Finding work and doing vocational training in France

To work in France, legally, you must have a residence permit or “titre de séjour”. This “titre de séjour” will need to also authorise you to work. 

If you do not have a “titre de séjour” or your “titre de séjour” does not authorise you to work, you may still obtain a work permit if you meet certain conditions.

If you are unsure of the rules that apply to your “titre de séjour”, you can check them on this website.

Depending on your profession, it will be useful, if not necessary, to have your qualifications and/or professional experience recognised in France in order to be able to carry out your profession here.

Training

To have a diploma recognised, contact the department responsible for issuing diploma recognition documents in the majority of industries in France, called the “centre ENIC-NARIC”. 

If they are not responsible for your particular qualification, they can direct you to the right service. 

Work experience

If you do not have qualifications but you have worked, you could ask for recognition of this experience. 

To do this, you will need to ask for recognition of your professional experience called “Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience (VAE)”. It will enable you to obtain a level of training recognised by employers.

You can find all the information you need on this website.

To apply for job vacancies, you need a document called a “Curriculum Vitae (CV)” detailing:

• your professional experience
• the training courses you have taken 
• any qualifications you have obtained.

It is not mandatory to put your photo, your age or date of birth, your marital status or the number of your children on this document. 

Unfortunately in France, many candidates continue to include their photo and age in their “CV”, but this is thankfully becoming less and less common.

To apply for vacancies, you will usually need to send your “CV” with a letter called a “lettre de motivation” or cover letter explaining why you are applying for the job and why you think you are a good candidate.

You can get help writing these two documents in French. 

In France, it is recommended that the CV and the cover letter should each be only one page long. Depending on the industry in which you work and your level of experience, the CV may sometimes be two pages.

Even if this is not compulsory, it is strongly recommended to register with the national support service for people without work called the “France Travail”. 

An adviser will be able to give you information and help you with your job search and/or vocational training. 

They can also refer you to an internship or a language training centre to improve your level of French.

Conditions to fulfil

You must meet certain conditions in order to register for the “France Travail”:

• If you are a national of a Member State of the European Union, all you need is a valid identity document.
• If you are a national of a country outside the European Union, you must have a document authorising you to stay in France, known as a “titre de séjour”, which authorises you to work. A list of accepted “titres de séjour” can be found on this page. 
• If you are awaiting your final “titre de séjour”, your provisional document known as a “récépissé” may allow you to register for the “France Travail” (job centre) in certain cases. You can check this by asking the “préfecture” who sent you your “récépissé” or at a “France Travail” branch near you.

First meeting with an adviser

Once you have completed your registration, you will have an adviser assigned to you who will offer you an appointment at a branch near you.

It is essential to go to this meeting to validate your registration.

Creating an “espace candidat” (online profile)

After registering, you will then need to create an online profile known as an “espace candidat” to apply for job vacancies easily. 

Updating your profile 

You will need to confirm every month that you are still looking for a job. This process is called updating or “s’actualiser”. 

This monthly update of your profile is done online from your “espace candidat”.

Once you have registered for the “France Travail”, you will have free access to the online training site in French “OpenClassRooms” for three months.

You can also search for vocational training online.

Training courses are either free of charge or subject to a fee, depending on the case. If the one you have chosen is subject to a charge, you can ask your adviser if the “France Travail” can finance it.

At the end of your training, you will be able to receive a document confirming that you have been trained, which is called a certificate of achievement or “certificat de réussite”. This is not a degree, but can be useful when applying for a position that requires skills related to the training.

If you are between the ages of 16 and 25, or under 30 if you have a disability, you could benefit from tailored government unemployment support as part of a programme called “1 jeune 1 solution”.

Depending on your profile, you may have access to: 

• regular one-to-one updates with a job adviser
• joint workshops with other young people to share your experiences 
• company internships to discover different professions 
• qualified training courses.

Vacancies are usually posted online. There are many job search sites in France. 

The “France Travail” site has many job vacancies. Even if you do not meet the conditions for registering for the “France Travail”, you can still create an “espace candidat” and view available job vacancies. 

You can visit other sites such as Indeed, Monster, Apec, DirectEmploi, RegionsJob, Leboncoin or LinkedIn.

You can save your search criteria and activate alerts by entering your email address. This will allow you to receive emails every time a job vacancy that matches your criteria is posted.

In France, it is common to send an application straight to employers you wish to work for, even if they have not advertised any job vacancies.

If you have a specific skill that some organisations are looking for, or you know companies that work with clients who speak your language, you can send them your CV and a cover letter explaining why you would be an asset to their business.

Sometimes you can find a job through your network. 

This can be difficult if you have just arrived in France and you don’t have family or friends here. But there are ways to find a community. Try not to be discouraged.

If you need a job very quickly, you can search in industries that hire people quickly and for which it is not always necessary to speak French fluently or have training. 

You could sign an employment contract in just a few days.

Fast-recruiting industries

These industries are known to be able to hire quickly:

• Childcare at home, either by posting an advertisement on a site such Maminou or Bébé nounou, or via a specialist company such as Kinougarde or Yoopala. 
• Cleaning and household tasks for individual households or companies, either by posting an advertisement on a site such as Star of service or Lulu dans ma rue,or via a specialist company such as Wecasa or Shiva.
• Odd jobs and household tasks, either by posting an advertisement on a site such as Lulu dans ma rue, Need help or Travaux, or via a specialist company such as TaskRabbit.
• Delivery services or “coursiers” such as Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
• Service in the hospitality industry, by searching for job advertisements on job sites or by going directly to restaurants and bars near you.
• Building and construction, looking for advertisements on job sites or specialist sites such as Emploi BTP.

Local opportunities

Depending on where you live, there are sometimes other job opportunities, sometimes seasonal; for example, in agriculture, material handling, sports or leisure activities. 

You can ask around or get information from the administrative authorities in your town known as the “mairie”.

Signing an employment contract

It is important to remember that even if you are in a hurry, it is very important to sign an employment contract with your employer before you start work. 

Some employers in France try to take advantage of foreign nationals; for example, by having them work and then not paying them. 

You can get help to have a professional check that your employment contract is legal, especially if you do not speak French well.

You can complete this questionnaire to find out which elements of your situation could give you residency rights in France. 

Based on the possible “titres de séjour”, we indicate whether they allow work.

If your current “titre de séjour” does not allow you to work, you could consider requesting a change from the “préfecture”.

There are childcare solutions for your children under the age of three.

Depending on your skills and the position you want to take up, it is not always necessary to speak fluent French to find a job. 

If you want to learn French, there are many solutions.