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Employment Prospects For a 51 Year Old


Grecian
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My wife and I are considering making the move to France this year. Having done considerable reseach, sold our UK house, and are now living in rented accommodation, we have been hit sideways with the post 23rd November scenario, regading our healthcare cover. My wife currently receives long-term incapacity benefit, which will qualify her for an E121, thus covering 70% of her French healthcare costs, with this benefit looking more and more vunerable, as both political parties now seem hellbent on out toughing each other, with how many each will get off IB if elected. Only today the Labour minister is proclaiming that they will use private companies, to get 1.9 million people off IB and back to work. Nice to know our welfare is to be farmed out to the private sector. Obviously if we make the move and my wife loses her E121, within the 5 year period, she would be expelled from France, as she would be unable to obtain private healthcare cover, for any of the 5-year period remaining. Not good.

I have no problem in seeking employment in France, thus enabling us to contribute to, and join CMU, via our 8% contribution, the only problem I can see with this cunning plan is, if what I have read regarding the over 50s and employment in France, this could prove quite difficult. We are looking to move to The Vendee and live within a town, as opposed to being in a remote village, so hopefully there may be more employment opportunites within this environment, than living totally rural. As like most Brits coming across, we are taking French lessons at the moment, but nowhere near being proficient. My trade is in priting, but I was made redundant back in 1999, and have not been in the trade since. Since then I have been quite happy to take any job that has come along, on a lot less money.

Getting back to the title of this thread, I am prepared within reason, to do anything job wise, so realistically what are the propsects of finding any sort of employment to enable us to remain living in France. Also do the French have employment agencies, that send people off to jobs, even if they are only on a temporary basis.

Any comments will be gratefully received.

 

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Hi Grecian,

it's smart of you to move to an urban area if finding work is important - jobs are notoriously hard to find in rural areas and employers would need a strong reason to employ a foreigner over a local.

From what I've seen with friends and contacts the keys to finding work will be:

Networking - my local city, Toulouse, is a hotbed of business-networking clubs and associations.  Many job appointments are made via schmoozing in this way (Toulouse has a particular reputation for this - though I'm sure it'll be the same near you). The message is  - put yourself about a bit,  join groups, don't be shy, ask lots of questions, develop a list of contacts, ask to be introduced to other people and develop an "elevator speech" of who you are and what you could do. (you've advertised yourself a bit on this forum - good start!)

Certificates - get all your qualifications, references and certificates translated into French.  Bring the originals with you too.  You'll probably need them (unlike most jobs in the UK where employers just take your word on your CV that you have 3 A levels etc) ... but maybe, by being a bit older they'll let you off?

Learn the lingo - just as you are doing.  Inevitably many jobs (and job interviews) will require you to be fairly proficient with spoken and to a slightly lesser extent written French.  Other than English do you speak another language? - you could become the office "foreign language expert" as the French are fairly pants at speaking other languages like us Brits.

Play to your strengths - you speak English, keen, mature, are flexible and .... errr, well, and whatever else springs to mind!

Can you subscribe to the local newspaper from your curent location? It might be available online.  That way you can track the jobs market.  There will be numerous online agencies that carry adverts too.

Best of luck,  Ian

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The Vendée seems to have a fairly vibrant employment story to tell at present although I have no personal knowledge. The last time I read any figures which I think was just before Christmas, the unemployment rate was of 5.7%. I think back in the UK some years ago we used to think of 5% as being virtually full employment.

Unfortunately the jobs going seem to be at or just above minimum wage and cover areas such as meat processing and retail (there's a new retail development just opening up on the south side of La Roche sur Yon of some 36,000 sq mtrs).

I believe there is a small English owned printing works in a town in the south of the Department but having recently driven past I can't remember seeing any jobs being advertised on banners on his perimeter fence (a common way of advertising for staff around here).

You're obviously aware of the need foe good language skills.

If you want me to find details of the printer I've mentioned then perhaps you can PM me and I'll see what I can find out. Even if he has nothing at present he may be able to point you in the right direction or could be one for the future.

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Many thanks for taking the trouble to answer my request, regarding employment prospects for an old man!

Cassandra, thanks for posting the info regarding employment agencies, I have managed via a Google search, to find several Adecco agencies in the area we are proposing to move to, so will be popping to pay them a visit, when we come over to France in April.

Ian, many sensible suggestions within you post, being the sort of sad person that I am, I do in fact have all my original certificates pertaining to my qualifications, (must try and get out more!)

Benjamin I have sent you an email.

Richard

 

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Grecian, I hate to be negative but one of the problems for French employers is that they have to pay extra towards the pension funds when employing an older worker, so therefore tend to take young people. That is why it is so difficult for the over 50's to find a job here (especially if you are not fluent) - we have been there, done that and got the tee-shirt!

Don't give up though, but make sure you research really well before jumping in with both feet. Good luck.

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Hi Grecian. I found work delivering the freebie newspaper and fliers here in Versailles. Adrexo, which I expect has offices in other large towns. You will not make your fortune as its minimum wage, but the hours are to suit and not being fluent is no major problem as they employ all sorts and English is in some ways the "linga franca", Age is also not a problem and you will pay tax etc as it is a respectable company. I understand that there are other, similar, delivery companies in Versailles, so ask around, look for fliers, read the freebie papers.

Just one point, dont under-estimate the cost of living, food can be expensive, a Sunday roast will cost almost double. This may just be a Versailles thing, but I have a feeling it may be France wide.

Manpower have offices throughout the country and provide temp. jobs and I think the social services office can find jobs, like in the UK. The state also offers language classes to foreigners to bring them up to a minimum standard and a damn good idea I think.

Finally don't be afraid to talk, most locals love to show off the English they have learnt at school and are very happy to help you learn.

Just a short aside, which may be of use, Radio 4 can be heard on longwave so the cricket is available, so I'm happy.

Good luck.

 

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Hello Grecian

My suggestion is that you come out to the Vendee and rent for as long a period as you are able.  Rents from September to June are relatively cheap, July and August being the months when landlords can make some serious money.  It'll give you and Mrs Grecian a chance at seeing whether you can get a job etc.  It is also easier to learn French in France of course!

It's what I did.  I booked a rented property on the internet for two weeks with an option to stay for a few monhs if I liked the house when I arrived.  The house did not live up to the expectations of the internet photos and so I found something else in the two week period.  On the spot, I managed to negotiate an even cheaper rent for a nicer property.

Good luck.  Keep us posted with how you get on.

 

 

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Hi Grecian,

 

I've been living in the Auvergne since July 2006, my wife works in a University and I'm renovating our property... 

I can only echo the comments already posted, but would add that the key to any success in employment is to learn the language well. Fortunately, I get paid here to take french lesson at 'Greta', but sadly, even with a French wife, my language skills are appalling :))

I'm 49, ex-print industry but I have a varied employment history in the UK. If you want to continue in print (I don't) you will need excellent french language and grammer.

There are normally opportunities to do 'stages', but imho they are simply a cheap labour source for the locals.

Regardless of the minor pitfalls I wouldn't change my life and return to the UK!

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All the advice given so far has been excellent, BUT, don't assume that by registering as unemployed,you will be offered language tuition, free or subsidised.  Whether this service is offered to foreigners varies enormously from one town to the next, depending on local inclination and availability.

Good luck.

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I would like to thank everybody in the 'second wave' of responses, for their comments, and suggestions.

Rob Roy, I have read a lot about the prospects for employment for the over 50's, and know it could well be a struggle to find employment, so many thanks for pointing out the pitfalls.

dowot, glad to hear you are in employment, and many thanks for the encouragement, the job you have sounds just fine to me, plenty of exercise, and you will get to meet a lot of different people on your round. Earning minimum wage would not be a problem, so I hope I am setting my sights low enough to enable me to find a job, of some description. Using an employment agency or job centre, I hope would  give me the opportunity to find employment. Nice to know you can tune-in to Radio 4 for the cricket, we just need a team to make it worth listening to now! Never been the same since Botham retired!

Cathy, sound advice in suggesting renting initially, that is what we are planning to do, and will be looking into the rental side of things when we come out to France in April. I see from your location you live part of your life in Bristol, I was born just down the road from you in Exeter, still rather be in Yorkshire now though, (hopefully France in the future).

Gapster/Bastet, thanks for your observations. Gapster I don't really want to go back into the print trade either.

 

 

 

 

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