Moving to France - Online resources

IvyTheTerrible

I've just been offered a job in France, so I will be moving over there permanently next month.

Does anyone know of any online resources, similar to our "citizensinformation.gov.ie" site that deals with things you need to know about living and starting to work over there?

It doesn't have to be in English (but that would be handier!).

Thanks in advance.

seachto7

not sure, but the britishexpats.com/forum has some good info on France

On a side note, did you apply from Ireland for your job? Did you apply with a French or English CV?

IvyTheTerrible

seachto7 wrote: »

not sure, but the britishexpats.com/forum has some good info on France

On a side note, did you apply from Ireland for your job? Did you apply with a French or English CV?

Thanks for that.

I used a French website http://www.abg.asso.fr to search for the job. It's mainly for graduate/postdoctoral jobs but I found it very useful.

I applied from Ireland, I wrote my cover letter in French but left my CV in English...but as it is a scientific job, English is very very important for these types of jobs. If you're going for another job, I would certainly put your CV in French.

My interview (by phone) was mostly in English but partly in French.

seachto7

thanks. that's good to know

seachto7

Are there any good French recruitment sites apart from monster. It seems every bilingual job is in bloody Paris. I'd like to go to the west of France, within a few hours of the sea if possible...(that's if I were to go). I like the water...

IvyTheTerrible

seachto7 wrote: »

Are there any good French recruitment sites apart from monster. It seems every bilingual job is in bloody Paris. I'd like to go to the west of France, within a few hours of the sea if possible...(that's if I were to go). I like the water...

That ABG site is the only one I know..sorry!

Toulouse has some big companies there...might be a good place to look!

spuddy

I lived in France for a few years.

I don't recall any all-in-one sites, but you can find most of the information you need on the various government sites (.gouv.fr) Using google.fr helps!
Word to note, France is exteremely bureaucratic, everything requires written proof, registered letters, quadruple signatures... etc all of which are carefully scrutinized. But on the whole, everything works reasonably well, and despite any of the preconceptions, I find the French very warm, esp. once you make even the slightest effort to speak the lingo.

Here's a few general points off the top of my head:

Accomodation:
Nobody house shares, everyone rents their own apartment (from my experience, price of a room in Dublin got me an entire apartment in Nantes)
Not everyone lives in the suburbs, apartments can generally be easily found in city areas.
Watch out normal notice period is 3 months.
You need contents insurance.
Apartments are rarely furnished (but Ikea is never usually far away)
Rent is usually quoted exclusive of the building charges.
Don't forget to factor in the council tax (tax d'habitation) when doing your sums.

Food & Drink:
Eating out is pretty reasonable
Drinking out is as expensive if not more than home (supermarket booze is far far cheaper than home)
Other than booze, I didn't notice much difference in my weekly bill.

Public transport:
Usually good, on time and inexpensive (~€1.20 for an hour's use)
TGVs, efficient, fast...400 km/h and you're hardly even aware!

Private transport
No VRT so new cars look cheap
Slower depreciation than home (no reg year on your number plate helps), so 2nd hand isn't such good value, plus the French tend to hang on to their cars till they die. They also I found have a lower level of interest in cars than home (nothing like TopGear on French TV).
No road tax, abolished some years ago, now included in the price of petrol/diesel. (understandably more expensive than home, best value at the supermarkets)
Diesel is much cheaper (20c) cheaper than petrol, thus nearly all cars are oil burners.
Insurance is much cheaper than home. (no claims bonus in operation, based on up to your previous 13 years driving! ...most insurance companies will take on board your Irish no claims experience, as long as you have written, recently dated proof)

Utilities:
In or around the same, except broadband which is far far cheaper (€30 a month for 20meg, all landline phone calls in europe, us, oz..., and 100 odd TV channels)

Tax:
Higher than home! (pays for the health service though)
You pay it on the previous year's earnings, file a tax return each year (you need to become intimately familiar with this system)
Council tax (usually equivalent to one month's rent, but varies from town to town)
TV licence (~€115, included with your council tax)
There's an online income tax calculator here: http://www.impots.gouv.fr/

Health:
Best system in the world (according to World Health Org.)
State pays a large proportion of the cost of treatment AND medication. You can take complimentary insurance for the rest. (not expensive)
Doctor costs €22 per visit
Consultants about €50/60 (must visit a GP first however to get a referral, can take a long time to get an appointment with some consultants), dentists (think about €30/40 for a filling) ...all reimboursed!
Pharmacies are generally very good about recommending generic versions of drugs, and very apologetic when recommending something which isn't reimboursed.

Banking
Day to day banking is more expensive than home! (no such thing as "free" fees)
Expect to pay between €50-€150 p.a. for a current account with a card, cheque book (wait till you see how many forms and how long it takes to open an account!)
No interest paid on your current account
You pay for everything, handsomely. (they're always trying to get you to buy packages of services, insurance etc you don't need)
No government charges though (except tax on savings interest, but this declared on your income tax return, but there are a few accounts available which aren't subject to tax)
Visa/Mastercard - all available as either debit or credit cards
Some banks do Visa electon (handy for Ryanair)

If you've got any other questions, drop me a line.

Bonne chance.

seachto7

great info there spuddy!!!

I've just applied for some jobs in La Rochelle and in Nantes. Got my CV and cover letter translated, so I'll see how it goes....

testicle

The ANPEs - the national employment agency - website is very good. As far as I am aware all job vacancies are required by law to be on it.

spuddy

seachto7 wrote: »

great info there spuddy!!!

I've just applied for some jobs in La Rochelle and in Nantes. Got my CV and cover letter translated, so I'll see how it goes....

Nantes is a great town, but it's just over an hours drive to the sea (La Baule, Les Sables d'Olonne), whereas with La Rochelle you're right beside it!

IvyTheTerrible

Spuddy, thanks a million for that!

Luckily my boyfriend is french, and i have organised somewhere to stay for the first few months, so that side of things is easy. But it's nice to have information myself for setting up bank a/cs and stuff like that!

seachto7

spuddy wrote: »

Nantes is a great town, but it's just over an hours drive to the sea (La Baule, Les Sables d'Olonne), whereas with La Rochelle you're right beside it!

Thats why I applied to the coastal areas. One thing I like about Ireland is the sea is pretty close by to almost everywhere, and while I wouldn't be an avid surfer, I like to take the board to the west as much as I can. I'm only an hour away, but would love to live on the sea...

unreggd

Yo

Im plannin to move over to France to work for a few months, see how it is, and hopefully stay for good

Was gonna go over on a USIT work placement but its finished now. They said it might be back on in a few months, but im not sure

Anyways, Ive heard its near impossible to just go over to France and look for a job when you're there

But I might just do it anyway. Worst case scenario I come home and try find another placement program

My french is pretty good, I did HL in school 1st - 6th year, and was one of the top in the class
[/bighead] :P
But im gonna start studyin it again and do one of the 12 week courses

Grammar wise im grand, its just actual knowledge of Vocab and Verbs I need to work on
Also, Ive a friend who's from Paris so Ill try speak to her en Francais as much as I can

And my CV is pretty versatile, Ive worked in loads of places

I found other programs in the UK I might be able to go on but ill see

I just hope t god the USIT one re-opens cos it'd be SO handy



Has anyone just gone and looked when they got there??

cheers

Ponster

unreggd wrote: »

Has anyone just gone and looked when they got there??

Yes but that was 10 years ago.

I have so far hired about 8 people this year. Unemployment has been between 8% and 10% for over 15 years though there's always jobs for people with certain skills.
I'd say it's always worth coming over if you have someone to stay with at the start at least. A lot of companies are willing to hire people who's French is only barely ok if they have perfect English presuming that they'll pick up the French while in the country.


http://totalfrance.com/france/forum/index.php is also a useful resource for expats.

unreggd

Cool

My friends from Paris lives here so I'd be goin over on me own, rentin an apartment

My French would be intermediate/advanced, but not fluent. Like I said, its just my richness of the language I need to work on

thanks for the link

anladmór

hi, can someone show me a website that shows normal houses in relatively built up areas in the suburbs of paris. my mum wants to check something for a reason

seachto7

I've been applying for jobs in France (French CV and cover letter) over the last few weeks. Do they usually consider applications from abroad?

Ponster

anladmór wrote: »

hi, can someone show me a website that shows normal houses in relatively built up areas in the suburbs of paris. my mum wants to check something for a reason

http://www.seloger.co.uk/