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WORKING IN FRANCE

The best job search websites in France and tips for using them

Are you looking for work in France? These are websites you might want to bookmark, plus tips for navigating the job search.

Published: 6 May 2024 15:35 CEST
The best job search websites in France and tips for using them
Children participate in a special German language class for recently arrived migrant children. / AFP / JOE KLAMAR

If you are looking for a job in France, then you might find that the job search websites you used in your home country do not offer as many results here.

France has its own popular job search websites, in addition to those that are popular in the US and UK, though they might need a bit of tweaking to get more results in France.

Here are the websites you will want to bookmark as you search starting with The Local’s own job search site and below you’ll find a list of essential tips to know about job-hunting in France.

LinkedIn

Popular in the anglophone world, LinkedIn is commonly used for job seekers in France too. It’s pretty simple – you can just search for jobs normally, while changing the location to ‘France’.

If you can work in both languages, consider adding a few lines to your LinkedIn ‘bio’ in French.

Indeed 

To look for jobs in France with Indeed you will need to use the French version (fr.indeed.com), and you can expect almost all of the job offers to be in French.

One benefit to ‘Indeed’ is that you can check salary estimates for your role or field, which is found under the ‘Estimation de salaire’ tab.

Welcome to the Jungle

This job site is very popular in France. There are both French and English versions. One of the benefits is that you can see a small description of the company, including gender breakdowns, the number of employees, and the average age of employees.

As the site is geared toward French people, there are many more French-speaking than English-speaking roles.

French Tech Jobs

As France seeks to attract foreign investment, innovative tech companies and start-ups, the government has created more resources and websites to help qualified foreigners move here.

One website is ‘French tech jobs’, which lists available English-language tech jobs across France. 

Many tech workers can qualify for the ‘talent passport’ residency card, which acts as its own work permit and makes life a lot easier for skilled candidates looking to move here.

READ MORE: Talent passport – The little-known French visa that could make moving to France a lot easier

HelloWork

This French job site is popular amongst recruiters. One benefit for job seekers is that you can select the language of the job you are searching for, so you can narrow down English only options.

That being said, be sure to read the entire job description – many roles in France might be listed in English, but later they will require at least some minimum level of French.

Glassdoor

You might be familiar with the English version, but to search for jobs in France you will want to use Glassdoor.fr.

The one downside to Glassdoor is that you need an account to start job searching, but similar to Indeed it also has helpful salary and company information if you create an account.

READ MORE: What is ‘job dating’ in France?

France Travail

Previously ‘Pôle Emploi’, France Travail is the employment arm of the French government. The France Travail website has a search bar for jobs. It also has plenty of useful pages and information on building your CV, interviewing, and getting additional training. 

In comparison to the other websites listed above, this one will skew even more toward Francophone jobs (on account of being a government website).

READ MORE: Digital nomad: What are the rules on working remotely from France?

Essential tips for job hunters

Before you start looking for work in France, you will want to think about a few things.

First – do you have the right to work in France? If you are an EU national, then you have the right to freedom of movement. Spouses of French and EU nationals can also qualify for residency permits that allow the right to work.

However, non-EU nationals looking to move to France, as well as people already resident here, need to think about whether they will need a work permit. 

You can use the simulator on the French visa website HERE to get an idea of whether it will be necessary, depending on your residency status. 

READ MORE: Three things to know about work permits in France

Second – consider salary levels and contract types. If you are moving to France from the United States, you will likely notice that the same role in France will pay significantly less than it would in the US.

There are pros and cons to consider with this – healthcare costs in France, for instance, may be lower than in the US. Depending on where you are coming from, cost of living might be lower or higher in France than what you are used to in your home country.

READ MORE: How much money do I need to live in France?

France also has specific types of contracts. The CDI is an unlimited contract, and this can be harder to come by. On the other hand, the CDD is a fixed-term contract. These are more common, but they might run only a few months. 

Third – language. If you do not speak French, then you will have a harder time finding work here. While there are some opportunities in English, if you are only searching using English terms then you probably will see limited results.

To view more options, search your sector’s name and job title in French and use it to set up some alerts. If you want a job that is not entirely in French, add ‘anglais’ or ‘anglophone’ to the search bar.

Keep in mind that a lot of options will be for bilingue jobs, meaning you would be expected to work in both English and French (meaning you would likely need a minimum level of French to apply).

If you are looking for jobs solely in English, then you could keep your searches to English only, but your options might be limited.

Depending on your sector, you might start by looking for large American or British companies with offices in France to see if they have any openings or to set up a job alert for the future. 

READ MORE: Ask the expert: How to write the perfect French resume

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READER QUESTION

Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

As cafés in Spain launch a crackdown on remote workers who hog tables for hours without buying anything, what's the etiquette over working from a café in France?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:30 CEST
Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

Reader question: I’m visiting France shortly and I will need to do some work while I’m there – is it socially acceptable to go to a café and use my laptop there?

Over the border in Spain, cafés in Valencia, Barcelona and Santiago are reportedly ‘on a war footing’ against laptop-users, with some cutting the wifi during peak hours or just banning them altogether.

Fortunately in France, things are a little more relaxed – although this will depend on exactly where you are and how busy the café is. 

First things first – there are no local or national laws about laptop use in cafés (which you might think is a given but France does love to legislate) so the rules are up to the individual café owner and their staff. 

Culturally, however, there is something of a tradition of working in French cafés – famous writers from Victor Hugo to Ernest Hemmingway wrote novels while loitering in cafés, philosophers from Voltaire to Jean-Paul Sartre held discussion groups in Paris cafés and poverty-stricken artists have attempted to pay for their drinks with paintings (usually unsuccessfully).

In more modern times it’s completely normal for work-related meetings to be held in cafés while in cities where people tend to live in small apartments it’s common for social groups such as book clubs to meet in cafés.

But how does this all relate to opening up your laptop and getting down to work?

Well is varies, but there are a few things to think about;

Location – working on a laptop is undoubtedly more common in cities than it is in smaller places and in areas like the Paris or Bordeaux businesses districts it is a common site to see people typing away, perhaps in between business meetings that they have lined up in the café. 

Café size/occupation – take a look around you, is the café busy with people waiting for tables? Is it a tiny place with only space for a few tables? In these cases you’re less likely to be welcome to loiter for hours. If, however, things are quiet and there are plenty of tables it probably won’t be a problem to spend a few hours catching up with work 

Time of day – while this may vary in smaller towns, most city cafés are open all day – catering for the breakfast crowd, then into morning coffee, lunch and leading into the apéro hour and dinner.

Naturally cafés get busier at lunchtime (12 noon to 2pm) and when apéro starts (usually about 6pm) so you’re likely to be less welcome to take up a table for long periods during these times. If you’ve been there all morning and the server pointedly starts adding cutlery to your table, it’s probably a sign that they want the table back for the lunch-time busy period. You could of course order lunch yourself. 

Type of café – not all cafés are created equal and there are many different types. While most places have no problem with people working there, in recent years some Paris cafés have decided to impose limits on laptop use.

One of those is the Fringe café in the trendy Marais district. Owner Jeff told The Local: “I’m not against laptops, but I am against the minority of users who will sit down for four or five hours, with the cheapest drink. That’s not respectful to the space, so the decision came about because of those few who do that. We call them squatters.”

However this view is far from universal. Nix Audon, a server at Café de la Poste, said: “We evolve with the times, we even offer wifi for free. People can come, relax, and do what they need to.”

Before Nix worked at Café de la Poste, he was a customer. “I would come here every day after work just to relax. For me, café culture is about being able to chill, and sit for however long you want. Cafés are a huge part of social life for Parisians and café culture is intended to be inclusive of everyone, including those who want to sit and work on their laptops.”

While this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, we’ve noticed that most of the places that do have laptop bans are more ‘coffee shops’ in the American style (think loads of different coffee types with elaborate alternative milk options and big slabs of cake) than traditional French cafés (oat milk is for baby oats but the wine selection is excellent).

Do you need to order something? Yes, absolutely, it is only polite to order something if you intend to take up a table for long periods and no that thing cannot be tap water (which is free in French bars, restaurants and cafés).

How much you need to order depends on how long you want to stay – but staying all day and ordering a single espresso (roughly €2) would definitely be regarded as pushing your luck.

That said, French cafés mostly have a ‘no hurry’ policy and you’re unlikely to be rushed out as soon as you have finished your drink unless the café is very busy and you’re in a very touristy area. Lingering over a single coffee while you people-watch and/or think great thoughts is definitely part of France’s traditional culture.

Just ask – of course, you can just ask if it’s OK to work there. The places that don’t appreciate laptop users usually have a sign up to that effect, sometimes just covering a specific time like asking people not to use laptops at weekends or in the evening.

But if you’re unsure, just ask your server 

J’aimerais travailler sur mon ordinateur pendant quelques heures, si c’est possible ? – I’d like to work on my laptop for a couple of hours, if that’s OK?

Je peux utiliser un ordinateur portable ici ? – Is it OK to use a laptop here?

Alternatives – if you want to do more than a couple of hours of work, you might look for a more formal solution. France has a variety of options for people who need a work space, with the most popular being ‘un co-working‘ – a shared workspace where you pay for your time by the hour or the day.

Many of the larger and more business-orientated hotels also offer work spaces and meeting spaces.

Meanwhile in the larger cities there is the trend of ‘un co-homing‘ where people open up their apartments – for a fee – to people who need a space to work, plus a little social interaction.

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