Go France! Consider every challenge as a preparation for future ones so don’t be afraid of failure

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.
 

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This week, discover what Kuo-Jung Yu from Taiwan has to say.

About Kuo-Jung:

• GRADUATED FROM THE MSC SCPM PROGRAMME IN 2019
• FROM TAIWAN
• CURRENT POSITION PROPULSION PROCUREMENT MANAGER AT AIRBUS SAS IN TOULOUSE
• NATIVE LANGUAGE MANDARIN
• DAILY WORKING LANGUAGES ENGLISH
• OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN TAIWANESE AND FRENCH
• FRENCH LEVEL ADVANCED (B2/C1)
• LIVING IN FRANCE SINCE 2017

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Kuo-Jung's key message: “Consider every challenge as a preparation for future ones so don’t be afraid of failure. Question yourself but not too much."

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My biggest challenge
Expressing my own opinion! Giving ones’ own opinion or feedback clearly requires practice. It is kind of a natural thing for some cultures but not for me. Before giving an opinion, we need to reflect first. When I started working in France, I focused on making sure I was doing things right and proving my capabilities to my team. Sometimes, I missed opportunity to reflect on giving effective feedback.

Myths & realities

• MYTH 35 working hours per week. People can work more than 45 hours in one week.
• REALITY A lot of paid leave! 25 days plus RTT, seniority, etc.

My advice & top tips
Picture what and where you want to be and anticipate what you need to do to get there. Then go for it! France is a country of freedom. Remember you always have the right to choose but don’t take it for granted. It's your responsibility to ensure you are capable of making the right choice.

Quirky & cultural
People say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in shops, on the bus and even in the mountains when you’re hiking past strangers. I really like this cultural behaviour, so I do the same thing when I’m back in Taiwan!

And finally
The French are not afraid to say, ‘I don’t know.’ At first, this annoyed me. However, I discovered in some situations it may be better to admit you don’t know something rather than giving answers you are not sure of. So now I appreciate it and have developed version 2.0 where I say, ‘I don’t know but I’ll check it out.’

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