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15
- Working in Belgium
The Belgian government has been trying to
improve the work market by different strategies,
the latest measures deal with the redistribution of
worktime and temporary job contracts. This is
considered to be a "key element" in reducing
unemployment.
The
latest measures taken concerning foreign workers
have dealt with setting up new structures to
receive foreign workers, the aim is to improve the
integration in the country.
Before
leaving :
Languages
: It is advisable to take language lessons, or
improve your existing level. The quality of job
that you could aspire to will depend on your
knowledge of the languages. There are several
language institutes where you can take French and
Flemish lessons. Many jobs require you to be at
least bilingual, French and Flemish.
Formalities
to be completed : If you are employed by a
French or international company you don't have to
deal with any formalities, the administrative
services usually take charge of all the formalities
for expatriate staff. It is only if you are the
only representative of your company in the country
(eg commercial or in charge of a liaising office..)
that you would have to deal with any administrative
formalities yourself.
Preparing
for your departure and looking for a job : You
could start by looking for information by writing
to French associations existing in the country, to
Trade Commissions, to the commercial services of
Belgian banks in France or French banks in Belgium.
The French consulate has usually a service dealing
with jobs and training and can put you in touch
with companies wishing to employ French
personnel.
The
French Chamber of Commerce also offers information
about the job market, the most dynamic sectors of
the economy and they also edit a bulletin for
French companies and local members. You could
publish a job application in this
bulletin.
The
Trade Commission in Belgium or the CFCE in Paris
can let you see their list of French companies set
up in Belgium.
There
is a comprehensive documentation about the country
available from the cultural service of the Belgian
Embassy in Paris.
Job
offers from the headquarters of the European
Communities are nearly always for bilingual
people.
You
can also make a personal appointment with the
Franco-Belgian Chamber of Commerce to complete your
information and to obtain professional
advice.
While
you are looking for information you could also
contact companies directly and send an application
proposing your services.
There
is often relevant information to be found in
international Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Directories and files on the country will be useful
in looking for important bits of information
concerning the sectors of activity and the local
economic conditions.
Specialized
organisms such as the ANPE, the APEC, the APECITA
and the ILO can also be of help. There are local
ANPE (Labour exchange) delegations and ILO
representatives in the larger towns.
Look
up also the BelgianYellow Pages directory which you
can get from the post office.
The
National labour exchange L'ORBEM (65 bd Anspach,
1000 Brussels) and the FOREM (104 bd Tirou, 6000
Charleroi) have an important network over the
country. In some regions of Belgium the name of the
Labour Exchange has been modified, in the Walloons
it is the FOREM and in the Flanders it is the VDAB.
Both offer numerous job possibilities as well as
training courses which are open to all job hunters.
All citizens of any European community country can
use the Belgian Labour Office. Each agency has job
offers which are open to both Belgians and members
of the European Community.
Where to look for job offers :
In the French press (Le Monde, Le France Soir,
Figaro, Moniteur du Batiment, Expat magazine..) for
French companies sending people abroad.
In
the international press nearly all the big daily
papers have a column or a section of job offers
(The European, The Guardian, Vacature, Corriere
della Sera, La Tribune de Genève ...)
Flemish papers, like De Standaart or Het Nieuwsblad
publish job offers in their Saturday edition. You
can buy them in French railway stations.
There are also free newspapers in Belgium offering
jobs, like Le Vlan. This is distributed freely in
letter boxes, but you can also get it on Monday
mornings from newspaper kiosks or bookshops, but
then you have to buy it.
You can often find international job offers via the
bigger employment agencies and temporary work
agencies.
You could send in your CV and candidacy directly to
some of the Belgian temporary work agencies like
Manpower and Ranstad Interim.
In Lille, Eures transfrontalier (a European network
of information and documentation about working
abroad) is specialized in job hunting in the
Community countries, particularly in Belgium and
Great Britain.
Via Internet you can get easy access to several
data banks of local job offers.
Writing your CV and the accompanying cover
letter :
Sending in information about yourself is the
first step to getting an interview, so it's very
important that you do it properly.
Your CV must be clearly set out, typewritten and
very detailled. It should be accompanied by a
handwritten covering letter. Some companies are not
very interested in graphology, but it is still
advisable to write your letter by hand.
Don't forget to attach a recent photo, preferably
where you are smiling.
It is not necessary to send in all the documents as
proof of your diplomas, work certificates etc with
the first letter. If you mention all the important
points in your CV and give the addresses of former
employers, so that they can eventually be
contacted, it is sufficient initially.
If ever you should think of arranging a CV to suit
the employer's requirements, you should know that
according to a study made by the Florian Mantione
Institute, your CV has a 45% chance of being
checked by the prospective employer, 34% of the
candidates are eliminated following that
verification, and that 60% of the checks are done
with the previous employer.
So, whatever your motives for adapting your CV, you
should know that it will not help you during future
interviews and could possible play against you.
Questions you should ask yourself before
expatriation :
Ø What exactly is the mission ?
Ø What is the length of the contract ?
Ø Are you going alone or with your
family?
Ø What is the life like locally ?
Ø Have you thought about coming back, how
you will manage to get reinstalled financially?
Ø Do you have the right character to be an
expatriate ?
Qualities
you need :
Ø emotional stability (so that you can
react rapidly to all kinds of situations).
Ø autonomy, (can you make important
decisions on your own)
Ø mobility and availability, are you able to
relocate quickly?
Ø social contact, (don't forget that an
expatriate is an ambassador for his country in his
working and his social life ).
Ø accomodating (you can easily adapt to
changes of culture, climate and way of life)
Ø the ability to accept and understand
cultural differences
Ø tolerance and respect for other people's
habits and traditions.
Family:
Your partner should share your ambitions, this
is very important and can play in the recruiting
choice.
Some companies, particularly if the offer is for a
long term job, want to interview the candidate's
partner to check that there are no conflicts in the
couple which could eventually disturb the
mission.
For
the interview :
Punctuality is appreciated all over the world.
Be on time for your interview.
Whatever post you are applying for, dress well, you
will be judged on your appearance and the way you
dress.
First interviews can be short but can also last for
several hours if your application is found to be
interesting, depending on the position to be
filled, and if you have to do psychotechnical tests
(handwriting analyses) or aptitude tests.
Be careful not be appear pretentious about your
know-how, or to exaggerate your professional
abilities. Emphasise your real competence, your
ease of adaption, your mobility, your ability to
work in a team and your willingness to bring in any
experience you have gained.
Don't forget that unemployment is high everywhere,
Belgium has the same problems as France, so don't
throw away a chance after having got as far as an
interview.
Salaries
: It can be difficult to negociate a salary,
especially when you are not sure of the cost of
living in the country. Higher salaries could mean
that the cost of living is higher also. If you are
employed by a French company you will normally have
a salary which gives you an equivalent standard of
living to the one you had in France.
Taxes
: If you are employed locally you will have to
pay the taxes in the country. If you should have an
international contract you could have a tax free
salary. In Belgium taxes are taken off the salary
at source by the employer.
Working
conditions : The local work conditions will be
applied with their advantages and their
inconveniences. The working hours are more or less
the same as in France.
Which
sectors are recruiting :
There could be jobs available in any of the
sectors. Most of the French workers in Belgium are
people living on the borders and many of the job
offers in Belgium are for companies on the French
site of the border!
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