• Where to look for a job?

Youth Information Centres  Job offers are on display throughout the year at Youth Information Centres which also give “tips” on where to look. Most centres have Internet connections which you can use to look for jobs.  They may also  provide lists of local addresses, organisations to contact and information on employment law. Every year, in March, the Youth Information Centres organise special summer job days. CROUS Jobs like teaching can be found through CROUS (regional centres for university and school programmes): grinds, translation, interpreting, helping with homework, etc. Along with baby-sitting and au pair work, this is the sector where you can find the most jobs. CROUS is also a good source for jobs linked to advertising (putting up posters, distributing leaflets, surveys and polls), as well as the hotel and restaurant sector and secretarial jobs. There are also occasional offers in sectors like agriculture and the leisure industry. The vast majority of offers are for occasional and very short term jobs.  Student Services Offices   You should also try the network of Student Service Offices (OSE - Office de services étudiants). This consists of 19 agencies set up in the main university towns, all of which display job offers. Every year several thousand job offers pass through the OSE job ads notice-board.

• What kind of jobs? 

Seasonal jobs    - Tourism industry

There are always jobs to be had in tourism. Every year there are about 300,000 jobs advertised for seasonal workers. If you can speak a foreign language, you could become a tourist guide for a season. To work as a guide in a private museum or castle, you need to contact the owners directly.  You should also send your application to all the companies that work in the tourism sector in your area (guided bus tours or boat trips, etc.). Don’t forget the possibilities of jobs connected with any kind of event that may be happening locally, whether it’s cultural (festivals, shows) or commercial (trade fairs). You can get the names of organisers from the tourist office or the town hall. Travel agencies also employ tour leaders to take care of their groups and deal with the day-to-day organisation of the stay. Contact travel agencies directly.

   - Harvesting and fruit picking Grape picking, vegetable or fruit picking, haymaking, harvesting…. There is less demand than there used to be in this sector. Farmers often call on local labour or use machines. But if you are interested in this type of work, have a look at the National Employment Agency website (www.pole-emploi.fr). You will find a search engine for this sector where you can type in ”grape picking” or ”seasonal work” to access job ads. You can also contact Job Centres in the farming and wine growing regions.

Farm-work calendar:

> March to May: hop-picking in Alsace.

> April: lily of the valley in the Loire.

> April to June: strawberries, cherries, green beans... in Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Périgord, the Rhône Valley.... 

> June to September: greenhouse products and fruit in the Centre, The South-West, the South, Aquitaine and the Loire.

> Mid-June to mid-September: maize topping in Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Périgord, the Rhône Valley....

> Mid-September to the end of October: apples, plums, pears in Central France, Aquitaine, the Rhône Valley and the Loire.

> October: grape-picking in Beaujolais, Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne and the Loire.

You can also contact ”Jeunesse et Reconstruction”, an association which organises grape-picking camps in Champagne or Beaujolais. Recruitment starts in June. 

JEUNESSE ET RECONSTRUCTION

10, rue de Trévise

75009 PARIS

Tel: +33(0)1 47 70 15 88

www.volontariat.org

Student jobs

      - Hostess/receptionist   A hostess/receptionist provides information during conferences, cocktails, seminars, but also trade fairs and exhibitions. To be chosen, you usually need to be tall, look smart and above all be bilingual. Contact recruiting agencies or the organisers of trade fairs and exhibitions. A selection of agencies in Paris: > SYBILL: www.sybill.fr> CHARLESTOWN: http://www.iss-as.fr> AGENCE MARIANNE HÔTESSES: www.marianne-international.fr> PÉNÉLOPE: www.penelope.fr      - Hotels and restaurants

Waiter, chambermaid, night-porter, door-man, barman, receptionist, porter, fast-food outlets: there are lots of jobs to be had in this sector. Flexible hours make them attractive for students (nights, early mornings, half-days), even though jobs are often physically demanding. The tourist season is of course the time when extra staff is hired. Recruitment for the summer usually happens between March and June. The winter season runs from December to March. A lot of employers like to hire people for the full season. You can get addresses of potential employers in holiday resorts from local tourist offices. They will send you, free of charge, a list of hotels, restaurants and holiday organisations that recruit seasonal workers. You can also have a look at the National Employment Agency website (www.anpe.fr)

       - Retail sector Cashiers, sales assistant, delivery or maintenance workers, you can apply for such jobs in department stores, supermarkets, major chain stores in the big commercial centres and small shops (food, book stores, clothes-shops…) or in your local area or in tourist regions. The person to contact could be the human resources manager, the store manager or the shopkeeper depending on the size of the organisation.       - Services Helping with homework, doing housework, babysitting... more and more people are looking for services for home. There are companies which specialise in this sector, matching up offers and requests:www.abc-enfance.comwww.yoopala.comwww.boutchouservices.comwww.labambinerie.frwww.apreslaclasse.comwww.aufeminin.comwww.kijiji.frYou will also find such job offers in CROUS.        - Teaching This usually means giving lessons in maths, French, music or foreign languages.... Hourly rates for lessons may vary from €12 to 23 (from the first to the final year of secondary school or later). You can put up an ad in your local shops or enrol with an association or a company which arrange private lessons: > ACADOMIA (www.acadomia.fr)  > COMPLETUDE (www.completude.com) You can also find opportunities in CROUS.    Source: CIDJ  

Photos: © F. de la Mure / Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Goodshoot.com