Thinking of moving to France - but is this stupid?

LegacyUser

Hello,

The boyfriend and I (late twenties) have recently been thinking about moving to France for a year. We both have pretty solid jobs in Ireland and would be going purely for the experience. Is this a wise move, considering the job situation in Ireland, or would it be a foolish decision?

Any opinions welcome!

slumped

OohLaLa wrote: »

Hello,

The boyfriend and I (late twenties) have recently been thinking about moving to France for a year. We both have pretty solid jobs in Ireland and would be going purely for the experience. Is this a wise move, considering the job situation in Ireland, or would it be a foolish decision?

Any opinions welcome!

What do you think you will achieve by moving to France?

France is 2 hours away on Ryanair - Hardly a ground breaking move??

The recession will last until 2011 I think - if you leave your job now, what guarantee have you that you will A. Get a Job in France or B. Get jobs when you come home.

S

unreggd

+1


If your gna move away, go somewhere like Canada, or Australia [original! :rolleyes:]

Some Qs to ask:

Do you speak fluent France-learned French?
Do you have a job secured already?
Do you have qualifications that would let you get a job no problem?
What are the pros / cons of goin to France?


Im guessin u wanna get away cos Ireland is crap, but theres no point in avoidin a crap place by goin to a crap place

LegacyUser

Why not?

I'd love to live in France for a while..... great food, great wine and simple living in a small town or in one of the big cities.

Why not take a three week break over there to get a feel for the place and then decide.

Ireland is always going to be here and by the time you return (if you do) you'll be in your early 30s with a great experience behind you.

Speaking French would obviously a great advantage as would getting some sort of job sorted.

Also, if you are going for the experience, you might try to get work other than what you do at the mo.

SpookyDoll

Very hard to get a job in France.

Wagon

Go on, go to France. Im moving to Italy nexy year for the craic, despite the country being in recession too it'll be interesting anyway. Not much goig on here. And don't worry about jobs. A business only cares about itself and sees you as expendable. So feck them and go explore where you want.

What do you think you will achieve by moving to France?

France is 2 hours away on Ryanair - Hardly a ground breaking move??

What does it matter how far away it is? In terms of culture, language, it's 'further away' than the US or Australia. It's really rewarding to live in another country and communicate in another language every day.

Having said that, it is very hard to get a job in France, especially if you're looking for some sort of 9-5 office job. I'm moving to the continent next year, but I have a job I can move around with. We need more information - what exactly do you do?

cwynnes

Do it, dont think about it too much or worry about it too much, whats the worst that can happen? worst case scenario is you could end up having a great time and actually enjoy yourself, down with that sort of thing, we should all stay at home where things never change and live in fear for the rest of our lives...

As the 2nd poster clearly pointed out, france is 2 hours away on ryanair, so it if all goes so wrong and you regret moving, you dont have far to go if you want to move home again

I lived in france for 6 months without a word of french and i loved it, someday im gonna go back there to live, it really is such a nice place to be

please dont listen to our narrow minded friends on this forum telling you to stay at home

A recession will come and go, jobs will come and go. you only get one chance at life, spend the time wisely

missyb

I hear Canada is fantastic alright.My best friend lived 2 years in France, and always says she is so glad she speaks french that it would have been a night mare otherwise. I dont know whether you do or not.

Have you thought about whose bringing the horse.......:o

Lex_Diamonds

Do it. And here comes the cliché....You Only Live Once.

Terodil

1. Take your chances!

2. Hedge your risks.

You don't want to say bye to everybody without having established a firm foothold in France first. Make sure that everything is sorted before you go:

* you got a signed work contract (even if it's a trial period)
* you have made sure your health insurance and old age funds along with everything else substantial can be moved or simply continue without restrictions (that is very important for health insurance)
* you have somewhere to live

Also make sure you plan your timing right; you'll want a detailed time plan or you will risk forgetting important steps. Maybe plan several stretches; maybe a prolongated holiday over there first to check out living and to do the job interviews (group them together in that time so you can be efficient about it), then another moving holiday to set you up, and then the final move.

Good luck!

speaktofrank

unreggd wrote: »

Im guessin u wanna get away cos Ireland is crap, but theres no point in avoidin a crap place by goin to a crap place

Wow, how insightful :rolleyes:Guess you have never lived in France.
I have been living in France for the last three or so years and I quite like it actually. Speaking the language is a must though if you want to get a decent job. Unless you want to go into English teaching. You might be able to do the assistantship programme if you and bf both have degrees. (teaching English in secondary schools for 12 hrs a week)
Other than teaching bar work or admin positions are readily available. I would recommend you go to the South of France, I am working in Lyon and its a great life, life is slower, things are more laid back and the weather is great.
Accomodation is a hell of a lot cheaper than Dublin too.
If you need any extra info feel free to ask.

LegacyUser

Thanks all, we were in France for a couple of weeks earlier this year and loved it. And have been a few times in the past.

The French isn't great but isn't non-existant either. One goal would be to speak better French at the end of it.

We can't go too far; as my boyfriend has a child he will have to come home and visit from time to time!

sitstill

speaktofrank wrote: »

Wow, how insightful :rolleyes:Guess you have never lived in France.
I have been living in France for the last three or so years and I quite like it actually. Speaking the language is a must though if you want to get a decent job. Unless you want to go into English teaching. You might be able to do the assistantship programme if you and bf both have degrees. (teaching English in secondary schools for 12 hrs a week)
Other than teaching bar work or admin positions are readily available. I would recommend you go to the South of France, I am working in Lyon and its a great life, life is slower, things are more laid back and the weather is great.
Accomodation is a hell of a lot cheaper than Dublin too.
If you need any extra info feel free to ask.

This is really interesting. How do you go about getting an assistantship in a secondary school?

Baybay

speaktofrank wrote: »

Speaking the language is a must though if you want to get a decent job. Unless you want to go into English teaching. You might be able to do the assistantship programme if you and bf both have degrees. (teaching English in secondary schools for 12 hrs a week)
Other than teaching bar work or admin positions are readily available. I would recommend you go to the South of France

I agree French is essential not only for employment but also for all the admin that is part and parcel of French life.

Outside the touristy areas and cities bar work will probably not be readily available and usually not at this time of year.

Having your qualifications recognised may not be straightforward.

Parts of the south of France, though gorgeous and, depending where you are, very expensive, have a high unemployment rate.

You will also be liable for a "taxe habitation" on where you live (your landlord, or you if you buy, is responsible for the other "property" tax.) These vary but could be around E1,000 a year.

Google the Total France forum. It gives lots of information on many aspects of French life.

Having said all that, I'd go for it.:)

MagicMarker

OohLaLa wrote: »

Thanks all, we were in France for a couple of weeks earlier this year and loved it. And have been a few times in the past.

The French isn't great but isn't non-existant either. One goal would be to speak better French at the end of it.

We can't go too far; as my boyfriend has a child he will have to come home and visit from time to time!

I think your boyfriend needs to get his priorities straight. It goes something like this...

Child > everything else.

Unless by a 'while' you mean every week or 2?

How is your boyfriend going to support his child when you are in France? What if you can't find jobs, what if because of this you have to come back and you still can't find jobs?

I would have said go, but the fact he has a child and is willing to move away for a year is saddening to say the least.

The_Conductor

Unemployment levels, while not trending nearly as badly as Irish rates, are rising in France too- the biggest factor in this is the fact that the tourism industry is going through one of its periodic slowdowns.

If you both have decent stable jobs in Ireland at the moment- I would be very hesitant to give them up on the pretext that you'll get something suitable in France.

I am not sure about the South of France- but many towns and cities are vastly intolerant of people who do not speak fluent French- and also highly suspicious of outsiders.

There are a number of very good books you can get which might help you come to a decision about living and working in France. My own personal favourite is the Culture Shock one by Frances Gendlin (it focuses on Paris, but the customs and etiquette section is equally applicable elsewhere).

S.

biko

Do go but don't expect it to be like a holiday again, only a year this time instead of two weeks.
Only go if you are sure to manage moneywise.

cwynnes

Why is everyone so concentrated on having a job, job job job work work work...you must find job, must work blah blah blah, im not saying work isnt important, of course it is but enjoying your life, taking some time out, escaping from the daily routine, that is what is truely important, if you have money enough to support yourselves in france for a few months well then do it, think about work later on, dont let that be your primary concern.... i might be strange but i think theres more to life than work

AngryBadger

Living/working in another country is great for expanding horizons, immersing yourself in culture and all that.

However, you're talking about going for a year, and in that case I'd kind of wander what's the point? We all know what the jobs market is like in Ireland right now, I have no famliarity with the french jobs market but given the current global economic climate I'd say it's safe to assume getting a job over there won't be any easier. So you'd be leaving good jobs here in Ireland for jobs which may not pay as well in France, just so you can live there for a year, then come home and potentially have to take a pay-cut in order to find work.

granted things may have improved in a years time, but I wouldn't see the point in moving to France for a year right now when you have a good job already.

qt9ukbg60ivjrn

slumped wrote: »

What do you think you will achieve by moving to France?

France is 2 hours away on Ryanair - Hardly a ground breaking move??



S

-1

thats ridiculous, the cultural difference is huge, the time it takes to get there has nothing to do with it

and to the person who said go far - to Canada?

irish culture is more influenced by american culture than any other culture (as is canada) so moving there, while it will be a change, won't be as big a change as france, unless you go to the the frecnh speaking part of canada

also the bonus of learning a new language!

Terodil

cwynnes wrote: »

Why is everyone so concentrated on having a job, job job job work work work [...] i might be strange but i think theres more to life than work

Agreed, however a year abroad will invariably be a very very large drain on your bank account, and tossing thoughts about the long-term future completely out of the window because you fancy dropping out for a while is nothing I'd recommend. People will strike a balance somewhere between work and fun (if they're not lucky enough to have fun while working that is ) -- but with our social systems going down the drain you have to make sure that you can still sustain yourself at 70. It gets even more complicated when kids are involved: I remember reading a study that estimated the cost of raising a child will clock in between 250K and 1M. That has to come from somewhere.