Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Fun &Easy French by FrenchPod101.com!
Do you know what information should be included in a French resume?
Do you know how you can better prepare for a job interview in France?
Stay tuned to learn more!
Salut, je suis Lya.
Hi everyone! I’m Lya.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apply for a job in France.
In a previous episode, we talked about how to find a job in France. But finding a job and getting a job are not the same!
Getting a job depends a lot on how prepared you are. Beides a well-written resume and cover letter, you also need to know what questions are likely to be asked during your job interview, and what qualities are expected of you from your future employer.
In this video you'll learn
1- how to create your French-style resume,
2- how to write a cover letter,
3- what professional social networks to use in France
4- how to ace a job interview
and 5- French work culture to get you ready for working in France.
Let’s start with how to write a French-style resume.
A resume in French is also called CV, which is short for Curriculum Vitæ.
To make the perfect French CV, you should include the following information, in the order of:
1. Personal information, which should go on the top left corner of the first page.
You can include your full name, age, physical address, email address and phone number, although age and physical address are not mandatory.
2. On the top right corner, you could include a photo of yourself. It's perfectly fine to do that in France.
3. A title to your CV. This is often overlooked.
As more and more companies go through resumes with automated search tools, it's becoming important to highlight the most relevant degrees, skills and experience that you have.
For example, a CV title could be:
Guide Touristique Certifié - Trilingue
"Certified Tour Guide - Trilingual"
or
Assistant Commercial Immobilier
"Real-estate Sales Assistant"
The 4th section of your French resume should be
Expérience Professionnelle
"Work Experience"
Followed by, Formation
"Education"
Then it's Compétences
"Skills"
such as
Langues
"Languages"
Informatique
"IT"
or
Permis de conduire
"Driver’s license"
You may also want to add Centres d’intérêts
"Personal interests" to your resume.
Next, we’ll have a look at the subtle art of cover letters.
Cover letter in French is Lettre de motivation,
which literally means "motivation letter."
Keep in mind that the French cover letter is almost never more than one page long. Inside that one page, you should include:
1. personal information, just as in your CV.
2. name and address of the company that you're applying to, followed by the date and place your cover letter is sent from.
3. in PJ,
"attachment," name the documents attached to this letter, such as CV.
4. in Objet
"Topic," use one sentence to describe why you're writing this letter.
For example,
Candidature au poste de ...
"Application for the position of ..."
Remember to fill it out with the exact name of the position as mentioned in the job offer, and a reference code, if any.
5. Start the letter by addressing the reader.
Use their last name, and make sure the spelling is correct.
If you don't know the name of the recruiter, a simple
Madame or Monsieur,
"Madam" or "Mister”
is often enough.
The body of a cover letter is typically made of three paragraphs, each with a specific purpose.
The first one is about why you’re applying to this specific company.
The second paragraph is about you, and more specifically, what you have to offer.
And the last paragraph should explain why your personality and unique set of skills make you the perfect candidate for the job.
In the salutations section, you can write something like
Veuillez recevoir, Madame, Monsieur, mes respectueuses salutations.
"Please receive, Madam, Mister, my best / respectful salutations."

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