As I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs…I have a habit of spending lots of money when I’m traveling, and I’ve found that the only way to keep up this unsustainable lifestyle is to constantly work part-time. As a young English-speaker with plenty of energy, I am always confident there will be a lot of options for finding work abroad…the trick is to just find a job that fits both my interests and hectic schedule. One of my close friends in Dublin worked as a barmaid part-time, but missed out on most of her nights and weekends due to her nature of her job. I knew that whatever work I ended up doing in Paris, I would need it to fit in well with both my academic timetable, and social life.
How I found the job (or they found me):
A group called the Nanny Agency recruited me off of the Sciences Po exchange group on Facebook. The Nanny Agency is actually an offshoot of the parent company Les Petits Bilingues, which is a company that matches English-teachers with French children wanting to learn a new language. Although I’m not the biggest fan, I actually do have a lot of experience with children as a swim teacher and volunteer at my sister’s elementary school. This hands-on experience really strengthened my application, in addition to my knowledge in first-aid from my Rescue SCUBA diving certification. Because I had been on a paid co-op this past spring, at first I didn’t even consider getting a job while in Paris. But the Nanny Agency contacted me at a slow day at work, and I figured I would fill out the application and see where that’d take me. The next thing I knew, I had a Skype interview a few hours before I left for the airport on my Dialogue.
But keep in mind, some things that could possibly hinder your job hunt are visa technicalities. For instance, on a student visa, you are only allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week. Many students travel abroad for co-op or research on a volunteer visa, which means you technically are not allowed to be paid at all. And when I was in South Africa, I was told that it was actually illegal for the City of Cape Town to pay any non-South African citizen for an internship. There a lot of little details you should look into before accepting a job, as you don’t want to get into any trouble and risk having your visa rescinded.
Best parts of the job:
The Nanny Agency reimburses 50% of my monthly transportation pass, which means I can get unlimited metro, bus, and tram rides for only $40 USD a month! This was definitely one of the biggest perks of the job when I first started. Because Paris’ public transportation is top-notch, I would’ve even considered paying the full $80 USD a month since I use it so frequently. I work 4 times a week, which sometimes is a lot of hours on top of schoolwork. But being a nanny means that you can pick your own hours when you first start, as there are so many different families that you are sure to find a good fit. I purposely chose to work a lot because I wanted to make enough money to live comfortably, but I made sure to give myself Friday’s off so I could use that extra day to travel.
The not so great:
The only real downside to nannying in Paris is my commute, which takes around 45 minutes each way. It technically only takes 15 minutes on the bus and 15 minutes on the train, but I add an extra quarter of an hour just in case if I run into any issues with transportation. I’d much rather be early to pick up my child from school than even a few minutes late, as parents can become understandably worried. Like many other large cities in the United States, it is extremely expensive to have an apartment large enough for your family in the middle of the city. Because of this, many young families live in the suburbs of Paris, which are less accessible by the main city metro. Instead, you have to rely on the slower regional trains. But the only time I’ve really run into issues with this lengthy commute is when I forgot the keys to the family’s house at my apartment.
Looking after children is hard enough, but doing so in another language is even more of a challenge. It took about a month for the children I look after (a 3-year old and a 5-year old) to become used to me and understand my basic English commands, but now they happily greet me at school with a hug. My main jobs include picking up the children from school, giving them baths, and trying to teach them basic vocabulary through activities such as drawing and reading. While I have no intention on becoming a teacher when I’m older, it has been nice to have this distraction from my rigorous classes at Sciences Po. And when I become too tired dealing with children, I offer to walk my family friend’s dog a few nights a week. For a small fee of course…cause a girl’s gotta eat!
