My morning with VAR

Today I spent 3 hours at VAR for my bilan competencies as part of my integration into French society. The appointment was compulsory and I had to bring all my degrees and certificates for the appointed person, Virginie to look through and see what she can advise me on how to get a job in France.

I made sure that I got there 9a.m on the dot since the letter sounded so "official". I was surprised to see another "headhunter" dressed in baggy army surplus pants and a Tshirt, interviewing a candidate who was better dressed than her.

Virginie breezed in at 9.35 a.m, looking like she just dragged herself out of bed. She apologized for her lateness and said "Oh, but I am always late..." and added "I am so tired this morning". She really looked it, no make up (though she's so pretty she doesn't need it), dirty hair and she kept rubbing her eyes.

After filling up a form, she invited me into her office and fiddled with her computer - I thought she was looking for my profile but she was trying to open an internet page for music (!!!!) She then said " For this morning I think Bob Marley is very suitable" and opened a Bob Marley page with music... I think she has the best job in the France, so laid back and relaxed, starts at 9, but can come in at 930; finish at 5 sharp... no stress, no deadlines.

Anyway Virginie is so charming I think she can get away with murder just based on her charm. The 3 hours I spent there, I basically found out this:

To get a job in France, one has to be fluent in French first and foremost. It doesn't matter that you are able to speak a dozen other languages - if you cannot speak, write or read French it is almost impossible to get a job.

For a Products and Marketing job like the one I had before, Virginie basically told me it would be near impossible to garner the same ... in Tarbes. She asked if I was "mobile" i.e if I was able to go to Paris, work 3 or 4 days and then fly back to Tarbes (if the employer is flexible enough to allow me to work from home 1 or 2 days of the week!)

She has also advised me to convert my current CV to a french version and come up with a cover letter - which she will then pass on to her sister company which specialises in Executive search.

Talking to Virginie gave me a nagging headache as she would jump from one topic to another, even when we have not finished discussing the previous topic.

I did however manage to ask her about her job and found that she is fluent in Spanish, English and French which is why she is working with immigrants like me.

She advised me to go to Pole Emploi for an inscrition (i.e to sign up with the national employment agency) and then to sign up with her sister company as well as post my CV in both english and french in monster.fr

She also asked that I update her in 3 months and in 6 months for her to update her system. She then gave me a copy of my competency level which is sent to Toulouse and a signed certificate for my visa and sent me off - I was none the wiser and felt like I wasted my 3 hours today.