These past few months I have had to constantly think about mon mémoire et la soutenance. Now that I have finished my degree there’s one question that everyone asks me: “Alors, qu’est-ce que vous allez faire maintenant ?” (So, what are you going to do now?)

“School” by CollegeDegree360 on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

La vie étudiante (student life) gets you into a rhythm :

Assister aux cours, étudier, faire les devoirs, écrire les rapports, attendre les résultats
Go to classes, study, do homework, write reports, wait for the results

Things can change when dealing with un système d’éducation différent. In France there’s a constant wave of CM et TD and trying to get un vingt.

Regardless of where you are, time in a classroom is time spent learning new things and la vie étudiante is a mix of stress and excitement.

“La Défense” by Arslan on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

La vie d’un jeune diplômé (the life of a recent graduate) drastically changes things. Everything shifts to a new goal:

Trouver un boulot
Find a job

I have to mettre à jour mon CV (update your CV) and write many lettres de motivation (cover letters) – not forgetting la formule de politesse.

Sometimes l’emploi idéal (the perfect job) requires a move. Alors, in between updating mon profile LinkedIn (my LinkedIn profile) and asking mes professeurs (my professors) for advice, I also have to think about le coût d’un déménagement (the cost of moving).

Most of all it means thinking about what I want to do and being sure I can do it en français (in French)!

Voici un vocabulaire des jeune diplômés :

Mettre à jour son CV – Update your CV
Actualiser son CV – Update your CV
La lettre de motivation – Cover letter
Demande d’emploi – Job application
Offre d’emploi – Job ad, job opportunity
La carrière – Career
L’emploi – Job, employment
Le travail – Work, job, task
Travailler – To work
Bosser* – To Work
Le boulot* – Job, work
Le job* – Job, work
Gagner sa vie – To make/earn a living
Le salaire – Salary
Le salaire minimum – Minimum wage
Le SMIC – Minimum wage

*Informal