Friday 20 March 2009

OUR KIDS LIFE IN FRANCE, AND OURS - the job hunting begins





We needed to start having an income and it had already been decided that I find a job to allow hubby to stay at home and renovate. I had worked recently as we had the shop before coming here, but obviously, there I was my own boss. I hadn't been an "employee" for years, I think the last time was when we lived in New Zealand but that's another story, and I can't remember the last time I sat an interview! This was going to be scary, I was shaking even at the thought.
I set to it, scouring all the local papers and Internet sites for jobs. I have mainly worked in the Hotel industry, and mainly in France or on cruise liners, (4 in total), and had experience in almost all aspects from the kitchen, to the rooms, to the restaurant and the front desk...How hard could it be to find a job? I made several applications, and was very surprised by the response. You see, when you get older you tend to forget that your older. You still look the same when you look in the mirror, you still feel the same and you still feel yourself capable of doing all the things you did 20 years ago. Trouble is, employers don't see it that way, when you get past 35 you're over the hill. And that was just the trouble I had. My age was an issue, and some of them remarked on that at interviews, and some of them fogged me off as being over qualified for the job, and some of them plainly stated, "you do not fit the job description."
Then I found out that it is not obligatory to state your age on a CV, so I re-did it and took out my date of birth, I also took out the fact that I'm English as the French, being soooo French, would probably prefer to employ one of their own before a foreigner. BINGO. That worked. And after a long 4 months, I finally landed myself a job as a Hotel Receptionist...I was back in the land of the employed........

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