(C.L) Do you have any suggestions for professional success in California? To what extent is the work culture different from the one in France? 

L.B.: The American culture is very different from the French culture, to a point I couldn’t have imagined before living there a year. It’s apparent in the work, at least from what I could see in the tech ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay. From the free and flexible work hours, « home office », to the chief cook who comes to cook meals at the office, all the way to nurseries, hairdressers, and even an indoor kart track at the Scribd start-up.  Companies compete on employee benefits and creativity to attract the best talents, and that improves work conditions.
The downside is that these « improvements » contribute to blur the lines between personal and professional work, and to expand the working hours. The culture is to « push back the limits » by always going farther on the innovation path, and that requires quite a heavy workload. More than anywhere else, it seems to me that personal implication is essential to make the company move forward.

TO KNOW MORE

Contact Lisa Bardet on Linkedin 

See the site of the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco

How to land an internship in San Francisco and the "Bay Area"

Are you East-Coast or West-Coast ? 

Silicon Valley – an American Dream for entrepreneurs ? 

To know about the visa formalities for an internship in the United States