The student CV in France: stage, alternance and the first job
A French student CV inverts the usual order: « Formation » (education) comes first, experience after. It names the exact contract you seek — stage (internship), alternance (work-study) or CDI (permanent) — with your availability dates, because French internships are structured, convention-based programmes.
What changes when you have little experience
Education first: your degree programme, school, expected graduation date, relevant coursework and academic projects carry the CV. A capstone project with real results (« application déployée pour 200 utilisateurs ») counts as experience — present it like one.
Name the contract: French internships (stages) require a school agreement (convention de stage) and have legal durations; alternance combines work and study under specific contracts. Recruiters filter by these — put « Recherche stage de 6 mois, disponible à partir de mars 2027 » right under your title.
Everything counts at this stage: student jobs (barista, tutoring), associative roles (BDE, sports club treasurer), Erasmus exchanges, hackathons. French recruiters read them as signals of autonomy — frame each with one concrete fact.
For international students in France
State your programme's French anchor: the school name matters in France (« Master 2, Université Paris-Saclay » or « Programme Grande École, exchange semester »). If you study outside France, give the Bac+X equivalent of your level.
Mention your work authorization plainly if you are non-EU: student visas in France include a limited work allowance, and internship conventions have their own rules — a line like « Titre de séjour étudiant — autorisation de travail incluse » removes the recruiter's first doubt.
Your French level, honestly, in CEFR terms. For English-taught programmes, B1 French with « en progression » plus strong English is a perfectly common student profile in France — hiding it is worse.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between stage and alternance?
A stage is a school-supervised internship under a convention de stage, typically 2 to 6 months. Alternance is a paid work-study contract (apprentissage or professionnalisation) alternating company and school over one to three years. They are different legal statuses — job ads specify which.
Do French internships pay?
Internships longer than two months must legally pay a minimum gratification (a fixed hourly rate set by law, revised yearly). Many companies pay more, especially in tech and finance.
Should a student CV in France include a photo?
Same rule as everyone: never required, legally protected, include one only if it is professional quality. For student applications a clean CV without photo is completely standard.