I do think the French are less risk-averse, and just heard on the radio today that the rate of traditional savings in banks has gone up quite a bit this year, so this is money that is not being invested in companies.
However, I would have to nuance the "career for life" idea as I truly think it is changing with younger generations, those under 35 or so. I've both read about this and witnessed it among our daughters' friends.
Here are just four of many "true story" changes involving young people I know: a young woman who became a veterinarian, practiced for five years or so, and then went to work in a management position at France Travail, the French national employment agency; a former business school student of mine who worked in high finance in Paris for seven years and then came back to his home town to open a restaurant; a young woman who got a doctorate and taught in university and has now gone to work as an administrative assistant for an accountancy firm; a young woman who quit her job as an engineer to open a food truck.
I also know quite a few French people who are changing careers in their forties, but it does seem to become more difficult after fifty.
Thanks Keith. As a creative person and now more of an entrepreneur with at least 5 or 6 careers behind me I know that French people would be mightily challenged to ‘place me’. Interesting article.
This certainly mirrors my experience in France. I have a friend who went back to school in her 50s in France. She wanted to change careers. She lasted less than a year. She was always the oldest person in her classes, and she never felt welcomed or encouraged. She dropped out. It's easy to choose a career in France, especially non-academic careers, but very hard to change. I do know one person, though, who was an international banker and became a psychotherapist, so it is possible, just not easy or common.
I do think the French are less risk-averse, and just heard on the radio today that the rate of traditional savings in banks has gone up quite a bit this year, so this is money that is not being invested in companies.
However, I would have to nuance the "career for life" idea as I truly think it is changing with younger generations, those under 35 or so. I've both read about this and witnessed it among our daughters' friends.
Here are just four of many "true story" changes involving young people I know: a young woman who became a veterinarian, practiced for five years or so, and then went to work in a management position at France Travail, the French national employment agency; a former business school student of mine who worked in high finance in Paris for seven years and then came back to his home town to open a restaurant; a young woman who got a doctorate and taught in university and has now gone to work as an administrative assistant for an accountancy firm; a young woman who quit her job as an engineer to open a food truck.
I also know quite a few French people who are changing careers in their forties, but it does seem to become more difficult after fifty.
Thanks Keith. As a creative person and now more of an entrepreneur with at least 5 or 6 careers behind me I know that French people would be mightily challenged to ‘place me’. Interesting article.
Judy
This certainly mirrors my experience in France. I have a friend who went back to school in her 50s in France. She wanted to change careers. She lasted less than a year. She was always the oldest person in her classes, and she never felt welcomed or encouraged. She dropped out. It's easy to choose a career in France, especially non-academic careers, but very hard to change. I do know one person, though, who was an international banker and became a psychotherapist, so it is possible, just not easy or common.
Thanks Mark.