French seeking to emigrate... (big house, employment, college)

[wickedripeplum]

Engineering and programming are probably the best fields to be in to get a company to sponser you. My understanding is that you might have better luck with a subcontractor that specifically sponsors foreign workers and then hires you out to companies like the ones lisak64 mentioned. That ends up being kind of a ripoff for you, because the subcontractor is taking a cut of your pay, and especially at the beginning it's a large cut.

[GoCUBS1]

Bonjour. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance. (thought I would practice my french)

I have worked with French immigrants in the following Chicago companies:

- Siemens (engineering)
- Motorola (engineering)
- Accor Intl./ Hotel Sofitel (Hospitality)

There are lots of great French Restaurants in the city and burbs (La Francais and Le Titi de Paris in the burbs are great).

Here are some links to Chicago francophone associations. Bon Chance!


Alliance Française de Chicago
Jack McCord, Director
810 N. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel. 312-337-1070 - Fax. 312-337-3019
rrodriguez@af-chicago.org
http://www.af-chicago.org
Alliance Française du North Shore
Dorothy Sauer, President
Tel. 847-482-1844
http://evkhome.northstarnet.org/afnorth (broken link)
Federation of Alliances Françaises, U.S.A., Inc.
One North LaSalle Street, Suite 1350
Chicago, IL 60602 USA
Tel : 1.800.6.FRANCE - Fax: 1.800.491.6980
federation@afusa.org
www.afusa.org
French Institute of the North Shore
Maria Kurt, Director
562 Green Bay Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
Tel. 847-501-5800 - Fax. 847-501-5855
info@FrenchInstituteNS.com
http://www.FrenchInstituteNS.com/home.htm (broken link)
Union des Français de l’Etranger de Chicago et UFEC-Accueil
P.O. Box 11492
Chicago, IL 60611
info@ufechicago.org
http://www.ufechicago.org
Association Démocratique des Français à l’étranger - Français du Monde (ADFE - Fdm) Section de Chicago
Marc Billon, Président
2027 W. Pierce Avenue. Unit# 4E
Chicago, IL 60622
Tél. 773-235-7782
adfe@adfechicago.org
http://adfechicago.org
Les Camarades de Combat
Pierre Jentel, President
2619 Eastwood
Evanston, IL 60201
Tel. 847-475-2144
Le Groupe Professionnel Francophone
Laura Veeneman, President
P.O. Box 148521
Chicago, IL 60614
info@gpfchicago.org
http://www.gpfchicago.org/
L’Institut Francophone Illinois Chicago (IFIC)
Tamsir Gueye, Director
3648 W. Belle Plaine
Chicago, IL 60618
Tel. 773-588-1550
institutfrancophone@ameritech.net

[Krimo]

Bonjour, vous semblez avoir un très bon français ! (It is "bonne" chance by the way )

Thanks a lot for all of those links. Can I call these associations if I need help for the visa or things like that ?

[Drover]

Guessing by the names of these places (and there's a lot of guessing since my French is pretty limited), a lot of them seem more like social clubs than assistance centers. I'd check into the places with "Alliance" in their name first; "Alliance" often implies groups promoting international business exchange between the two nations. Along those same lines, "Le Groupe Professionnel Francophone" also sounds promising. "Professionnel" also seems to imply Francophones in the business community.

[Krimo]

Yes, that is what I figured...Well we will see, I will try to call them later today. It is like 4 am in Chicago right ? It would be most innapropriate to call now

[Drover]

Yeah, subtract 7 hours for Chicago time. Not only is it 4am, but it's also Saturday...

[Krimo]

Good thing ! I mean you americans do not work on saturdays for the most part, do you ?

[Drover]

It typically depends on what type of work you do. People in the trades (construction, plumbing, etc.) and "white-collar" professions (insurance, legal, accounting, architectural firms, consulting firms, etc.) generally do not work on Saturdays. Government workers don't either, except emergency personnel (police, fire, etc.) and mass-transit staff. However, people in retail positions (grocery stores and other consumer goods), hospitality (restaurants, hotels) and travel-related industries (gas stations, car rental places, etc.) often do work on Saturdays. Banks are typically open on Saturdays since they're generally considered retail storefronts, though the banking offices (such as Chase Manhattan headquarters) are usually closed Saturdays.

[Krimo]

Okay, so it sounds it is the exact same thing in both our countries, except for the banks. Over here they are open on saturdays, but only in the morning and their hours during the week are big fat jokes...For instance, where I come from (southern France), the banks opening hours are like 9 am till noon, then 2 pm till 5 pm. Pretty tight time frames.

[Drover]

Banks here will often have abbreviated hours on Saturdays as well; it's not uncommon for them to close a 2 or 3pm on Saturdays, and even earlier in rural areas.