from a Indian guy, planning on coming to France for Higher Studies: France is sprinting now, when others are exhausted (USA, UK, China, India).. France is where it is right now.
France is not sprinting. No amount of measures will change the main issue we have in France : the people.
I am French myself, moved to Canada 6years ago, then moved to London a year and half ago. I have kept a very close eye on France, I tried to find jobs there, interesting jobs, but it is just not happening, there are so many hurdles it's not even funny, just to list a few : salaries are way off compared to places like London or Berlin, Paris is expensive and being pretty much the only place to find "startups" you become locked with a small salary and high expenses, it is elitist as hell, unless you have an engineering degree, good luck finding a decent job, and even if you find one, it'll take years before you move up or get a raise. The list could go on and on, but it is clear to any frenchman/woman who decided to move away that any amount of measures will not change the culture, a culture of elitism which doesn't leave room for talent.
I'll add that there are decent jobs in France, but there are scarce and the fight for them is high. You are more likely to end up working for Peugeot, AXA or some big corp like that. If you want a future in tech, avoid France, that place will never rise to the challenge.
If you read it right, I'm going there for studies, not job. France, is working hard on its higher studies, if any government is serious, I as a investor, would leverage on that.
The studies really are top notch, at very competitive prices. There are hidden gems around, like Toulouse School of Economics.
Generally, in every french university, you can really learn stuff, have a good core curriculum - and even do that at a discount price if you shop around or know how to play the game.
Your decision to study in France is wise. Make the most of it. I just recommend you reevaluate where to start your business when the times come, because of the opportunity costs.
I'm french, and if things had been different (or in the future) I'd consider starting my business in India :-)
I'd like to know your sources, and wear your rosy glasses. As a French student, I'll leave the country at the first occasion. We are heading into a big, thick wall and we'll lose more than the pigeons when we go bankrupt.
Making generalizations is not my thing but I know two things.
1) A crisis and less jobs means more and more young people here are just saying "fuck it, let's startup my own business".
2) Some French startups have done great and became global players in the last couple years, like Criteo, and there are plenty new and fast growing companies that are recruiting talent not only in France but from all over Europe.
I should know, I work for one such company, it's called Pretty Simple, and its hit social game of investigation is in the top 5 Facebook games. And we're recruiting like crazy (jobs@prettysimplegames.com), from iOS devs to game artists to game designers. We have self-taught people as well as engineers. We're nothing like the outside cliche of France would have you believe, and we're kicking ass with an international team that speaks English interchangeably with French.
Also, Paris is one hell of a cool city to live in, we've got good food, good parties, good benefits, and good people, and living here is not that expensive either when compared to London or the Valley.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I'm a aspiring entrepreneur, and yes, I want higher education if possible from select people in france, but I don't want to stay in France, or any western country right now.
India's Purchasing power is 3rd highest in the world, yet its actual GDP is only 7-8th largest. India, is where I would be, but not right now. Not for post graduation, quality education is something hard to find, due to such intense competition in India, your chances of getting into a IIM, is lower, compared to getting struck by a truck.
Not expensive compared to London, really?
I live in London, it is expensive, but the salaries are better here, more than compensating for the cost of living.
Maybe you should get some first hand experience there first before making such grand statements. France is in fairly deep trouble in spite of nominally getting out of the current recession early (in part because of a massive increase of public debt), it's Southern neighbor Spain (and major trading partner) is doing (much) worse.
There are a lot of people working hard to try to solve this but to say that France is 'sprinting' where the USA, UK, China and India are 'exhausted' is showing a serious lack in knowledge about the state of affairs.
Not sure about France, but your claim about China and India being exhausted is laughable to say at the least.
India is 'The' place to be in this century. With a relatively young free market economy, and a negligible competition space in the start up market. You can practically do anything you want and achieve in India currently.
Don't simply blindly believe the place you want to go to is the best, rather research properly- find the best place and go there.
Yes, India is place to be, in longer run, thats why I'm planning to stay here. But France is a short term opportunity, as long as this government is taking stuff seriously.
As a student entrepreneur, I find India a lot harder than France.
This is an interesting point of view and that it’s not the first time I’ve heard it (especially from indian students who were wondering if they’ve made the good choice coming in the UK instead of France).
However the only trouble on those stories is they were describing France a bit too much like California.
That said many foreigners usually do see opportunities when locals are just blind.
So if there is any attractiveness to France seen by Indian people who believe they can leverage those opportunities, this should be welcomed and probably rewarded too.
Yes, its not a walk in the park. If you seek opportunity, even in desert, you would find riches. Its not a hunch, I have carefully compared, what I want, and what I would be getting there, at a particular university.
Well, Its the actual changes in law, like this particular article here today, 10 steps announced by the French Govt. Over last 1-2 years, France has been working pretty hard... on this, lot of opportunities to capitalise on. This year itself, I attended a tour-de-India, by cultural groups from France, it was a really big thing, a clear intent.
Its more like, you might know something is cool, before its cool. The same way, people would laugh at the overpriced education in US/UK, 20 years back in India..
we will see how it goes.. I know clearer than a day, that at the first opportunity, I'm going to France.
There are surely more Frenchmen settling in China right now than Chinese or Indians wanting to come and set up a business in France. I have no idea where you get impression it works the other way around.
> Frenchmen settling in China right now than Chinese or Indians wanting to come and set up a business in France
That's a pretty bold claim. Outside my window are quite a few chinese businesses. Not necessarily the YC-type though. Import/exports, textiles, restaurants, restaurant suppliers, etc. I'm sure for every frenchman that goes to China there are 100 Chinese coming here to start a small, family run enterprise.
There is also a lot to do to change the mentality, because the crowd don't believe in "entrepreneurship" and prefer to work directly in big company.