESL teachers that are finding work in Paris? Any information welcome. Thank you!

[spiral78]

You're Irish, I think?
If so, you've at least got the right passport as a start (legally allowed to work in the EU).

Timing is important - most contracts are Sept/Oct through June, so if you time your job search around September-ish, you'll maximise your chances of landing something reasonable.

[riverboat]

No, you definitely don't need a lot of experience to find work in Paris. Have a look at www.fusac.fr (read the online magazine version) to see that dozens of schools are advertising at the moment. Only a few of them specify experience.

The most important things are EU passport, English mother tongue, to be living here in France already, some kind of TEFL cert, and the impression you give in interview. Experience of having worked in the "real world" (in any type of white-collar job) can also count in your favour. The majority of work is with business people, so you have to show the employer that you are confident, not going to be intimidated by working with high-level professionals, capable of adapting what you do to the demands of individual clients, can present yourself professionaly etc etc.

That said, there is also plenty of work available teaching children if that is what you prefer (and I see that is where your experience is). I have no experience of this myself, but there certainly seems to be high demand for private English lessons (or in some cases just English babysitting) for children, and there are plenty of companies set up to provide this who seem to be constantly looking for teachers.

The main problem with working in Paris is that the vast majority of work (both teaching business clientele and children) is hourly-paid, and though you are usually guaranteed a certain number of hours per year, it is by no means full-time equivalent. Often in some months you *can* build up full time hours, but if your school/agency goes through a quiet period (and they all do) then you could find yourself on 50% FTE or even less.

You can obviously try to plug the gaps with private students, or by juggling two or three schools/agencies but this then presents a whole host of other timetabling/scheduling issues which can be tricky to manage.

There *are* opportunities for full time, permanent contracts (here known as "CDI" contracts) but they are obviously highly fought for. You might get lucky and impress an interviewer in a big school like Berlitz who may offer you one right off the bat, but generally you have to pay your dues and prove yourself in a school/agency before you stand a chance of being offered this type of contract.

Essentially, you'll be able to find work. But living costs here are very high, teaching pay is low, and the best you can hope for (at least at the start) is to break even at the end of the day. This isn't a place to come if you want to save money or enjoy a high standard of living.

[unclejoe80]

Thanks guys, some good info there. How did you know I'm Irish btw?!

I will probably end up somewhere else then Paris in the long term but my girlfriend is there at the moment. I have about 5 months to fill so I might head over. Good to know that I can find something to get some kind of cash flow going.

Also, how much of a requirement is it to be able to speak french? I have basic ability but I'm certainly not fluent. Would this be a barrier at all?

Thanks again!

[spiral78]

[riverboat]

In Paris at least, it's not necessary to speak French to land a teaching job in a private language school. Tons of teachers in language schools don't speak more than basic French when they arrive, and plenty never really progress beyond that point. That's not to say that the bosses of language schools are generally native English speakers, but in my experience most of them will readily interview you in English (with varying degrees of fluency) when they realise you don't speak French. And once in the classroom, the idea (in principal at least) is to only use English so it shouldn't matter one way or the other whether you speak French or not.

[dackinator]

I may as well ask here rather than make an almost identical thread, I'm curious about the same thing.

I've got 3 years experience teaching in spanish/italian speaking countries, plus a degree and celta. Is this enough? Are there particular parts of france where it's easier to find work? I imagine paris is one of the hardest places.

Also i noticed on job websites a lot of schools want you to be able to drive, and sometimes even have your own car. Is this typical?

[riverboat]

Yes, it's definitely enough.

Actually, Paris is by far the easiest place to find work in France. This is because France is an extremely centralised country, all the big businesses (with a very few exceptions) are based in Paris. And it's these big businesses who want and need to train their staff in English. Even when you look at teaching children for example, it's Parisien parents who are much, much more likely to want to give their children supplementary English lessons than "provincial" parents. So the demand for English teachers in Paris is massive in comparison to any other French city.

Obviously opportunities do exist in bigger towns outside Paris, like Lyon, Marseilles, Lille etc but they are much fewer and further between, and much more fought-over. I have an experienced ex-colleague who's currently struggling to find enough teaching work in Toulouse (the fourth largest city in France) to cover her basic living costs.

The problem with ESL teaching in Paris is that living costs are very high and the jobs generally aren't full-time salaried permanent contracts, i.e. where you know exactly how much money you're gonna be earning every month. A lot of stuff is short-term and/or hourly paid, and of course demand dips and wanes at different points in the year.

RE: the driving issue, I couldn't tell you re: the provinces since I have never worked there. But working in Paris it's not essential or even desirable to drive, and it's very rare for employers here to expect teachers to have their own car. I suppose it might be the case for schools who send teachers out to the limits of IDF or beyond, but even so you can get to anywhere from Paris on public transport. No employer that I've dealt with here has asked whether I can drive or not. What job sites are you looking at?

[Binary_Star]

What kind of pay per hour do you get in Paris? And what's the tax like?

[PeterBar]

Salary depends on who you work for.

Social charges will be approx 18% of your gross salary each month.

You are not taxed at source as you would be in the UK.

Workers have to declare their earning for the previous year (Jan 2011 to Dec 2011) before the end of June 2012.
Later they receive a demand for payment from The Hotel des Impots.

If you're not still in France in June 2013 you will not pay any tax on any French earnings for 2012

[dackinator]

[firebird]

[hHold]

Avoid Berlitz France.
If you have an interview with Wall Street try to get a position with Wall Street Pro, their Business English section.
Please note you'll have more chance of getting a job if you're able to teach Corporate English.

[corniche]

http://fusac.fr/fr/annonces_detail.php?&cat=Employment+%26+Careers%0D%0A

Are these the ads you were referring to? It doesn't seem like a lot of work opportunities.

[riverboat]

No. You're looking in the petites annonces, schools place grandes annonces. It's easiest to look in the scanned version of the magazine where it says "tourner les pages".

But also, it's July. July and August are the worst months of the year for hiring.