How long have you been living in France?

Since the pandemic, I’m networking in Linkedin more than before and I’ve sometimes got this question: how long have you been living in France?

First, it shows that people haven’t read my Linkedin profile properly. Second, even if this question doesn’t come from bad intentions it is still surprising. I was born in France, so I’m French.

Once, when I talked to the phone to a work consultant, she told me: ‘ah you are interested in international settings because I can hear from your accent your foreign origins’. Then, I answered her; ‘I was born in Fontainebleau (a city near Paris) and I wasn’t aware there was a specific accent’. Then, I spoke more slowly, and she told me ‘ah ok, this is the way you speak and the way you breathe that made me wrong’.

People want to demonstrate they are culturally sentitive and respectful: from a name, they assume a story and history. By asking this question, they want to confirm their assumptions.

Family names’ histories are complex: for instance, I sometimes saw some names that sound French (by the spelling) in LinkedIn profiles but when I looked closer, it doesn’t seem there’s a strong link with France.

There are mixed marriages, adoptions and so many histories we cannot suspect!