English-language teaching in private schools, tourism and the legal industry are sectors particularly open to English-speaking candidates.

The first thing to establish is whether you are entitled to legally work in France. Secondly, it is absolutely essential to have at least a basic grasp of French.

Hitting the pavement

Given that, there are three main routes for pursuing employment: contacting the HR departments of firms directly; registering with a head-hunting agency (cabinet de recrutement or informally chasseur de têtes; and by searching job ads.

If you are writing to a French firm, whether it be a small business or a multi-national company, always make your first approach in French and reformat your CV to the French model; this often means listing your age, marital status and adding a picture of yourself. Check your local bookstore for guides on how to prepare a French-style CV or consult with a fee-based agency that prepares CVs.

Many large French firms will also expect your cover letter to be written long-hand, rather than typed. This is less common than it once was and it is not unusual to approach a company via email these days, but some of the more traditional firms still expect to show a job candidates' letter to a handwriting analyst.

Job ads appear in the national dailies and weekly news magazines; there are several print publications and websites, including Expatica, that also target native English-speaking job-seekers.

The ads will usually list minimum academic qualifications, niveau d'études minimum; Bac +2  corresponds to a high-school diploma plus two years of university study. The ads may specify any one of several other specialised French diplomas.

You'll need to research the rough French equivalent of your diplomas and training but be aware that French employers may or may not recognise your degrees, even those from accredited, widely recognized schools.

For those looking for manual, secretarial and/or relatively unskilled jobs, the best approach is through temporary employment agencies, agences d'intérim.

The highest turnover of offers for non-skilled, English-speaking labour comes from the services sector, especially tourism. As in any country, there are usually regular vacancies for these jobs with irregular working hours and little job security.

Employment contracts

For more information on contracts in France, read our article French Labour Laws: Contracts.

In short, there is a long list of various work contracts in France, many designed to encourage private employers to hire young people, the long-term unemployed or other categories of people who are disadvantaged in the job market.

The two primary types of employment contract are: a CDD, contrat de travail à durée déterminée, which is for a designated period, usually no more than 18 months; and a CDI, or contrat de travail à durée indéterminée, which is for a permanent post with no end date. The controversial contrat de nouvelles embauches (CNE) is a variation of the CDI for companies with less than 20 employees and with a simplified dismissal procedure during the first two years.

A part-time contract, contrat de travail en temps partiel, exists as both a CDI and a CDD, and applies to all employees who work less then the minimum weekly requirement of 35 hours. The temporary job contract, contrat de travail temporaire or intérimaire, is used by temp-work agencies; it is used for a specific and temporary assignment, called mission; the employee is paid job-by-job by the agency. In most cases, the agency operates with no obligation to provide a minimum number of missions for its employees.

Salary will be presented either as brut, which is before deductions, or as net, which is after. These mostly concern mandatory contributions to the French welfare system, but do not include income tax, which is paid annually by the individual.

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