As far as work is concerned, both sides seem to agree: it is necessary, sometimes stimulating and enjoable, sometimes stressful and annoying. A couple of Americans mention the word career, do you think work and career are interconnected? Interesting point is traffic jams: many Americans can relate to those when speaking about work, is it true in France as well?

Pour répondre à la question de Mariya, je dirais: oui, je pense que le travail et la carrière son interconnectés.Même si le mot carrière englobe plus de chose que le simple travail, je crois que la carrière de quelqu'un dépend étroitement de la qualité de son travail.En effet,dans le monde des entreprises on n'est plus jugé en fonction de ce que l'on est, mais en fonction de ce qu'on fait, de nos résultats. D'autre part, je te rassure, à Paris les embouteillages ne sont pas ce qui nous manque le plus,on en a un chaque fois qu'on est pressé en fait.
Une difference est a remarqué: pour les Français le travail est souvent associé au social(vie sociale, insertion sociale,société,etc), le travail est considéré comme un moyen d'intégré la société, et en ce sens on parle même du "Droit au travail".Au contraire, nos amis outre-Atlantique ont tous ignoré la dimension social du travail.Pourquoi?Est-ce que le travail remplis un autre rôle aux USA? Ou est-ce qu'ils ont une autre activité qui remplace le travail dans son rôle social?

I think you are right. Americans don't see work as a social event. Generally, Americans are known for their willingness to succeed, to achieve the highest positions, be the best employee, earn the highest salary, etc. I think work is the priority for most Americans. Most live to work instead of working to live. They don't pay much attention to other little things in life which they might consider not practical, such as spending time preparing a good dinner for the whole family, or spending time with their children, etc. because these things don't make you better at work. They don't get you a better job or a better position.

Is it difficult to get a good job after finishing school? A few Americans put "stress" as an element of work. I think sometimes the stress comes more from finding the right job than working. Is your experience the same? Also, how often do you change careers in a lifetime? Many Americans expect to have the same work forever, but due to many factors they sometimes change their field completely. Do people get jobs based only on what field they studied in school, or is there some flexibility?

You said that in France, jobs and social life are interconnected. In America, however, the 9-to-5 culture is prevalent; during this time, they focus on work. Does this resemble the French job culture? Is job satisfaction high in your country?

to continue with the questions for our French friends :) Do people in France consider their collegues to be social friends? Do they meet with each other outside of the company? Nowadays, people in America (middle class) are into sports and fitness so many of them after work go and work out as opposed to having traditional dinners, going out, etc. As for social life, I have noticed that many family people prefer to spend the weekends with their families as opposed to looking for some other social circles. The other problem is the distances: many people (especially in the mid-west and west) have to commute long distances to get to work, so they are not really eager to meet with their collegues who probably live far away too. Also, there exists a substantial number of people in the States who go to church and that is their social circle. Do a lot of people in France go to church regularly?

More reasons that work isn't seen as a social event...I consider social stuff to be fun, relaxing, and entertaining, and none of these are adjectives I would really apply to Work. Maybe we have different concepts of social events?? What is your definition? There is also some discrepancy on this "social" topic between the French and American words associated with Family. Are these related? Also, I think that work is seen as stressful and fast-paced. Perhaps Americans are in a greater hurry and don't care to make as good of friends with colleagues. Competition for raises, promotions may also make us more competitive and less buddy-buddy. And I completely agree with the factor of commuting--I'm from the Midwest, my dad's co-workers often lived in the next state over...

It also seems like work is just an aspect and an extension of the French social life. It is only another dimension to their life but not their whole life. It has been hard all along for Americans to view work that way. It is always an extreme view of work and it is almost a chore!
How do the french manage to create that attitude about work? Do companies create and encourage specific corporate cultures?

Effectivement, je pense qu'en France le travail fait partie de la vie sociale. C'est sans doute pourquoi le chômage est si difficile à vivre. En effet, travailler est d'abord un moyen de se sentir utile, d'avoir un rôle dans la société, de s'insérer mais aussi d'avoir des relations : certaines qui représentent une autorité ou une corvée, mais aussi certaines qui sont des personnes que l'ont voit en dehors des heures de travail, avec qui on dîne, fait du sport ou simplement sort ensemble. Je pense qu'on ne considère pas le travail que comme une activité rémunératrice et individuelle, mais aussi comme un lien social. Cette différence explique peut-etre celle que l'on a aussi remarquée dans l'individualisme.

En France, il est beaucoup plus difficile de trouver un travail, le chômage est très important et on ne peut pas changer de travail aussi facilement qu'aux US. Les charges salariales sont très importantes et les traditions très ancrées dans le monde du travail, il est extrèmement difficile d'enlever un privilège (certains politiciens l'ont appris à leurs dépends).

Peu de différences entre France et US sinon peut etre de français un tou petit peu plus tire au flanc...
MARIYA: beaucoup de questions... :-) Concernant l'église de moins de français pratiquent (par exemple, seulement 13% des catholiques déclarés). Les week end en famille sont fréquents, sachant que les longs week-ends sont sujets à de mémorables exodes routiers (id huge traffic jams)...

To the French students, I have a question concerning unemployment. You say it is very difficult to find a job, I was wondering if some preference is given to French people applying to jobs or do people from other countries have the same opportunities as the French?

Do the students (after graduating from INT) become part of work-force or do they prefer to go to graduate school? Is the salary much better after going to grad school?