Living and Working in France
David Hampshire
Living and Working in France, first published in 1993 and now in its 9th edition, is the most accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date book available about daily life – and is essential reading for newcomers. What's it really like Living and Working in France? Not surprisingly there's a lot more to life than baguettes, berets and boules! This book is guaranteed to hasten your introduction to la vie française, irrespective of whether you're planning to stay for a few months or indefinitely. Adjusting to day-to day-life in France just got a whole lot simpler!
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Other guides for France
Extracts from the book…
Hand-holding Services & Expatriate Organisations
A number of English-speaking expatriates offer ‘hand-holding’ services to new arrivals. As with any service provider, some are worth their weight in gold while others are a complete waste of time and money, so it’s essential to ask for and follow up references before paying a joining or annual membership fee (typically around €100 each).
Services may range from help with house hunting and buying to finding tradesmen and completing tax returns. An extensive and well established network of hand-holding services is the Granny Network (02 51 98 23 96, www.grannynetwork.com), which operates in several areas of France (listed on the site and subject to change).
Specific assistance is available to scientists and researchers and their families coming to work in Ile-de-France through services provided by the French Academy of Sciences. The Fondation Nationale Alfred Kastler (FnAK, www. fnak.fr – available in ‘English’) and Science Accueil (www.saclay-scientipole.org/ science accueil/uk_index.htm – available in ‘English’) offer help finding accommodation and obtaining financial services, insurance and residence permits.
Expatriate Organisations:
There’s usually at least one Englishlanguage expatriate organisation in major French cities; in Paris foreigners are well served by English speaking clubs and organisations and there are several Anglophone organisations in the Bordeaux area. Contacts can be found through many expatriate magazines and newspapers (see page 377). An English-speaking counsellor in certain parts of France can be found via www.counsellinginfrance.com. In Paris, the American Church (01 40 62 05 00, www.acparis.org), runs an annual newcomer’s orientation series in October called ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’. The programme is designed to help foreigners adjust to life in France and consists of seminars on topics such as overcoming culture shock, survival skills, personal and professional opportunities, networking, enjoying France and its food, fashion, travel and wine.
The capital also houses The Association of American Wives of Europeans (01 40 70 11 80, www.aaweparis.org), which is a member of the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO) and publishes the snappily titled Vital Issues: How to Survive Officialdom while Living in France; the Association France Grande- Bretagne (01 55 78 71 71, www. afgb.free.fr), whose aim is to foster links between the two nations; The British & Commonwealth Women’s Association (01 47 20 50 91, www.bcwa.org); and WICE (01 45 66 75 50, www. wice-paris.org), an anglophone expatriate organisation which operates a ‘Living in France’ programme for newcomers and doesn’t like people to know what its acronym stands for.
Associations outside the capital include Anglophones Pau-Pyrénées (http://pau.anglophones.com, pau@anglophones.com), the Association France Grande- Bretagne Cannes (04 93 99 04 28) and the Mulhouse English Speaking Society (03 89 66 56 80). There are French ‘versions’ of the Round Table and 41 Club associations – La Table Ronde Française (www.trf.asso.fr) and Le Club 41 Français (www.club41francais.asso. fr) – which may have English-speaking members.
Work Attitudes
French firms have traditionally been expected to care for their employees and most have a paternalistic attitude. Experience, maturity and loyalty are highly valued (although qualifications are even more valuable) and newcomers generally find it difficult to secure a senior position with a French company.
The traditional hierarchical structure of French businesses, with little contact between management and workers, both of whom are reluctant to take on responsibilities outside their immediate duties, has given way to a more ‘modern’ reward-for-achievement attitude and relations between management and staff have generally improved, although the French ‘old boy’ network is still alive and well and can militate against foreigners achieving the promotion they deserve (see Industrial Relations on page 23). ‘Job hopping’ as a way of increasing your salary or promotion prospects is rare.
As in the US, French employers tend to expect high standards and are intolerant of mistakes or inefficiency. However, it’s difficult and expensive to fire employees. When it comes to hiring new employees (particularly managers and executives) and making important business decisions, the process is slower in France than in many other developed countries.
Many foreigners, particularly Americans, find that they need to adjust to a slower pace of working life. Most French managers and executives rarely take work home and they never work at weekends, which are sacrosanct.
Don’t be misled by French people’s apparent lack of urgency and casual approach to business – they can be just as hard-headed as any other people. Business relations tend to be formal: colleagues usually address each other as vous rather than tu and often use surnames instead of first names, and social relationships with work colleagues are rare. Attire is generally formal, although in some companies Fridays are ‘casual dress’ days.
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PRICE: £14.95
PUBLICATION: March 2008
EDITION: 9th
PAGES: 480
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: A5 (210mm x 148mm)
COLOUR PHOTOS: over 200
