Paris hunting

So I find myself sitting in the French Literature hall at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. The place is absolutely packed with students and people taking advantage of the quiet environment with cheap internet. Somehow I still feel closer to the first group although it's clear I'm hear to look for a job rather than study French literature. At 27 I am again in a position of freedom. There's no job I am accountable for, no kids yet to be taken care of, no income to be saved either. Imagine that you're in a position where you do not really have to do anything but where you have the time and space to do whatever you want. What would you do? Travelling, being creative, being lazy, trying new things... Yep, done all of that in the past three weeks. Now I just want to get a job and get on with it.

Job hunting

Week 1

For some reason I expected to have nailed a job within a week of arrival in Paris. I already had two interviews lined up and there were more to come I was sure. The two interviews were at two consultancy companies in need for a SAS analyst. Me. As I arrived Tuesday evening I had my first interview Wednesday morning. Just going over my cv with a friendly guy, who complemented me on my French and said he would take the interview process forward as soon as possible. He called me back the same day to organise a second interview on Friday morning. There they explained they wanted to introduce me at La Poste the next Monday to pitch for a project about Geomarketing. Although I'm not an expert in the area it seemed quite interesting. Not only did I have relevant 'Post' experience and enjoyed working in the sector, I would need to do the 'pitch' myself. This seemed like a challenging exercise.

My interview for the other company was on Friday afternoon. After I had taken a little intelligence test and a first interview, they asked me if I could stay just a bit longer so one of the directors could do the second interview right away. Again I got told my French was more than adequate to work in a professional environment (which was my one and only doubt before moving to Paris) and the same day they also called me back to go on a third interview the next Thursday.

Week 2

During the weekend I prepared my presentation as good as possible. Looked up some Geomarketing papers online and tried to imagine what it was all about using a rough description of the role at La Poste. The structure of the meeting would be so that first they would present the project after which I would present my skills and experience and try to make the link with whatever they told me. However, the reality was quite different. Due to some mix up we arrived late apparently (the agency set everything up) therefore La Poste just wanted to hear about me and what I understood the project was about. The agency guy turned red and almost crawled under the desk as I went for it and delivered a reduced presentation about myself, what I believed could be the project and threw in some geomarketing innovations from the papers at the end. The director of La Poste just said 'La présentation de Martin était parfait' and then discussed how they were already looking at some of my suggestions. Afterwards I went back to the agency where they offered me a contract, or at least the model of a contract because La Post had to confirm first. Unfortunately, La Poste decided in the end to try and do the project inhouse rather than hiring an expensive consultant. I kind of felt that the agency had blown it but then again, I would not have had the opportunity to present without them.

On Thursday I met the founder of the other agency I was talking to. We had a good conversation and he told me they would be coming back to me with either a contract offer or a invitation for a final interview. Still in the running, fingers crossed.

In the meantime I received very few responses for any of my other cv's I sent out. It's clear that agencies can respond quick and are more willing because they make great money out of analysts. I got one response from a big bank saying my cv made it through the pre-selection phase. It looks like my objective of getting a job within the week was a bit ambitious.

Jolie Paris

In the meantime I do have the time to get to know Paris a bit better. I made a couple of long walks in the sun and got to know the city a lot better. Especially the 12th district where we live is really nice. No too touristy, close to a big park in the east of Paris and a lot of southern (Italian, Turkish) influences. Highlight of the experience was when Louise and I went out for lunch on Sunday (following a cosy housewarming Saturday night) and walked into the local Italian place. The owner shook our hand when we came in. Before we were given the menu they brought us each a glass of their homemade cocktail to start with. We then took the 3 course menu formula. I had the mixed salad, steak and mousse au chocolat for dessert. It was absolutely brilliant. The meat was tender and perfectly cooked in a way I failed to experience in my 3 years in London. After our dessert they served us a final shot on the house. A perfect meal at a price of 11 euro's per person. Incredible.

Bloody Paris

Rude

On the other hand the Parisiens can be the most annoying people I have ever met. As the cliché says they are very rude. Especially when they're behind the register of a shop or a bank or behind the till.

Slow

The French also have a crazy administrative legislation which they follow rigourously. It takes about a thousand documents to seal a rent contract, internet subscirption or to get a bank account. People who have to deal with this are then also very slow on top of it. It is super frustrating and tied up in Catch 22's. To find a job I need internet, to get Internet I need a bank account, to get a bank account you need a job and a rental contract, to get a rental contract you need a bank account, ... I'm not surprised it's taking ages for companies to reply to my CV's as I can imagine it has to go through a huge and inefficient process.

Thieves

Finally, I often have the impression the French will rip you off whenever they have the opportunity. Trying to get internet the shop keeper was very clear: 'It will cost you 20 euro for us to come and connect your telephone line, this will take over a month and then a couple of more weeks to have the actual connection. If you pay 50 euros, we can do it in 48 hours.' Also when being offered the contract: 'For tax reasons we split up your gross salary into actual gross salary and daily renumeration. Your actual gross salary is small but your daily renumeration is significant if you add it up, given that you work 365 days - 104 (52 weekends) = 261 days!' In both situations I didn't know whether to smile or cry or look around for camera's.

Conclusion

I was happy to leave London because I was pretty settled there and it's always good to be suprised and challenged in life and to experience new things. Paris is Perfect.

Bye bye Bonjour

So then I arrived in Paris. To keep the UK people up to date of my activities I will update this blog in English from now on.

On Friday, I took the Eurostar from London to Lille for the last time. I spent three years in London and my life has progressed significantly in that period of time. When I arrived I was just a graduate, looking for answers in life and a career in which I could develop my skills and grow as a person. I had no doubt I would find all of that in London and as it turned out I have but also much more than that… I kicked off a great career, learned some valuable lessons and also met some great people that will continue to inspire me for years to come. It hurts to be leaving so much behind but it was a logical step because, as the head of Royal Mail’s Marketing Services pointed out, ‘it’s easier to find another job than to find another fiancée’.

Looking back I guess the things I will miss the most about London are: playing football on Tuesdays, getting free DVD’s from Lovefilm, living quietly next to a nice park but still close to everything, queuing, talking in a polite way, delivering mail, explaining why (Royal) mail is actually not as attractive as it used to be, talking to agencies as a client but being bullied all the way, Dirty Chinese, complaining about the lousy British beer, drinking Guiness in stead of eating, Tesco (the supermarket), peanut butter, cheap alternatives for everything, Koen Michiels, my bunch of professional pool players, visiting the beautiful country that England is.

Things I will NOT miss: the food, the food, the food (luckily, Paris is a step in the right direction), overpriced quality beers, overpriced quality chocolate, delivering mail, spending more than half an hour on the tube, the lack of food before after-work-drinks and the consequent hangover.

Overall it is fair to say that I will miss the UK and the Islandpeople a lot. I’m going to France with the only ambition to try and have as much fun as I have had in the UK. It will be a challenge, but that’s just the thing I’m looking forward to.

To be continued.