Go France! The arrival time for work being at 9:30 (or even 10:00) really surprised me
- Career Center
- Le 5 octobre 2022
Audencia's Career Center and Alumni teams are delighted to to bring you “Go France!”, the guide to working in France.
Following the success of the first guide in 2019, this new updated edition revisits advice from HR professionals, input from intercultural experts and shares yet more experiences of working in France for internationals. Alumni say they choose France for its corporate culture and impact-driven working environment but also for its croissants!“Go France!” is a valuable resource for students staying in France after their studies at Audencia.
This week, discover what Kendra Meserve from the USA has to say.
About Kendra:
- GRADUATED FROM THE MSC IM PROGRAMME IN 2016
- FROM THE USA
- CURRENT POSITION INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT MANAGER FOR THE VIDEO GAME JUST DANCE AT UBISOFT IN PARIS
- NATIVE LANGUAGE ENGLISH
- DAILY WORKING LANGUAGES FRENCH AND ENGLISH
- FRENCH LEVEL ADVANCED (B2/C1)
- LIVING IN FRANCE SINCE 2012
Kendra's key message: “Maybe it’s just Paris, but the arrival time for work being at 9:30 (even 10 a.m. is acceptable in some companies) really surprised me! "
My biggest challenge
Definitely language-related – even though I speak French very well, sometimes in sensitive discussions I have difficulty using nuance in the French language with the same ease I would in English.
Myths & realities
- MYTH Because of all the vacation time France has compared to many countries, sometimes people think the French are lazy – not true! I’ve found my co-workers and suppliers to be very hard-working.
- REALITY Juggling vacation between May and August. In May there are a lot of bank holidays which translates to many people taking vacations here and there. Then June, July and the crown jewel August come around and you have four months of having to anticipate co-workers and suppliers’ availability – who will be on vacation when – and your project goals.
My advice & top tips
Connect and network! Use the Audencia network! Reach out to alumni on LinkedIn or by any means you can if they have a job or work for a company that you’re interested in. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice
Quirky & cultural
I love that it’s habitual in French work culture to take time having a coffee in the morning with your colleagues.
And finally
Getting a job can seem daunting, but don’t let it overwhelm you – it’s totally possible! Nothing is guaranteed but it’s totally possible.
En savoir plus sur ...
Dans la même catégorie
-
Go Netherlands! Be bold and very direct, the Dutch will like you for it!
Audencia's Career Center and Alumni teams are delighted to to bring you “Go Netherlands!”, the guide to working in the Netherlands. Following the success of the guide to working in France for internationals, this new edition focuses on a country that is a destination of choice for Audencians. Members of its thriving community of students and alumni say they choose the Netherlands for its economic stability, work-hard-play-hard lifestyle, multiculturalism and for being a country where English is often the working language. “Go Netherlands!” is a valuable resource for students considering a career in the Netherlands after their studies. Starting with HR professionals’ top tips and debunking the myths and realities of the workplace, Go Netherlands! also showcases the experiences of more than 20 alumni who have aced the challenge of finding a job and settling in the Netherlands. This week, discover what Pandora Marfisi from France has to say. About Pandora: Graduated from the MS SDIDAM (SMED) programme in 2017 Founder of Epionea Agency in Utrecht Native language: French Other languages spoken: English, Spanish Level of Dutch: intermediate Been living in the Netherlands: since 2018 Pandora's key message: “Be bold and very direct, the Dutch will like you for it!" My biggest challenge I founded my company, a communications agency, over three years ago with the aim of making a positive impact on people and the planet. My biggest challenge in the coming years is to stay in the Netherlands and grow my business. My advice & top tips Find out as much as you can about the Netherlands beforehand. Be aware that as an intern, you most probably won’t be paid, but once you have graduated, the salaries are really nice! Quirky & cultural The workplace in the Netherlands is a good place to be. There are many career opportunities, women are treated equally, the working hours are nice (nicer than in France!), meetings are generally well structured, and the agenda is usually followed. And finally I highly recommend the iamexpat.nl website that deals with (almost) everything you need to know about the Netherlands, from careers to housing, healthcare consumer rights, taxation and more! Read your copy of "Go Netherlands" here
- Career Center
- Le 30 sept. 2022
-
Go Netherlands! At Fairphone the company values are care, collaborate, transparency and challenge
Bernadette Philipp People Team Lead, Fairphone - Amsterdam Bernadette began working in Fairphone’s people team as an intern to support recruitment.Today, she oversees the HR policies, strategy and recruitment. Bernadette shares some first-hand advice about the job market in the Netherlands. Fairphone is a Dutch GreenTech company, which aims to develop smartphones that are designed and produced with a lower environmental and social impact. Of its 115 employees, 51% are female, including the CEO, and 70% are internationals from 25 different nationalities. The majority of the employees are based in Amsterdam. There is also a small office in Taipei, Taiwan, and a few colleagues in China who work from home or directly with the factories. The work culture There is no perceived hierarchy within the Fairphone teams. The work takes place in an open space setting, even for the CEO. The work environment could be defined as open, approachable and informal when it comes to the dress code. What matters is that staff can be themselves. The company values are Care, Collaborate, Transparency and Challenge. My advice & top tips What is important in order to join Fairphone is to have the right skill set and to be motivated by the role. Being a social enterprise we receive many candidates that are very interested in the overall mission of the company and want to contribute to this. However, sometimes they are less interested in the actual positions themselves. From an HR perspective, I always advise people to prioritise being happy in their everyday job, while still believing in and wanting to support the company’s overall mission. In many ways, Fairphone is like a start-up/scale-up in many ways: you need to be comfortable with uncertainty as well as the lack of established processes and it also helps to be solution oriented. It’s equally important to be flexible whilst staying positive and resilient. As a recruiter, I pay special attention to soft skills, excellent communication and value both a constructive and growth mind-set. Myths & realities At Fairphone, daring and speaking out is appreciated. It is important to know that the Dutch can come across as very direct. Being such a multicultural team, this aspect of the Dutch character has led to some funny situations. For instance, a salary admin manager once asked me, as their People team lead, to kindly check something with the CFO, rather than going directly to the CFO themself. This person was concerned about not going through the appropriate channels. In some cultures, hierarchy and protocol are very important but for us this is simply not the case, so feel free to speak up and adopt a straight-talking approach. Our CEO called a meeting with the Taiwan office, just to check in with how they were getting on during a busy launch period. She wanted to see if they needed any support and enquire how their collaboration with the Amsterdam team was going and how things might be improved. The Taiwan team thought they were in deep trouble! They were not used to having the CEO meet directly with the team. Read your copy of "Go Netherlands" here
- Career Center
- Le 7 oct. 2022
Autres actualités
-
Go Netherlands! Be bold and very direct, the Dutch will like you for it!
Audencia's Career Center and Alumni teams are delighted to to bring you “Go Netherlands!”, the guide to working in the Netherlands. Following the success of the guide to working in France for internationals, this new edition focuses on a country that is a destination of choice for Audencians. Members of its thriving community of students and alumni say they choose the Netherlands for its economic stability, work-hard-play-hard lifestyle, multiculturalism and for being a country where English is often the working language. “Go Netherlands!” is a valuable resource for students considering a career in the Netherlands after their studies. Starting with HR professionals’ top tips and debunking the myths and realities of the workplace, Go Netherlands! also showcases the experiences of more than 20 alumni who have aced the challenge of finding a job and settling in the Netherlands. This week, discover what Pandora Marfisi from France has to say. About Pandora: Graduated from the MS SDIDAM (SMED) programme in 2017 Founder of Epionea Agency in Utrecht Native language: French Other languages spoken: English, Spanish Level of Dutch: intermediate Been living in the Netherlands: since 2018 Pandora's key message: “Be bold and very direct, the Dutch will like you for it!" My biggest challenge I founded my company, a communications agency, over three years ago with the aim of making a positive impact on people and the planet. My biggest challenge in the coming years is to stay in the Netherlands and grow my business. My advice & top tips Find out as much as you can about the Netherlands beforehand. Be aware that as an intern, you most probably won’t be paid, but once you have graduated, the salaries are really nice! Quirky & cultural The workplace in the Netherlands is a good place to be. There are many career opportunities, women are treated equally, the working hours are nice (nicer than in France!), meetings are generally well structured, and the agenda is usually followed. And finally I highly recommend the iamexpat.nl website that deals with (almost) everything you need to know about the Netherlands, from careers to housing, healthcare consumer rights, taxation and more! Read your copy of "Go Netherlands" here
- Career Center
- Le 30 sept. 2022
-
Go Netherlands! At Fairphone the company values are care, collaborate, transparency and challenge
Bernadette Philipp People Team Lead, Fairphone - Amsterdam Bernadette began working in Fairphone’s people team as an intern to support recruitment.Today, she oversees the HR policies, strategy and recruitment. Bernadette shares some first-hand advice about the job market in the Netherlands. Fairphone is a Dutch GreenTech company, which aims to develop smartphones that are designed and produced with a lower environmental and social impact. Of its 115 employees, 51% are female, including the CEO, and 70% are internationals from 25 different nationalities. The majority of the employees are based in Amsterdam. There is also a small office in Taipei, Taiwan, and a few colleagues in China who work from home or directly with the factories. The work culture There is no perceived hierarchy within the Fairphone teams. The work takes place in an open space setting, even for the CEO. The work environment could be defined as open, approachable and informal when it comes to the dress code. What matters is that staff can be themselves. The company values are Care, Collaborate, Transparency and Challenge. My advice & top tips What is important in order to join Fairphone is to have the right skill set and to be motivated by the role. Being a social enterprise we receive many candidates that are very interested in the overall mission of the company and want to contribute to this. However, sometimes they are less interested in the actual positions themselves. From an HR perspective, I always advise people to prioritise being happy in their everyday job, while still believing in and wanting to support the company’s overall mission. In many ways, Fairphone is like a start-up/scale-up in many ways: you need to be comfortable with uncertainty as well as the lack of established processes and it also helps to be solution oriented. It’s equally important to be flexible whilst staying positive and resilient. As a recruiter, I pay special attention to soft skills, excellent communication and value both a constructive and growth mind-set. Myths & realities At Fairphone, daring and speaking out is appreciated. It is important to know that the Dutch can come across as very direct. Being such a multicultural team, this aspect of the Dutch character has led to some funny situations. For instance, a salary admin manager once asked me, as their People team lead, to kindly check something with the CFO, rather than going directly to the CFO themself. This person was concerned about not going through the appropriate channels. In some cultures, hierarchy and protocol are very important but for us this is simply not the case, so feel free to speak up and adopt a straight-talking approach. Our CEO called a meeting with the Taiwan office, just to check in with how they were getting on during a busy launch period. She wanted to see if they needed any support and enquire how their collaboration with the Amsterdam team was going and how things might be improved. The Taiwan team thought they were in deep trouble! They were not used to having the CEO meet directly with the team. Read your copy of "Go Netherlands" here
- Career Center
- Le 7 oct. 2022