Talking About Work Experience in French: Professions, Careers, and What You Did Before
Knowing how to name professions in French is an important first step, but real conversations about work often go further. People frequently ask about experience, career paths, and how long someone has been doing a job. In French, these ideas are expressed using a small number of common questions and verb structures that you will hear often in everyday and professional conversations.
As you read through the examples below, you may notice that French sometimes uses different verb tenses from English to express the same idea. You don’t need to master all of these immediately, but recognising them will help you understand and reuse the patterns more confidently.
Cultural Note: Work, Identity, and Careers in France
In France, professions are often seen as an important part of adult identity, especially in professional life. It is common to talk about how long someone has worked in a role, what they did before, or how they trained for their job.
Because career paths are often linked to qualifications or long-term roles, questions about work history are usually factual rather than personal. They are normal in professional and semi-formal conversations and are not generally considered intrusive.
Asking How Long Someone Has Worked in a Job
One very common way of talking about work experience in French is to ask how long someone has done a job.
Key Question
Depuis combien de temps travaillez-vous comme… ?
How long have you worked as a…?
Depuis combien de temps travaillez-vous comme mécanicien ?
How long have you worked as a mechanic?
Depuis combien de temps travaillez-vous comme infirmière ?
How long have you worked as a nurse?
Grammar pointer
Even though English uses the present perfect (“have worked”), French uses the present tense together with depuis to express duration.
Answering: Talking About Duration
To answer these questions, French keeps the verb in the present tense.
Je travaille comme plombier depuis dix ans.
I have worked as a plumber for ten years.
Elle travaille comme vétérinaire depuis cinq ans.
She has worked as a vet for five years.
Il travaille comme réceptionniste depuis 2020.
He has worked as a receptionist since 2020.
Grammar pointer
If you see depuis followed by a time expression, expect the verb to be in the present tense, even when talking about the past.
Talking About Past Jobs: “What Did You Do Before?”
Another very common question focuses on previous roles.
Key Question
Qu’est-ce que vous faisiez avant ?
What did you do before?
Grammar pointer
This question uses the imperfect tense (faisiez), which is often used in French to talk about past situations, habits, or roles rather than specific completed actions.
Answering: Describing a Previous Job
When answering, you can keep things simple and reuse profession vocabulary.
Avant, j’étais mécanicien.
Before, I was a mechanic.
Avant, je travaillais comme coiffeuse.
Before, I worked as a hairdresser.
Il travaillait comme facteur avant.
He worked as a postman before.
Grammar pointer
You will often see the imperfect tense here (étais, travaillais). For now, it is enough to recognise that this tense is used to describe a past role or situation.
Combining Present and Past for More Natural Speech
French speakers often combine present and past forms to describe career progression.
Avant, je travaillais comme réceptionniste, et maintenant je suis infirmière.
Before, I worked as a receptionist, and now I am a nurse.
Elle était plombière avant et elle travaille maintenant comme gestionnaire de formation.
She was a plumber before and now works as a training manager.
Grammar pointer
Notice how French switches between imperfect (past) and present to clearly separate “before” and “now.”
Sentence Builder: Talking About Work Experience
Here are some reusable building blocks you can practise with different professions:
Depuis combien de temps travaillez-vous comme… ?
How long have you worked as…?
Je travaille comme… depuis…
I have worked as… for…
Avant, je travaillais comme…
Before, I worked as…
Avant, j’étais…
Before, I was…
Don’t worry if the verb endings feel unfamiliar at first — focus on recognising the patterns and reusing them in context.
Why This Is Useful
Being able to talk about how long you have worked, what you did before, and how your career has changed allows you to take part in richer conversations in French. Even recognising these structures when listening or reading will significantly improve your understanding of real-world French.
