Job interview: Self introduction

🇫🇷 This usually opens a French interview. Give a short, organised summary of your background and current role. Your life story or hobbies aren't what's being asked for.

💬 Nationalities after je suis take no "a" and no capital letter. A woman would say Je suis américaine.

💬 Use à before a city name. Swap in your own city: J'habite à Paris.

💬 un an runs together as (uh-nahn), with the n carried over.

💬 French uses the plain present tense with depuis for something still going on. Literally it's "I live in Lyon since a year". English would say "I've been living".

💬 métier means your trade or line of work. travail "work" or poste "position" refer to the specific job.

💬 There's no "a" before a job after je suis. A woman would say Je suis vendeuse.

💬 Careful: on its own, J'ai cinq ans means "I'm five years old". Add d'expérience to make it about work.

💬 The pattern J'ai X ans de ... counts time spent at something. de shortens to d' before a vowel.

💬 In spoken French, the question word can sit at the end of a normal sentence, as with quelles langues here. Raise your voice at the end to make it a question.

💬 Language names are written in lowercase and take no article after parler: Je parle français.

🇫🇷 French recruiters often test languages on the spot, so only claim the level you really have. Saying un peu honestly is better than being caught out.

💬 Formal questions can swap the verb and vous, joined with a hyphen. The same pattern gives Où habitez-vous ? "Where do you live?"

💬 le poste is a job or position. la poste is the post office.

🇫🇷 Recruiters expect an answer about the company and the role itself. Mentioning salary first lands badly.

💬 beaucoup goes right after the verb, not at the end of the sentence as in English. J'aime beaucoup is warm but slightly softer than j'adore "I love".

💬 French keeps le and les where English drops "the" when talking about things in general. So it's le contact, not just contact.

💬 French often uses the plain present for something planned soon. Nous vous rappelons works like "we'll call you back". vous goes before the verb here.

💬 Merci à vous sends the thanks back, like "thank *you*". Use it when someone has just thanked you.

🇫🇷 Leaving with au revoir plus madame or monsieur is the expected polite close. Adding bonne journée "have a nice day" is a warm, normal finish.

💬 Journée is the day as a stretch of time you live through, which is why you wish someone a bonne journée when parting rather than bonjour. Late in the afternoon, swap in bonne soirée "have a good evening".

🇫🇷 Adding madame or monsieur with no surname is ordinary French politeness, not stiff. Leaving an interview, this is exactly how to say goodbye to the interviewer or the receptionist on your way out.