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where to begin?


cat57
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Hello to all,

I am canadian and have visited Paris a few times.
I would like to relocate to France with ALL WHAT THAT ENTAILS.

I do not wish to live in Paris although it is beautiful, it is an expensive city and the weather is cold.

Any ideas about where are the major call enters in France in the south east or south west.I have a strong background in customer service ,call center start up and management for the telephony industry.

Is it doable in terms of work permit and schooling for my 7 years old?

How and where to start???

Thank you

You have a great forum!!!!! 

 

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Call centres will be interesting.  The few call-centre vacancies I've looked at have required Spanish, because from France they do Continental support.  Anglophone support is done from elsewhere (LOL, probably Delhi!).

Doesn't mean it's the same everywhere, of course, and it's not ma domaine.   Just one of the little surprises that arise in life in France. 

An arising surprise. A surprise a-rising.  Arise, Sir Prise.  Trop cool.

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Can you speak French at all? If not I suggest that you might start by learning or improving your French.  Buy the biggest dictionary and a good French grammar.  France is very diverse.  Find out about the weather in the regions that you are interested in and also the job opportunities for a non fluent French speaker.  Do you need to have other, formal qualifications to extend your ability to find a job?  A lot of call centre business for English speaking clients has been hived off to India - lower wage costs.  I wish you luck because it is a big undertaking and unless you can earn a living you will come unstuck.
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For French speakers, the call centres are in Africa.  The other day on the news they showed a call centre in Africa and one in...??? for French holiday bookings.  I am not sure, but I think it was Poland.  Anyone else see it?

There was a big telly investigation a while ago about the African call centres.  Very interesting it was too.

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Thank you all for the reply.

Yes I am parfaitement francophone "France French not canadian french",which makes me bilingual.

I understand it is a great undertaking this is why I am asking you ,I wish to make the move a success for my daughter's sake.

Now if call centers are saturated what about a bilingual secretarial position such as a "secretaire de direction "to start off, is that ok to get a permis de travail as a canadian??

Then can anyone enlighten me which areas of France are explorable i.e job pportunity + good schooling system and affordable real estate????

Thank you to all

 

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A bit off subject but something that has mystified me for a long time. I personally have never dealt with call centres but when you do make a call to say one of these in India or Africa, do you get charged for ringing all that distance or is it the price of a local call to the country you are living in or what? Just asking because if people are being charged to ring thousands of miles across the world,surely these places would go out of business,wouldn't they?
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"Now if call centers are saturated what about a bilingual secretarial position such as a "secretaire de direction "to start off, is that ok to get a permis de travail as a canadian??

Cat,

The problem for many foreigners, fluent or not, in finding work, is their lack of relevant qualifications. Bac+2 or whatever, can often be the minimum requirement for what may be seen as "pretty normal" jobs in the UK (sorry don't know the relevant situation in Canada).

Finding a job to suit you around here ,would be slim to impossible to find without any qualifications. Only the fish and chicken factories have temporary jobs, the page for jobs in our local paper barely fills half a page and the job centres are not a lot better.

Sorry but that is the sitaution here in our part of Brittany, maybe someone else will tell us how it is in their region. 

 

 

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As a Canadian, you might want to check (you probably have already) what residency qualifications you need to meet. It's easy for EU nationals - we just up sticks and arrive! But Canada isn't (afaik!) part of the EU. :-)

Here's a company I know well and who are regularly recruiting. Your background might suit. Send them an email and ask. There is a careers section on the site. When applying for jobs with multinationals, recognised national qualifications and experience are frequently transferable.

http://www.amadeus.com/index.jsp

Carole
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Miki is right, especially around this region.  The only work is in the factories and they all seem to be cutting back.  Even Olympig, which was everyones dream place to work is in big, big trouble.  Already got rid of 700 people.  Doux are the same.

Even the most well, menial, jobs need a certificate/stage experience.  Bar person is a good example.  How many of us have worked in a bar in our youth?  Here you have to have studied before they will give you a job . . . 

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Having had a chat with my neighbours in North 24 [Dordogne] it seems the situation for graduates is not too hot.  It seems to be getting harder for those youngsters without experience but a good relevant degree to get their first decent job.  I have a friend who has recently qualified as an English teacher and she was top in the exams in her region [Franche-Compte] and she can only find a substitute teachers position in one of the the larger towns.  I agree with the advice given to you earlier that it would be good to start researching jobs in your specialism and to try to get a position before making the move.  It is very positive that you are fluent in French.Good luck and let us all know how things develope.
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"Is it doable in terms of work permit and schooling for my 7 years old?

How and where to start???"

I would start with the Canadian Embassy Consular services (presumably in Paris). They will tell you what the requirements are for permits to live and work. They should be able to tell you how your qualifications translate into French equivalents, the French are very keen on paper qualifications.

Regarding schooling it depends if you want French or International education. If you go for the local French schools AFAIK you just enrol as anyone else does. International schools are very few and far between and you would need to find a home bearing this in mind. Children of 7 do not generally have a problem fitting in even if they do not speak the language at all initially.

You could look out for books on the subject, Amazon is an obvious place to start. Many are geared to UK readership but David Hampshire, for example, does realise that there are other nationalities wanting to live and work in France!

We have a Canadian living nearby. He has never worked, he simply found a French wife

Liz (29)

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What a shame you don't want to relocate to UK, loads of vacancies for call centre managers there.  I visited Callcentre Expo in Britain this month and there was a stand for Marseilles, specifically designed to attract outsourcing call centre work.  I've left the relevant bumph in UK but could e-mail you the details in a week if you want it.  I would have thought you would be perfect for them, well worth pursuing. 

For those of you that are interested a lot of call centres in countries like India use VOIP, (voice over Internet provider) for cheapness but call quality isn't as good as you get with a public service phone provider.

 

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Don't want to sound to pessimistic, but unemployment in France is very high and as a result (rightly or wrongly) they tend to look after their own and any jobs that are going will be given to the French.  It works the same the other way round, i.e. if people emigrate to Canada it is extremely hard to find employment unless you have Canadian experience and the relevant transferable qualifications.  Often immigrants arriving in Canada(even highly qualified ones) have to start doing low paid, menial jobs, i.e. working in MacDonalds, and gradually work their way up. 

I should imagine that the place you are most likely place to find work would be in Paris and you shouldn't let the weather put you off.  OK it can be grey and cold in winter, but Canadian winters can be even worse - except maybe in Vancouver where the weather is pretty similar to France.

If you search on the internet for employment Paris you should hopefully get a few international job agencies details come up. 

Good luck

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  • 2 weeks later...

Even the most well, menial, jobs need a certificate/stage experience.  Bar person is a good example.  How many of us have worked in a bar in our youth?  Here you have to have studied before they will give you a job . . . 

I have plenty of experience in studying Bars!

 

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