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15-
Working in the country
Check the
pages 'Useful Addresses'
Languages
:
It is advisable to
take language lessons, or improve your existing
level. The quality of job that you could aspire to
will depend on your knowledge of the language.
There are several language institutes in France
where you can take Danish lessons.
Formalities to
be completed :
If you are employed
by a French or international company you don't have
to deal with any formalities, the administrative
services usually take charge of all the formalities
for expatriate staff. It is only if you are the
only representative of your company in the country
(eg commercial or in charge of a liaising office..)
that you would have to deal with any administrative
formalities yourself.
Preparing for
your departure and looking for a job
:
You could start by
looking for information by writing to French
associations existing in the country, to Trade
Commissions, to the commercial services of Danish
banks in France or French banks in Denmark. The
French consulate has usually a service dealing with
jobs and training and can put you in touch with
companies wishing to employ French
personnel.
The French Chamber
of Commerce also offers information about the job
market, the most dynamic sectors of the economy and
they also edit a bulletin for French companies and
local members. You could publish a job application
in this bulletin.
The Trade
Commission or the CFCE in Paris can give you a list
of French companies which are set up in
Denmark.
You can find all
the documentation you need about the country at the
Danish Embassy in Paris in the cultural
service.
You can take more
direct steps and make a personal appointment with
the Franco-Danish Chamber of Commerce to complete
your information and to obtain professional
advice.
While you are
looking for information you could contact companies
directly and send your application proposing your
services.
There is often
relevant information to be found in international
Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Directories and
files on the country will be useful in looking for
important bits of information concerning the
sectors of activity and the local economic
conditions.
Specialized
organisms such as the ANPE, the APEC, the APECITA
and the ILO can also be of help. There are local
ANPE delegations and ILO representatives in the
larger towns.
Look up also the
Danish Yellow Pages directory which you can get
from the post office.
Where to look
for job offers :
In the French press
(Le Monde, Le France Soir, Figaro, Moniteur du
Batiment, Expat magazine..) for French companies
sending people abroad.
In the
international press nearly all the big daily papers
have a column or a section of job offers (The
European, The Guardian, Vacature, corriere della
Sera, La Tribune de Genève ...)
The major
employment agencies in Europe and interim companies
have international job offers.
There are many
sites on internet which have international job
offers, and Danish sites which have local
offers.
Writing your CV
and the accompanying cover letter :
Sending in
information about yourself is the first step to
getting an interview, so it's very important that
you do it properly.
Your CV must be
clearly set out, typewritten, very detailled and if
possible written in Danish. It should be
accompanied by a handwritten covering letter. Some
companies are not very interested in graphology,
but it is still advisable to write your letter by
hand.
Don't forget to
attach a recent photo, preferably where you are
smiling.
It is not necessary
to send in all the documents as proof of your
diplomas, work certificates etc with the first
letter. If you mention all the important points in
your CV and give the addresses of former employers,
so that they can eventually be contacted, it is
sufficient initially. The documents, which are
probably in French and not necessarily
understandable for a Dane, can always be presented
during an interview.
If ever you should
think of arranging a CV to suit the employer's
requirements, you should know that according to a
study made by the Florian Mantione Institute, your
CV has a 45% chance of being checked by the
prospective employer, 34% of the candidates are
eliminated following that verification, and that
60% of the checks are done with the previous
employer.
So, whatever your
motives for adapting your CV, you should know that
it will not help you during future interviews and
could possible play against you.
Questions you
should ask yourself before expatriation
:
Ø What
exactly is the mission ?
Ø What is the length of the contract ?
Ø Are you going alone or with your
family?
Ø What is the life like locally ?
Ø Have you thought about coming back, how
you will manage to get reinstalled financially?
Ø Do you have the right character to be an
expatriate ?
Qualities you
need :
Ø emotional
stability (so that you can react rapidly to all
kinds of situations).
Ø autonomy, (can you make important
decisions on your own)
Ø mobility and availability, are you able to
move quickly?
Ø social contact, (don't forget that an
expatriate is an ambassador for his country in his
working and his social life ).
Ø accomodating (you can easily adapt to
changes of culture, climate and way of life)
Øthe ability to accept and understand
cultural differences
Ø tolerance and respect for other people's
habits and traditions.
Family:
Your partner should
share your ambitions, this is very important and
can play in the recruiting choice.
Some companies, particularly if the offer is for a
long term job, want to interview the candidate's
partner to check that there are no conflicts in the
couple which could eventually disturb the
mission.
For the
interview :
Punctuality is
appreciated all over the world. Be on time for your
interview.
Whatever post you are applying for, dress well, you
will be judged on your appearance and the way you
dress.
First interviews
can be short but can also last for several hours if
your application is found to be interesting,
depending on the position to be filled, and if you
have to do psychotechnical tests (handwriting
analyses) or aptitude tests.
Be careful not be
appear pretentious about your know-how, or to
exaggerate your professional competence. Emphasise
your real competence, your ease of adaption, your
mobility, your ability to work in a team and your
willingness to bring in the experience you have
gained.
A lot of companies
like employing expatriates, who can often bring in
other experience and knowledge.
Salaries
:
It can be difficult
to negociate a salary, especially when you are not
sure of the cost of living in the country. Higher
salaries could mean that the cost of living is
higher also. If you are employed by a French
company you will normally have a salary which gives
you an equivalent standard of living to the one you
had in France.
Taxes
:
If you are employed
locally you will have to pay the taxes in the
country. If you should have an international
contract you could have a tax free salary. In some
countries taxes are taken off the salary at source
by the employer.
Denmark is known
for being a country with heavy taxation. This is
due to the fact that social security is paid for
from taxation. There is a particular fiscality
applied to researchers from abroad and expatriates
who are not permanent residents in the country to
lighten the taxation.
This fiscality has
just been adjusted as follows :
- expatriate management of foreign companies who
earn at least 47,500 DKK a month can, for a maximum
period of 3 years, be taxed at a forfeitary level
of 25% of their gross income
- the person concerned must not have been submitted
to income tax in Denmark within the three previous
years
- after this three year period, if the expatriate
stays in Denmark he will be taxed like any other
Danish resident. However if he stays more than
seven years in all (3+4), he will retroactively
lose the benefits of his 25% tax rate that he
profitted from during the first three years.
(source MOCI)
Working conditions :
The local work conditions will be applied with
their advantages and their inconveniences. The
working hours are more or less the same as in
France.
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