Job Discussion Forums

[Fa'aitoito]

I am yet another North American who wants to work in France.

Until the age of 35 a Canadian citizen can apply for a year long working vacation visa and/or a year long young professional visa. We can apply for both, one time each. So in total that would give me potentially 2 years to work in France. One has to leave the country to apply for the other, so the 2 years cannot be together.

I am currently 32 years old. I have enrolled in a CELTA course for this November. I hold a BA in International Relations with a minor in French. My ultimate goal is to become a (CAD certified) high school French and Social Studies teacher. (One day I hope to get a masters, in either teaching or political science.)

My questions to all you folks would be:

assuming I can get a year long work visa, would it be better for me to pursue my high school teaching certificate before heading to France to look for work?

Would having a HS teacher certification make a huge difference when I still have no experience? My main employment for the last 10 years has been construction work at an oil refinery and some teaching in a martial art. My resume is dismal.

Rather than getting my HS certification right now, would it be better to get some teaching experience in, say, Eastern Europe before trying in France? I know France really doesnt view construction work too highly. I would be pretty self-concious handing out my current resume... I don't even have a very technical trade, I doubt anyone needs to know specialised vocabulary from an industrial plasterer!

Time is of the essence. Due to my age I do not want to miss the chance for a work visa. The high school teaching program here is 12 months, starting next July which would make me nearly 34 when it is over. I feel like this may be cutting it close. However, if having a HS certificate greatly increases my chances for a job when I have little experience I would consider it.

For all I know a year long visa won't be enough for a job anyways...


If you are going to have goals, make them big!!! right????


Thanks for any thoughts or flames

[riverboat]

Well I've taught in a few construction companies here over the years, so you might be surprised!

Would you actually get experience teaching in a high school before you came? Or would it just be a theoretical qualification?

Are you looking to actually teach in international schools, rather than language schools?

I can't speak for the market in general, but if you have CELTA, some French and are personable and come across well in interview, I think that would be enough for quite a few language schools. I'm not sure how many additional doors a high school teaching diploma from North America would open in the professional language school market.

In any case, you have to take a risk at some point because you won't get offered a job before you actually arrive here and start knocking on doors.

Can't comment on the visa/working rights issues unfortunately, I don't have a clue.

[Fa'aitoito]

thank you for the response.

yeah I supose, as far as language schools go, I doubt a NA teaching certificate would be useful. I was thinking maybe it would only be useful in lieu of actual teaching experience. If I do the certificate, I definately wouldnt have time to get any experience without limiting my visa years.

That would be more useful for international schools. Teaching at an international school would be my eventual goal but for the time being I lack experience, especially for somewhere popular like France.

I do speak french fluently, although my written french has suffered even as my oral skills improve.

I am still undecided. I supose I ought to just bite the bullet and go.

speaking of construction companies, have you had any contact with oil refinery companies or sub-contractors?

[Nicky_McG]

I would just come to France. It's a great experience

From what I hear, Paris has lots of work (I'm employed by several Universities in Lille but you'd probably need some experience/qualifications to get a uni post).

A one-year visa won't be to your detriment as you will most likely be offered a CDD contract of less than a year.

Best of luck!

[PeterBar]

The standard visa for a non EU national is 90 days in the country followed by at least 90 days outside the EU.

Special, difficult and expensive to obtain working visas are required if "you" hope to get a job. These visas are obtained by the employers who have to prove to the authorities that "you" have special skills and expertise.

Most employers find that Irish or UK native speakers are easier to employ because they don't need any visa at all to work legally in any EU country.

[Fa'aitoito]