Intern Abroad

• Computational Engineering Science B.Sc.
• France, Paris
• Wiremind
• 10/2022 – 03/2023

Application/ finding an internship

Since I went to Paris in august 2021 for two exchange semesters at a university, I decided that I’d like to stay longer. The resulting conclusion for me was therefore to search an internship in Paris. I’m currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Computational Engineering Science. For this cursus it is mandatory to make an internship that lasts at least three months at the end of our studies.

Luckily, I already collected some recommendations for the application process in France during my time at the university over there. I sent two applications to start ups in Paris. The application process for the two positions included first an online test and afterwards a personal meeting where I introduced myself and presented what I’ve coded in the exercises before.

To search for open job positions I can highly recommend having a look at welcometothejungle.com. This platform is used by startups as well as larger, classical companies (e.g., L’Oréal). The company where I made an internship as “Junior Full Stack Software Engineering Intern” is called wiremind. They offer optimization solutions in the context of transportation.

Concerning the language, I can highly recommend having already basic knowledge in French before the internship. During my internship I met some people who are not speaking French neither are willing to learn it. Not speaking French is in general not a real problem in the background of business questions, but it is difficult to integrate in the French culture and find friends (that are French) if you don’t know their language. Besides of this, no French person is going to judge if you try to speak French, but you are not yet fluent. I met a lot of people who had German in school and they where always impressed by French, because they compare it to their knowledge of German.

Accomodation and living expanses

Paris is a very expansive city. During my internship I earned 1500€ of salary (brut). It is common in France that the employer pays the half of the transportation per month. Another particularity of working in France is that they hand out restaurant checks to the employees. In general, the company pay for 20 days 5€ per day and they subtract directly 5€ from the employee’s salary and add it to those restaurant checks (around 160€).

The cost for an appartement varies between 750€ and 1300€ for small appartements. It highly depends on the location of the appartement. As an example, I’m living with my boyfriend in a 32 square meters appartement with two rooms that is fully equipped, and we pay around 1500€ in the “quartier latin” near to the Pantheon. I met many people who are living outside of Paris in the banlieu to save some money.

I would all the costs are higher in Paris especially in comparison to Aachen. Thanks to the inflation in Germany, it feels like the difference for food prices in comparison between France and Germany is decreased, but this could as well be just a feeling.

Everyday life / the internship

During my internship of six months, I got six days of vacation. Personally, I really appreciate the working hours in Paris. Normally I’ve started around 9:30 am and worked until 6:15 pm. In the lunch break we were making some sport or playing FIFA or Mario Kart. According to my contract I’ve worked around 35 hours, which is the legal limit in France.

Free time / tips

Paris is a city which is not only incredibly beautiful but also busy city. If you are under 26 the most of the museums are free. I’ve started during my internship to go running with my colleagues in the lunch break. After 5 months I made a half marathon together with one of them. There exists an entire running culture in Paris. During the week at around 12 am there are many runners at the quay of the Seine (which is stunning with sunshine). Another advantage of living in Paris is the fact that from Paris you can reach nearly every important city in France by train without switching the train. Staying for some time in Paris gives you the opportunity to discover France.

Conclusion

I would do it the same way again and again! My internship was incredible in terms of my tasks and my colleagues. I really appreciate every second I could spend at wiremind!

As I mentioned before, I highly recommend to already speak French or at least being willing to learn and speak it. Especially if it comes to jobs where you need to interact with customers it is necessary to speak French. Furthermore, I recommend Paris as city for an internship. Since I’ve already done an Erasmus exchange at a university in Paris and an internship in Paris, I tend to recommend the internship. In my opinion Paris itself is not a student town. It’s too large and honestly just too expansive if you have no income like a salary due to an internship.