There are better ways to travel

This is by far the worst job I have ever had. I understand it’s the luck of the draw with schools, teachers and placement, but why does that have to be the case. Living in Paris should 100% mean more compensation than 790€ a month to pay monthly expenses of over 1000€ a month. Living in Paris is not cheap and they should know that.

The only perks comes outside of the classroom which I don’t consider perks at all. You have time to travel yes, but no money to do so. You get a visa, but are not allowed to exceed 30% of your income with a second job.

If you’re as unlucky as I was, you are placed in a school that never requested an assistant to begin with, so not only do they not WANT to deal with you and your paperwork, they don’t know how. I was informed at orientation that our secretaries would handle our social security, come to find out when it’s too late, that my friends and I have not received it and thus no health insurance. So we ended up paying for health insurance we could never use. On top of that, the schools are unforgiving when calling out, even months in advance. So in consequence, you have to go to work with debilitating fevers because you have no health insurance and no money to pay the 20€ out of pocket to see a doctor every week. It is important to know that you will most likely get sick considering working with kids and working in a new country.

Overall, this company places you in France but does nothing to help you process in assimilating nor compensates for the costs. The only benefits come from when you are not working, which should not be considered benefits if the job didn’t provide it. There are many legit companies that will send you abroad, pay for your ticket to get there and accommodations long enough for you to get assimilated. All of that, which a reasonable, livable salary.

There were times that I didn’t have money for food. I will be writing to me school to stop endorsing this program.