Nothing inspires creativity like travel. With a strong value in flexible work experiences, Work Your World is a program offered by Boomerang x Publicis Groupe that gives employees the opportunity to work from any accessible country where the Groupe is present, for up to 6 weeks a year. In this column, we interview employees who have recently spent time abroad to see what they learned exploring this big blue planet.
Name: Julie Staneke
Position: Search Consultant
City: Paris, France
Season: Summer
Duration: 6 Weeks
If I had 24 hours in … what would you suggest me to do/visit/explore/see?
Start your day with a French croissant and coffee at Café les Deux Magots, one of the oldest coffeehouses in Paris. Go shopping in the vintage-chique neigboorhood Le Marais or be artsy in the Louvre. End your day with a dinner at Bouillon Chartier where they write down your order at the table clothing and top of your evening with a boat party at River’s King.
What was the most surprising things you learned/experienced?
That the working culture is really different, French people are better in English than I expected and that even though you try your best to talk in French, people still will answer you in English.
How did your workspace / working day look like, where did you work, how did you manage to work with the time difference?
I combined working from my apartment with working at the office. There was luckily no time difference for me. When I was at the office, I would have a warm lunch with my French colleagues.
What was the biggest cultural difference regarding the work environment?
French people tend to start and end their working day later. When I was at the office at 8/8:30 AM, I was always the first one there. At some point, I started to understand why people arrived so late –they are expected to be there until at least 7/8PM.
What were your magical moments?
There were many: going to a rooftop party with a view on the Eiffel Tower, getting to know new people, improving my French language skills, starting my day with a croissant. The list goes on
