Life as an Apprentice in France

Hello everyone!

Now that it’s year 2 of my Master’s degree in France, I have some insight into student opportunities that I’d like to share:)

One of the perks of student life in France is the ability to do what’s call an apprenticeship, or apprentissage in French. This means that you alternate courses with working in a company throughout the duration of the year. While it can be a strange feeling being half in school and half in work, there are numerous benefits, including that tuition is paid for by the company and you have a small salary on top of that. 

I can’t believe I am already going on my 7th week of work (and classes) of the school year. At Sciences Po (my university) we have 6 courses in the communications program to take as apprentices this semester. I organized my schedule so that all of my courses fall on Monday and Tuesday, while work is Wednesday to Friday. They call this your apprenticeship rhythm. Many schools follow a different rhythm, usually of a few weeks of work followed by one single week of classes, but it really just depends on your program and university.  

Beyond the aforementioned financial benefits for students in apprenticeships, the list of advantages continues. Benefits can be company-dependent, but can include paying for your transportation in Paris, offering restaurant tickets, providing days of absence for exam studying, and more. Additionally, you’re considered as an employee, which means you have the same vacation as full-time positions, which in France is at least 5 weeks per year. Pas mal 😉

The difference between an internship and an apprenticeship is that usually the apprentice will have more responsibility and is expected to need less guidance in tasks. Especially since apprentices work at the company for 12 months, they take on more and more responsibility as the year goes on. The goal of many apprenticeships is that the company will be able to mold the apprentice to their culture, ways of working, missions, etc. before potentially hiring the apprentice in a full-time position at the end of the year.

Beyond a student’s university and the company that hires them as an apprentice, there’s a 3rd player in the mix: Formasup. Formasup is a “centre de formation d’excellence,” essentially acting as the middle man between the enterprise and the school, and managing the apprenticeship contracts. While we don’t have much contact with Formasup apart from signing contracts, they do have assistance for students in terms of cheaper housing, finding driver’s license courses and more.

What is very evident living in France is that there are numerous opportunities for student aid in almost all aspects of daily living. From my understanding, it seems more affordable right now than the same lifestyle in the United States, due to these initiatives and general cost of living, despite the existence of inflation in France, too.

While apprenticeships are not easy to obtain, especially not as a native French person, I would highly recommend it for anyone. So far, classes have gone by quick and I absolutely love working in the company. I’ve been fortunate to have a welcoming team of French people where I work who have helped in the adjustment process and given me increasing responsibility these past weeks.

Until the end of the year, I will only be working 2.5 days a week, but as of January it becomes essentially full time, which is exciting. I am looking forward to the rhythm change (January to September 2024) to really be integrated 100% into projects and continue to learn and assist the team.

I hope you’ve learned a bit more about apprenticeships in France and let me know if you have any questions! 🙂