Employment Panic

Over the past few weeks I have been in sort of an employment panic, as I have decided not to renew my contract here in Paris.   This isn't something I took lightly, but as many of the previous posts I have made here served to highlight, living here hasn't been the dream we had hoped it would be.

Granted, the city of Paris has been very interesting to explore and we have had some great moments here.  Yet in the end the city is not for us.  Paris is the sort of city I would recommend that anyone visit for a couple of weeks, or perhaps even a long summer break, but never live in.   Once you break free of the touristy traps it is mainly just a big city, with all the big city blues that come along with it.  Add to that the language barrier and it's just not fun.

I love living in big cities, but my ability to freely explore is constantly hampered by language, taking away much of the bonuses that living in a big city offers.   When you take into account all of our VISA/Government problems we seem perennially plague with, it is clear that this position, this way of life is untenable.

So, we are leaving.

The tricky part is that we don't know where, or even when, as at this very moment I do not have another job lined up.  This is where the "panic" part of the title comes into play.

Living here has been incredibly expensive, and the job paid much less than I had hoped, much less than I was accustomed to being paid in Canada (even when you take into account the stronger Euro currency).   We haven't been able to save a hell of a lot, so once my last paycheque rolls in, we will be on a very short clock.

My company has been attempting to find me a new position internally, but like with all things French, the progress is shockingly slow.  It's nice to have the heavy hitters in the company express a desire to keep me, and want to have my talents somewhere that will work for everyone,  but it isn't looking positive that I will be offered a position in the company in time.

Since we have a ticking clock in the form of a bank account to concern ourselves with, I have applied to nearly any Design related opportunity out there, and I am in a position where I must take the first decent offer that comes along, even if it isn't terribly exciting.   Not an appealing prospect, but that is the realities we face. 

That said, I have withheld writing this post up until now as I would have had to end there.  That would be a pretty depressing end to a post.  Now while that would be keeping with the running theme of many of my posts about France,  I am not without my good news.

At around the same time we were deciding to leave Paris, another company approached me about joining there ranks in Sweden.   It was a very unique and exciting opportunity they were proposing and I could only marvel at the serendipity of their headhunter's timing.

Since that day I have been focusing a large amount of my thoughts and efforts on this position, to positive effect.  I have had a succession of really great interviews with yesterday marking the third in that series.  It also marked a turning point, as after that interview concluded, the offer came to have me visit the studio in person.  I was also very happy to learn that they quite happy to have Aja accompany me on this trip so that she can see the city for herself.

Today is a Tuesday, and they are arranging to fly us over on Saturday and stay until the following Tuesday.  This will give us plenty of time to see the city on our own and for me to meet with the studio in person, hopefully to finalize the deal.

Given that I have roughly 3 weeks left until unemployment,  this is all really looking to work out perfectly.   I was getting fairly concerned about what may come if I was unable to lineup a new spot, and what would become of us, illegal and broke in France.

I guess this weekend we will have a few Swedish meatballs and see if this new job/country, really is the answer to so many of our woes.