Immigration Series: All about studying in France, right to work & where to find jobs

With French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France is ready to welcome 30,000 Indian students by 2030, let’s look at international students’ right to work and the best way to find jobs while studying in France.

France is the world’s fourth-largest destination for international students and the leading non-English speaking destination. French universities are invariably ranked very high in all acclaimed global university rankings. Though French is mainly the medium of instruction, nearly 1,500 French programmes are taught in English.  Over 500 French scholarships are available to Indian students.

Studying abroad can be expensive and it is important to know the international students’ right to work while studying. Here are the essentials to know before choosing France as your education destination.

Work while studying: 

All foreign students have the right to work while studying in France. Students who are not European Union (EU) nationals must have a student resident permit. French law allows foreign students to work up to 964 hours per year, or the equivalent of 60 per cent of the maximum working hours permitted. The income received from such work is a bonus. When working in France, whether a student or not, a minimum wage is guaranteed by law. This statutory minimum wage is commonly called the Smic (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance or guaranteed minimum wage). As of January 1, 2024, this minimum wage is €11.65. This salary is gross; mandatory social security contributions have to be deducted (around 20 per cent) to determine actual earnings (i.e. €9.22/hour). A student working 10 hours a week at minimum wage will earn approximately €92 net.

Working at the University: In France, foreign students are also permitted to work at their host institution or university. These student jobs generally last 12 months, from September 1 to August 31. Students’ jobs at the university are scheduled around class times and study times. For the same reason, students working at French universities are not permitted to work more than 670 hours between September 1 and June 30 and not more than 300 hours between July 1 and August 31.

Internships while Studying: Some degree programmes require a student to complete an internship. French and foreign students are subject to the same rules:

The internship requires an agreement (signed between the institution and the structure hosting the student);

If the internship lasts more than two months, the student must be paid compensation of €650 per month (as of January 1, 2024)

Internships completed as part of a degree course do not count towards the 964 hours of permitted work per year

Apprenticeships & Professional Training Contracts: An apprenticeship contract is an employment contract of limited or indefinite duration between an employee and an employer. An apprenticeship allows practitioners of a trade or profession (the apprentice) to gain on-the-job training under a person/employer while studying.

Apprenticeships and professional training contracts, previously only accessible to international students who had completed a year of training in France, are now open to first-year students enrolled in a master's (recognised by the State) or in one of the training programs approved by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles. All other training programs that include an apprenticeship or professional training contracts are not open to first-year students.

If the number of hours provided for in the contract exceeds 964 hours per year for an international student from a non-EU country, the student's employer must, on the student's arrival in France, apply for a temporary work permit on the Ministry of Interior website.

Student Jobs &  where/how to find them

Here are three institutional websites offering thousands of job offers for young students: Jobaviz (CROUS website), 1 jeune 1 solution (new government website) and CIDJ (youth information centre):

Jobaviz: Jobaviz website is described as the official website for student jobs from the network of university and schools service centres and is directed both to students and potential employers. It presents:

Job offers by employment sector;

Advice to understand an offer properly;

Recommendations about employees’ rights and duties;

Quick access to job offers by area and city of residence. And it’s possible to create your own research profile to access more targeted jobs.

To this day, more than 70,000 offers are available everywhere in France, and there’s even job offers for remote work:

1 jeune 1 solution: The website lists jobs reserved for students. The student job ads selected by 1 jeune 1 solution are available via a search engine that works by type of job, by major field of activity and by region.

To date, almost 10,000 student job offers are available on the site, for up to 15 hours’ work a week.

CIDJ: The CIDJ, which depends on the Ministry of National Education and Youth offers a selection of jobs for young people, student jobs, job vacancies and work-study contracts, throughout France and in all sectors.

To start their search, students need to select the sector(s) corresponding to the job they are looking for, the location (by département) and the type of contract they are looking for (permanent, fixed-term, apprenticeship or professional contract). The website also lists the dates of job search forums, workshops and meetings taking place in each region.

Other job leads: Website etudiant.gouv.fr suggests other avenues and schemes to help students in their search, such as Junior-enterprises, associations set up within a higher education establishment. According to the student website, these associations, set up by students, enable them to carry out professional assignments for private or public companies as part of the teaching provided by their institution. It offers additional leads, and in particular jobs that can be filled within the institution where the student is enrolled.