Work environment, opportunities and salary for French people

Hi,

I live in Montreal and wanted to answer your questions, but working in a different field, I have zero relevant insights.
You should figure out most of it during your job search which you can start right away online anyway :-)

So other than my best wishes for good luck and warm welcome, there's just this one thing I can share:
From my personal experience Canada (even Quebec) is more similar to the US than you'd expect, and not much like France at all.

Hi Miss Elise, and welcome to the forum,

Having a double Bachelor degree in communication from an American University and a French school; also a Master's degree in Comparative culture and International relations from Japan; and in addition of that being able to speak French, English and good Japanese with more than 6 years of work experience (including internships) mean you get a big asset.

It's true that in North America we privilege experience rather than diploma, but let me tell you, as soon as you put your first step in Canada, contact the big companies or international associations and enhances your assets (you're gonna learn that you'll have to have the ability to sell your qualifications and make them always look matching the requirement of job).


1) What minimum salary can I expect to start in Quebec?    

It will depend on the kind of job and the area where you'll find the job. For exemaple, according to Emploi-Quebec, the average salary could reach 50,000$ for Professionnels/professionnelles des relations publiques et des communications.
For a Communications Specialist would get 53.008$ per year
For a Communications Advisor could earn 64,280$ per year
For a Communications Coordinator the median salary is around 42,176$ per year
http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job … tor/Salary


2) I saw some tensions recently in the news with some thinking French people are invading Quebec. Does it mean I'll be discriminated at work?

Let me put that into some words.
According to the belief of Quebecois, the French are known being arrogant and grumpy, they think that  French want to change Quebec with their new ideas, they are not always listening to and have a  completely different way of thinking of most Quebecois. They say that French has a reputation for knowing everything about everything.
North Americans are direct and straight to the point, and you will probably hear: "What are you doing here ? Why don't you stay home ? Why there are so many of you here??"  but when you think about it deeply you would understand that you don't have to take it at the first degree and there is no insinuation.

It could happen, you'll find it hard to be pointed at work as the “French” colleague, but the more you stand out from group with your qualification and skills, the more likely you will go beyond this cliché.

To sum up: what some could feel that there are some discriminations, I would say there are more "cultural" frictions or "inter-cultural" conflicts that are likely to be disturbing, but when it happens and as I always say better light up a candle than to curse in the darkness.


3) I only worked in France 6 months of my life and all the rest abroad, will that make a difference for employers comparing to applicants with no international experience before Quebec?

Let's face it! All employers will tell you unfortunately you have no Quebecois experience, good luck somewhere else, but if you put value of all your professional experiences abroad you will surely catch them, and arouse their interest to reconsider your application.
It's a question of 3 things: volontee, know how to deliver and networking.

4) How is the workplace for women in general in Quebec? I found France pretty discriminatory compared to the countries I've worked in (Ireland, Norway, US).

If we rely on studies done on this issue, a recent one (March 2014) titled « Même profession, salaires différents : les femmes professionnelles moins bien rémunérées » by Maude Boulet , mentionned that :

The average hourly wage of women working full-time was $ 22.35 compared to $ 24.56 for men of same group.
This study does not identify the causes of the pay gap between men and women, although it seems that the wage ratio of Quebecers and Canadians (compared to their respective counterparts male) increased over the last fifteen years; Quebec women doing better than Canadian women.

Here is the link for more details:
http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques … -femme.pdf


Personally I can say in general those two things : the more you work in a big company, or in government, the more you get well paid no matter if you are man or woman; and you will not find the issue as discriminatory as it is in other countries you cited.


Wish you best luck

Abdel

Thank you so much Abdel for all those informations!
This is really helpful and give me a good idea of what to expect.

You are most welcome.

Don't hesitate if you still have questions. We are all helpful in this forum.

Abdel