The Intricacies of Working and Living in Paris
by Adrian Leeds

My trusty American Heritage Dictionary says that an "intricacy" is something having many complexly arranged elements, elaborate and even solvable or comprehensible but with painstaking effort. That describes working and living in Paris to a tee.

Thousands of Americans of all ages come here every year in hopes of a job, career, new friends, in short, a new life. Paris is very "séduisant" (seductive) so if they came here on vacation once, or even twice, or many times for that matter, it's easy to get hooked. Beauty, culture, cuisine, language, style, art, literature, history, romance, architecture . . . it's all here for the asking, as long as you're willing to pay the price.

My story is pretty typical, having woven my way through the intricacies Paris over the last five years. I've been through it, over it, around it, under it, on top of it, behind it and in the middle of it. Somehow, I have managed to live to tell the tale.

The story goes like this:

I came here the first time and got hooked. Once every few years quickly turned into coming year after year, always staying in the same hotel in the same neighborhood, dreaming about calling that neighborhood home. Then, with some planning, my family and I sold our house, our cars, packed up our furniture, shipped our belongings to Paris and moved into a furnished apartment less than half the size of our California home with no closet space and just enough money to last one year, or two with some luck.

The first year I took French lessons, went to museums, visited monuments, joined organizations, made new friends, hung out in brasseries drinking espresso and writing in my journal. My money was dwindling.

The second year I looked for work: made calls, read how-to books, sent out resumés, went on interviews, networked. In vain, I discovered that I was too old, too experienced and too damned "American."

Let me be more specific: 1) my cover letters were typewritten on a computer instead of handwritten in fountain pen in French with all the correctly placed margins, 2) my resume (CV - curriculum vitae) listed too many different jobs with too much broadly covered experience, 3) my level of French wasn't quite up to par (not fluent), 4) in interviews my attitude was too intimidating by being optimistic, out-spoken and self-confident, 5) and most importantly, I didn't have a work visa (une carte de séjour salairié).

Let's face it, a French company sure as hell wasn't going to spend 1500 euro and six months of dealing with the administration to get a work visa for a know-it-all American to work among his (I say "his" because there are many more male managers than female in France) French born-and-raised employees. Plus, France was still coping with 12+% unemployment, so we immigrants are way down the list when a Frenchman can fill the same job.

Getting a work visa is a "Catch 22." If you're not married to a French person or don't have any European Union relations, then you can't get a job without working papers and you can't get working papers without a job. It's virtually as simple as that. (I could write an entire volume on this one subject alone.) People do have them so they are not totally impossible to get, but how you get them or how to work without them is the challenge.

Most Americans employed here were sent by their U.S. companies who applied for and secured their visas before they came. That's the best and easiest way. Others came here as students on a student visa which allows working up to 20 hours a week. With luck, the others find jobs where the employer is willing to get the visa for them.

There is also a large number of Americans who manage to work here in Paris for employers located in the States or elsewhere. Writers are among the group - journalists, guidebook authors, novelists, etc. Also, photographers, film and video producers, researchers of all types, etc. - anyone whose work brings them here for a company not based here.

Still, you need a "carte de séjour visiteur" just to stay here legally more than 3 months, and you can't get that unless you apply for it long before you come, fill out all the forms in eight (by hand, no copies allowed) and get the seal of approval from the French government by proving you can support yourself here without working!

The third year in Paris I gave up and stopped looking and started doing. I took a volunteer post at an organization as the public relations director which exposed me to the community and helped me network. I created a list of good-value restaurants (originally just for friends) and then partnered with a Web site developer to electronically publish it. I coordinated a French/English conversation group to improve my French. I headed a committee to develop a Web site for an Anglophone organization. There just wasn't anything I didn't have time to do and I didn't earn any money, either, but I learned a lot, met a lot of people and that eventually opened all the doors.

If you are thinking of working and living here and if you were to ask my advice (and even if you didn't, I'd give it anyway), I'd be inclined to break it down into what, who and why you need to know:

What to know – the language, how to meet people, the culture, the culture, the culture
Who to know – experts in their fields, people who have been through it, people who make things happen, supportive friends (French and of all nationalities)
How to know – study, read, network, volunteer, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions
The bottom line is: I came, I saw, I conquered. I'm still alive and well and living in Paris after weaving my way through the intricacies of it all – through it, over it, around it, under it, on top of it, behind it and in the middle of it. You can, too.

About the Author

Adrian Leeds has been living in Paris nine years. She is the director of the International Living Paris office and president of Adrian Leeds Group, LLC, her Internet U.S. based company. She is the author of the "Insider Paris Guide for Good Value Restaurants" published by International Living, the result of her insatiable desire for great food at bargain prices, writes the Parler Paris email newsletter, and co-hosts her own brainchild, the popular Parler Parlor French/English Conversation Group in Paris where members from almost 50 different countries meet to practice speaking French and English. Email : Info@AdrianLeeds.com