Name: Florencia
Country: Uruguay 🇺🇾
How Moved to France 🇫🇷: through a job offer
Field: NGO - People Operations Manager
In this episode of Tell Me Panda Talks, meet Florencia, a People Operations Manager at The Wellbeing Project. She moved to France from Uruguay in 2019 and landed her dream job in Paris—even without speaking French!
Timecodes:
00:00 Florencia and her story
01:27 How to find a job in France without speaking French
2:55 Cross-cultural communication in an international team
6:33 Cultural vs Personal
8:20 Cultural clichés
9:20 - Geert Hofstede and his cultural dimensions theory 9:48 American colleague and mate
10:36 Living abroad and missing home
13:00 What does it mean to be a world citizen?
14:52 How we met with Florencia
15:20 The famous signer from Uruguay
17:16 How to get a job in an NGO - advice 1
19:00 How to get a job in an NGO - advice 2
20:13 How to get a job in an NGO - advice 3
20:50 How to get a job in an NGO - advice 4
21:05 The best way to discover yourself
24:04 French culture shocks
How to find a job in France without speaking French
Elina: How did you come to France? What are you doing today?
Florencia: Well, I arrived in France in July 2019; I'm working at an international NGO called "The Wellbeing Project". I don't work for a French company or organization, so I'm unfamiliar with the French working style or culture. It's more atypical, very international, and multicultural. I'm originally from Uruguay, so my native language is Spanish, and I came to France with Spanish and English. I am comfortable in English too. I found a job when I arrived in France, so I needed a clear plan of what I was doing in Paris, and I arrived in the summer. Also, my birthday was very close, so I was in a very relaxed mood cause I also didn't know what I was doing precisely in this country. And you know, I found my job searching on Facebook; it was those groups where you joined as an expat, like expats in Paris or international employment in France for Paris. I joined every group for international people when I arrived, and in one of those, I saw a post.
Cross-cultural communication in an international team
Elina: So you're dealing with these intercultural topics almost every day and communicating with people worldwide
Florencia: Yes! Well, actually, I work with internal operations and human resources, so the team itself is very multicultural; we have team members in different parts of the world, we have a very international team here in Paris, another office in Madrid, and a big part of my role is I'm in touch with the team internally a lot and also with externals who applied to join the project. So yes, it's funny, but I also studied international relations. I've always been eager to be part of global and multicultural settings, so I'm applying all those multicultural communications theories.
Elina: Examples of awkward or miscommunication situations, so did you have some in your experience, and how did you deal with them?
Florencia: Yeah, I think I have had a few because of the fact that I'm also doing onboarding for new team members and hiring processes and also working on specific projects, so I'm going to mention one particular culture clash in terms of communications that happens a lot with my colleagues in India. The way we communicate is different; the straightforwardness maybe that I might also have because English is not my native language, so I'm more likely to know the facts, and then my colleagues from India are more like explaining and making it clear by making every detail be part of the explanation so then I feel lost and lose the point. Understanding how I bring this politeness to them and how kindly we make the points clear is exciting. And it's like an exercise, and I think so as long as you acknowledge that this like is a cultural clash or cultural overlap whatever it is, then it's easy because you can bring some joy to this and people can laugh, and I think that how I get along.
Cultural vs Personal
Elina: Where is the line between cultural differences and individual characteristics because we're all different? So is it cultural, or is the person like this? What do you think about this?
Florencia: Wow, that's so interesting, Elina, because it's true. I mean, I think sometimes it's easy to generalize like we have a lot of these types of jokes among the team like that's so Canadian, like what does that mean because people are like such a mix of things, so the way I go about it usually is trying to see the individual as the person besides their culture plus I also meet a lot of people who have a different mix, you know. In our countries, you're Russian, and maybe you're entirely Russian or have a bit of a mix. It's the same in Uruguay, though there are some exceptions. Here in Europe, everyone is half something, has something else, or has three different mixes. Hence, it is challenging to categorize someone in a cultural context, so the best approach is to see the person as an individual; otherwise, I can't distinguish. It's not necessary, and you know, probably this type of work about generalizing had become more complicated after like so much globalization and people moving everywhere because I remember even in the Netherlands when I started, there was someone called Geert Hofstede like a Dutch person who studies international communication, he was absolute on the different circles and the overlaps, and then we would think of examples from other cultures. For example, here I have an American colleague, a friend who loved the Maté, you know, this typical drink that we have in Argentina and in Uruguay, as well the typical South American drink with green herbs and a particular metal straw. I even got her one from Uruguay. It has been so funny to see how she explains to other people from other countries all the rituals behind making and drinking Maté that I would say I wouldn't be able to explain it in such a way like she explains every step of the whole ritual as if she was a local.
Living Abroad and Missing Home
Elina: Do you miss something from your culture? Of course, we're within our families and friends, like it's our home, but are there any cultural things or habits you miss here?
Florencia: That's a good question. I had the chance to spend a few months in Uruguay during the first lockdown. I went to visit for a few days, just 10 days. I stayed for five months, so I'm just staying at home for a while. I felt so nourished from those interactions because, you know, like having in the back of my mind the idea that I was going at a point to come back to France, I felt like I took advantage of every moment with every friend and every family member so and also like enjoying the food and the spaces actually the situation was not that restricted in Uruguay by that time so to be very honest I don't really miss it, I have a very special place for it in my heart, but in a way, my aim is to visit my country at least once a year.
Elina: What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? In this case, do you feel like you are a citizen of the world?
Florencia: I don't know, Elina, I like that concept. Even though I've always been seeking international experiences, I've been interested since I was a teenager. Then, just during university, I started. I always thought that I was not; I only had so much international experience that I could consider myself a citizen of the world.
Elina- Still, It's about the way you communicate with people. It's about your values. For me, really, it's more about your mindset and values. You mean how you really connect with people well.
How to get a job in an NGO
Elina: Can you give some pieces of advice about how to get a job in an NGO? Is it very specific? Are there any tips?
Florencia: Well, I think a very good piece of advice would be if someone is trying to join an NGO or the field, even the field of social change, but let's broaden it and say, like non-governmental organizations, even though they don't have experience, maybe in like NGOs before, if you have any volunteering experience something that shows that you're interested in helping or giving your time to you know to create a better world then that's very valuable, there are many transferable skills like everything that you do in your profession can be brought to an NGO because there's a system there's structure needed to make projects thrive so professionally you can get pretty much any profession it depends on the NGO but the fact that you have this human side that you can show that it's essential for you. It can make a difference if you're trying to transition.
Elina: Do you need to have an exceptional degree? What would be your recommendation for a master's program? Is it about international relationships?
Florencia: It depends on the role, and I'm saying this because I also recruit. Hence, it really depends because, for example, now we are looking for someone who will help manage an event that we are organizing, like a pretty big event, so the person should have some like business management or business administration like this more generic project management degree. They are very easily transferable. Hence, some degrees are broader, such as anthropologists or international relations professionals like my case. You can adapt that to different roles like internal operations that entail a lot of things or managing a program, depending on what is easy. The most important thing is clarity regarding what you want. Then, you can really bring that to your motivation, so in some cases, it needs to be more technical. For example, I could never apply for a role that requires tech communication, but it is more like project management for others. It is for people who like to share their values and backgrounds with organizations and know that these organizations, even if small, tend to be very fast-paced, so you must be flexible and adapt.
Living Abroad and Self-Discovery
Elina: When you live in another culture, and you see that some habits are different, like some principles, like everything is so different, you really understand yourself better, and you can distinguish, okay, this part of me is like this because it comes from my society and actually I don't like it it's just like this so you can uh separate this part you know yeah okay like french they do like this I do agree so I want like to inherit it, and for me, it's really like the way to my honest myself so what do you think about it? Are you also going through this kind of transformation?
Florencia: In a way, yes, actually, I loved the way you put it because it feels genuine, so I agree entirely; I mean, in my case, I didn't leave my country to find myself well, not at least not to France but I totally agree that like traveling outside of your own cultural environment you know seeing like the interaction of other societies, even just connecting with people who even speak a different language you know like our mother tongues are very different. Still, we're able to communicate and not just communicate verbally but also like to connect in a third language, and that's so enriching.
French Culture Shocks
Elina: So, France, what do you like about it? What were you like, cultural shocks? What do you like about Paris? What are your impressions?
Florencia: My answer may be different because I haven't had many shocks that leave me astonished. Uruguay has inherited much of French culture, such as how our government is structured, our education system, and even the bureaucracy, but only a little. Still, it exists. It's paper-based and said, etc., like things that generally annoy people or bring a cultural shock. I've seen it with colleagues and friends in bureaucracy, for instance. To me, it's okay; we have to be patient because, in a way, it's the same, so I don't really get very shocked about like the system is, you know, taking its time to process things sometimes losing papers so I think I just took it very naturally. I'm thinking of a cultural shock, and it's a very positive one. I'm very into good food, and I love French cuisine, so yes, it's been a nice upgrade to add to the flavors. That was a very lovely shock. Obviously, it is not the most efficient, and I know other systems that are very efficient, but as I was brought up and raised in a system that is the most efficient, this is not a big deal for me.
🎥 Note: this video was filmed in March 2021
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