[amandine889]

Hello all,

I'm an American with a Master's degree in French language and literature, on my second year as a lectrice d'anglais at the University of Rennes. The first year was through an exchange program; the second year was just a renewal (my uni sent a new exchange student). I hear that I can only be a lectrice for two years, so come July 2014 my time is up.

I know I have to find another company to sponsor me to obtain another visa, and I know that it can be incredibly difficult for foreigners to find jobs in France. What I'm hoping is that, a) already being here with work experience and b) speaking quite decent French, that I'll be able to find something.

Does anyone have some ideas of what *kind* of job to search out? Since I've hit my limit as an English Assistant?

Any and all suggestions welcome and appreciated, much thanks.

 

[dreamoutloud]

May I suggest "any job you think you can do?" The job market isn't great, so no need to limit yourself unnecessarily... Although the French are much more hung up on specific degree qualifications, which is rather limiting in the field of French literature, you never know when you might be able to find someone willing to go out on a limb and hire you for something else. I have a degree in international relations, but I was able to find a company willing to sponsor me for a visa working in online communications for a business school (I do, however, have a background working in staff positions in higher ed institutions).

My second suggestion is to look for a business that is reasonably large enough and international enough to have experience sponsoring visas for foreigners. A small company that's never done it before might tell you yes... Until they look at what it involves. And then they'll say no, and you've lost time.

I suppose the obvious thing would be to look for English-teaching positions in private schools, but I've never actually seen a private school willing to sponsor a visa (though I've heard from others that some do) and I don't know how attached they would be to you having a degree in teaching English vs. your work experience.

 

[amandine889]

Thank you very much, dreamoutloud. Do you think it'd be feasible to get a Master's in English so that I could become a maître de langue? I do actually love my job, and as far as I've read, a maître de langue is sort of the next step up.

Thanks again for your response.

 

[Bevdeforges]

You may want to take a look at this so you know what you're asking of a potential employer:
L'embauche d'un étranger

Officially, in order to get a work visa, you are supposed to have to return back home to make the application once your employer-to-be has obtained work permission for you. It is sometimes possible to get around this step, but generally only with a very large company that has excellent working relations with the Ministry of Labor (or whoever is handling this stuff these days).

I suspect it's the same if you want to switch to a student visa to do further studies, since you have to prove that you have the resources to live in France for the duration of your program.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[petitemarseillaise]

amandine889,

I read your post and I was wondering how you came about your job as a lectrice d'anglais. Any help getting steared in that direction would be soooo much appreciated !

 

[amandine889]

petitemarseillaise,

I came through an exchange program, but maybe try Paris Unraveled's blog post: How to Apply for a Job as a Lecteur d'Anglais in a French University (I'd post a link but I'm too new to the forum and it won't let me, sorry!)