Earning money in France- Please help!!?

Question

Hi, Im moving to western France for a year this September. Ill work as an assistant in a school but they pay very very little- 115 euros a month :( Im going to need a lot more than this to pay for travel fares, food, bills etc. Does anyone know another way I could earn some cash when Im there? Please help as I dont think I can survive on this tight budget. Thanks

Answer 1

How about an internet business that you could do from your home?  For example you could have your own online travel business and help promote it by sharing information about the places you love in France!

One company that is looking for home-based agents worldwide is TraVerus.  If you'd like more information go to:

http://www.vgsims.traverustravelnetwork....

Answer 2

Assistant teachers make 770 € /month net for 12 hours a week, not 115 €. Are you sure you got it right?

I don't know what type of an assistant you will be if it's not assistant teacher but the net minimum wage is 6.84 €/hour so 115 € a month corresponds to a 4-hour workweek. No one can live on that, the government gives unemployed people 4 times this amount as the minimum survival income (and they get their rent and utilities paid).

So unless you are working only 4 hours a week on minimum wage, there's no way you will be earning 115 € a month, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere in your contract.

If you are working as an English assistant teacher you could do some private tutoring a few hours a week for extra money.

EDIT: Then if that's all you'll be making, which is virtually nothing, you need to find a real full time job. You should go to a local temp agency. As you may know unemployment is pretty high in France. Since i don't know where you will be I can't help more but they are called "agence d'interim" so maybe you can google that with the town or region you'll be living in and see what comes up. For tutoring look for "cours particuliers", some agencies employ teachers, or post an ad online. Type "petites annonces" on google.fr or yahoo.fr.

It's hard to help without knowing your age, skills, town you'll be moving to, exact "assistant" job you will have, whether housing is paid for or not, if you'll have a car or not. A 15-hour/month job sounds a little strange...

Answer 3

It's very unlikely that you'll be able to work legally elsewise. It will really depend what is on your carte de sejour and permis de travail. I did the other language assistant program referenced (750 euros/month for 12 hours a week) and we were not allowed to have other jobs because on our permis de travail it was spelled out "can only work 12 hours per week for the Academie de ....."

If you have a EU passport, no problem, go to a temp agency. Work on your CV and cover letter now.

Otherwise, try for English lessons. You can charge 15-20 euros/hour. It's difficult to tell you where to advertize as I don 'tknow if you're going to be in a small or big town. A big town I would say there will be at least one English bookstore--try there. They always have advertisements. Use the internet. google "petite annonce internet gratuit" or something like that. Ask your colleagues if they know anyone wanting extra classes/put up a note at your school. Then it will be by word of mouth. Check also if there are any English/American associations in the area; they will have montly newsletters that you can put notes in. The same with babysitting. You could always try to do under the table work if you found someone willing to do so--like waitressing perhaps? But the penalties are harsh if you are caught!

EDIT: Where will you be living? If you're paying a rent you can apply for the CAF (www.caf.fr i think) which is a rent allocation for people with low incomes.