Summer jobs in France - destination reviews
Citizens of the EU are entitled to work in France automatically but you still have to get a carte de sejour if you are there for longer than 3 months. (Usually involves a very boring day down at the nearest prefecture (county hall). France's minimum wage is called (and pronounced as) the SMIC. Its about £4 an hour officially but working on the 'black' (strangely referred to as 'le black' by the French) is rife, especially in tourist areas and on farms in the picking seasons. The 35 hour week is a similar story and can often only seem to apply to the locals. A good way to avoid being exploited is to sort out some work before you get to France with a French or British company. Club Med and Disneyland Paris are large reputable French employers and are happy to employ UK citizens in France.
Hundreds of British, German and Dutch tour operators employ people of all ages to work in France. Its not just for students, in fact quite often people who are a little older than the usual 18 - 25 age bracket are preffered for their life experience and maturity (in theory!). Even people at retirement age can find great jobs in France in the camping and tourism industries. Canvas Holidays employ many retired couples and career breakers to work on French campsites in the summer.
Latest summer jobs in France
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Want to work with children, travel, learn a foreign language and live in? Aupair required for part time childcare role with lovely family. Especially ...more
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Campsite Couriers and Managers
As a Courier or Site Manager you will be responsible as the contact between Carisma Holidays and its ...more
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Looking for a physical challenge? Join our touring team and make a telling contribution. This position involves travelling from campsite to ...more
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Want a Baywatch Summer?! Great Positions Still available for the Mediterranean beach resorts.Apply now for immediate ...more
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Aspects of your job include:
1. Montage and Demontage of the campsite accommodation at the start and end of season
2. Occasional cleaning of ...more
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We are currently recruiting for a Private Chef in Corsica and Ibiza. As Private Chef you will be responsible for providing a ...more
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We are currently recruiting a team of people to go to the west coast of France from May/June to September/October.We require Housekeeping ...more
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Alpine Elements is a catered chalet company specializing in Alpine Activity Holidays throughout many exciting French resorts. We are ...more
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The picking seasons afford lots of seasonal work at great 'filler' times of the year. For example, you might be working a summer season that finishes in September, the ski jobs really dont kick off until November so that leaves you a month or two in Slough or Leyland. But it doesn't have to be like that. You could travel down to Languedoc or Bordeaux to help with grapepicking. Or do a bit on the olive harvest in Provence, which lasts until about November. These places in the south of France also have a longer tourist season than most other places so bar work and casual jobs can still be found this late on. There are also lots of ways to stay in France through the winter without being a ski rep or chalet host etc.. Many summer companies operating in France need staff for their support and warehousing operations from September through to March.
All of the large camping companies employ warehouse assistants and drivers, contractors (good job if you have a decent language) and maintenance teams (good job if you don't like talking to people). There are also possibilities for work with the companies that sub contract to the camping industry. BRADS Blanchisserie and the big Haven Europe owned sites employ people to labour through the winter months all over France. European Services, or ESL, employ installers and maintenance crews all year round to work on the technical side of the camping operation.
Nantes, Montpellier, Beziers and Avignon are big centres for this kind of work. Large cities like these also afford many bar jobs thanks to the large student populations. There is always the essential Irish, British and Aussie bar ready to employ English speaking staff. This is a really good way to learn French and meet a lot of people (and usually plenty of free pints). Even the French owned UK / Irish themed pubs employ foreigners but you will need to be able to speak a higher level of French. We are working on a list of pubs and bars for you to take with you (keep checking back). If the countryside is more up your street, there are lots of possibilities in France. France has roughly the same population as the UK and about 3 times more room. There are no belts of industrial activity as you find in Northern England and Central Scotland and the agricultural lobby in France is very powerful. This means lots of EU and government funding and a thriving agricultural and cottage horticultural industry. The largest areas of agricultural and rural opportunities are in decline population wise but are also quite insular in nature so the work is not really the problem. The tricky bit is getting in contact with the right farmer / employer. Places like the Aubrac, Lozere and central Languedoc are full of opportunities for a deep cultural experience but are only really open to those with a good level of spoken French. Having said that, throwing yourself in at the deep end can be a great way to learn. Again, we are working on a way to make this a little more transparent and hopefully open the way for more people to gain experiences like this. Keep checking back for the full directory, we're working on it.
Living and working on a French farm is not all red wine and olives though. If you are remotely sqeamish or have strong ideas on the treatment of animals be prepared for a shock. Many rural communities in France hold the right to hunt and be horrible to dogs up there with the freedom of speech. Day to day jobs will obviously vary with type of farm but the level of integration you get with this kind of work will be something you will remember forever. What will be consistent is hard work, long hours and a sometimes over exposure to French.
It might sound a bit strange but you can go and work on ski chalets in the French Alps during the summer. If you have a practical trade and a clean driving licence you could be one of the many people working on revamping and building new ski season accommodation during the snow free months. The larger tour operators and lots of small chalet owners employ UK and Irish tradespeople for this purpose.
All reviews are a rough guide. All information is to our knowledge correct at the time of writing. If you see any mistakes or would like to add something please email info@seasonworkers.com