When I got that little piece of paper with my picture on it last month, the one that gives me the right to work, to study, to live a normal life in this country, I thought the world had opened up to me, and I was ready to seize the opportunity.
Then, the harsh reality came back, and I realized that I have only a high school diploma in a country where the US high school diploma is considered not even to the level of the french high school diploma. A world where education costs next to nothing, and therefore, a diploma for any job other than fast food is not only expected, but required. That because of my lack of this equivalence to the french high school diploma, not only am I in bad shape for finding employment, but no one seems to have any idea how I could go about getting into the university system so I could eventually obtain a diploma and therefore have a shot on the job market.
Not to mention that every anglophone I’ve ever come in contact with in France seems to have had a complicated time finding a job, and often the one they find seems to have nothing to do with their degree in the first place. And I am yet to have ever met an french-residing expat without a diploma, leaving me to wonder if there isn’t a reason for that (perhaps that sends them fleeing back to their home country as soon as their feet hit the foreign soil).
Fellow foreigners, what is your secret? Please, share your wisdom. I could use a hearty dose!
5 responses so far ↓
1 letti // Jan 6, 2005 at 6:04 pm
hi there. i can’t give any advice but i can share my predicament. i was a doctor ( for 2 years ) in malaysia before i moved to the states a year ago to get married. Immigr. stuff aside, every international medical graduate has to sit for the 4 steps of the US medical licensing exam to be able to practise here, whether you are a fresh graduate or a brain surgeon. So now i have to start all over, almost like going to medical school all over again.
Chin up
2 ViVi // Jan 7, 2005 at 7:44 am
Oh dear. :/ I have the opposite problem - I have a BA but my french isn’t good enough to find work yet. I would really like to try teaching English but it’s impossible to teach in the public school system if you don’t have a French diploma. Of the two jobs I’ve applied for, one of them didn’t even bother to send me a rejection letter. I’m getting frustrated too.
But my friend didn’t finish her university degree, and she eventually found work teaching English. She’s been here for over four years now, and is taking classes on starting a business. Maybe we just need to be patient?
3 srah // Jan 9, 2005 at 2:37 am
What about non-university degrees like the BTS? They’re more along the lines of an associate’s degree (2 years) and might be easier to get into than a French university. Or once you had a BTS it might be easier to get into university. Just a thought!
4 david // Jan 9, 2005 at 10:12 pm
Well, I don’t think she can apply for the BTS thingy since you’re supposed to have a degree such as the BAC, which is exactly what you need to enter university as well.
5 kim // Jan 10, 2005 at 9:53 am
I went to GRETA (the adult formation thing) awhile back to find out if I qualified for their BTS programs, and they told me that while I could enter the program and do the studies, I would then be obligated to do a VAE (validation des acquis d’experience or something of that nature) to request the degree. Plus, the whole thing would end up being quite expensive.
However, I think I may have figured out the answer. I should know more by the end of the week.
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