This year, it was the first time EFREI deals with helping students finding jobs by paying an organism: the CEI (the Charles Peguy French Center), which was in charge of searching employments for all P3 students.

During the summer, I had got a call from the CEI to prepare my stay in London and to know my level in English. So, when I came to London, I delighted in thinking that finding job would not be a problem. A friend told me that it was not so easy to get a work in England. Therefore, I wished that the CEI would help me.

It's interesting to know that in England your diplomas are not as important as in France. So, in your CV, you have to emphasize your jobs and your experiences. Don't forget to mention little jobs like baby-sitting or your summer jobs.

The day after my arrival, I received a call from Raffaela from the CEI telling me that I had an interview the next day in a take-away called "Pasqualini". The shop measured, at the most, twelve square meters with only two tables on the walkway in front of the shop. After a very short interview, I got an appointment for a training day. I was enthusiastic, worked hard and did my best. At the end of the day, the manager asked me to call her in two days, but when I called back, she said that she had already found someone.

I think that in England, when an employer doesn't give you his answer at once, your hope to get the job is slender.

:: My Difficult Research

Then, I waited from Raffaela to get an other interview. I received emails, like other P3 students, with lists of addresses. I went to several of them.

One morning I obtained the address of a "French Creperie". I went there in order to get an interview with the manager but the address was completely wrong. I asked someone in the street who explained to me that the restaurant closed two years ago. So CEI organization is very amazing, most of the addresses were copies of Internet adds. One day I get an interview for something in zone 2. The CEI gave me only the surname of a man and an address but neither his full name, nor the name of the company. When I arrived it was a building with four or five companies! In fact, the company I was searching for, was in reality a job center. After a short talk with the man I filed a long application form and I wrote my name on a list of their possible employees. When I came back two days later, I saw that my name was crossed off the list, so I understood that it was over for me.

I searched a job by myself from door to door in streets around my flat, at the beginning, and then in different districts. But I always got the same answer: "no vacancies, thank you". When Mr. Stowe and Mrs. Moran came to help us, it was a big relief. Maybe I didn't get the accurate method for finding a job in England. So I played their game and went to "job centers" and continued to search from door to door.

Don't be shy when you ask for a job, go straight on and ask for a job and show that you are very motivated. In a restaurant or a bar don't speak with a waiter and ask for speaking to the manager imperatively. Learn how to sell yourself in English.

Moreover, when you decide to search a job in a street, begin by the first shop till the last one without exception. Go and ask in every shop !

:: My solution

One day, Mr. Stowe (my English teacher) asked me to send an email to Audrey, employed by a company called Multimap, where I got an interview.

The interview was divided into two parts. First I met Laura the office manager who asked me some questions. And then I met Richard a software engineer who asked me a lot of technical questions on web-sites I realized before and how they worked. Few days later Laura called me to tell me that my employment started next Monday.

Multimap is a provider of mapping and location-based services. They deliver online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial searches to businesses and consumers.