Is France's Internship System Hindering Job Prospects for Foreigners?

In August of 2018, I moved to France with the hope of finally setting down roots and finding a job which would fulfil me both personally and professionally, and which was not within the realm of modern language teaching. 

As some of you may already know, teaching has always been something that I enjoy doing and which has made it possible for me to work and experience life in foreign countries, but has never really been my passion.

That’s why, in an effort to make myself more marketable, I decided to pursue a Master's degree in Communications, Media & Public Relations. However, after moving to France, I soon realised that my Master's degree was viewed as nothing more than a sheet of paper. 

I was a foreigner, with a foreign degree, who had no experience working in the French job market. Why would anyone want to hire me? I had no real experience and even though I speak fluent French, I didn't understand the "French brand".

So, like any other millennial, I decided to apply for internships in order to gain that much needed experience. I was so ecstatic because there were so many internships advertised: from local media agencies to international companies. Finally, there were media jobs that didn't require 5-10 years of experience and over 3 years of residency in mainland France. I thought at least one of these 50 companies would contact me. And contact me they did!

However, it wasn't to offer me an internship but instead to ask if I had a convention de stage. "Ummm...no, I don't", I would reply with a shaky voice because I knew that meant that the recruiter would then try to hastily get out of the conversation so that s/he could contact a bright-eyed student who could fill that position at their company.

For those of you who are not familiar with the term, convention de stage, it refers to a contract between a student, a learning institution and an employer which details the terms of a student's internship, i.e. insurance coverage, length of internship, wage and job description.

After attempting to undertake an internship in Martinique, while I was a Master's student, I vaguely became aware of this contract. It was one of the many thorns in my side, which deterred me from ever wanting to work and live in Martinique again. However, I was led to believe by someone working in the labour department (i.e. DIECCTE Martinique) that this contract was only necessary because of the type of visa (a temporary work visa) that I had entered with and not because, according to the French government, only students are allowed to do an internship in France. Yes, you read that correctly. 

This means that if you completed your studies in a foreign country and moved to France directly afterwards, you will not be able to do an internship, unless Pôle Emploi (the French public employment service) validates your convention de stage for a PMSMP (périodes de mise en situation en milieu professionnel), which is an unpaid internship where one is meant to observe how a company or business functions for no more than one month.

Now, if you are Anglo-Saxon, you must be wondering: well, how are you supposed to get any real job experience if you can't do an actual internship?

However, if you're French, you're most likely thinking: well, this is just how it is in France. This is the government's way of protecting the French job market and ensuring that recent (French-born) grads get quick access to job opportunities.

In a 2017 article published by Le Figaro - Etudiant, De Jaeger reports that according to a survey conducted by APEC, 82% of students who graduated in 2015 had already found a job within the first 12 months following their Bachelors or Master's degree.

More interestingly, 75% of the Master's students stated that their job was in line with their studies and qualifications, while only 24% described their job as one that “pays the bills and puts food on the table”.

However, what about the 18% who weren’t able to get a job within these 12 months or the recent grads who just moved to France?

Well, according to reports by Vice and l’Etudiant many of these young grads have started turning to the Internet to solve their internship problems. In 2015, Buet (for Vice) interviewed a young man who started selling fake conventions de stage online, ranging from €59 to €159, after having spent €600 of his hard-earned money on a 3-month internship contract.

On the other hand, there’s the option of enrolling at online schools, like Be Student Again, which offer conventions de stage for up to €430. Le Monde even published an article about a young law intern who was asked by his mentor at a law firm to enroll on the site so that they could prolong his internship, instead of just hiring him.

Although I have several issues with sites like these, I can't pretend like I didn't consider it for a few minutes after reading up on it. I mean, technically, it's not illegal! That's exactly why I can't really judge anyone who has done, is doing or who will do this. I may not deem it as moral but I do know that those bills still have to get paid.

Currently, I work as a part-time lecturer in English at a university. Many of my jobs here, in France, have been linked to teaching because that's pretty much your destiny if you're highly qualified and Anglophone. My colleagues and I often discuss whether or not we should stay in France because many of them really don't see their job prospects changing even though they have acquired other degrees in France.

So, I guess the only alternative would be to create. However, just like France’s internship system, becoming an entrepreneur leaves a lot to be desired!