Nathaniel, an American in Paris
💖 The purpose of The Allyance is to help both companies and candidates: companies wanting to reach excellence in hiring and candidates wanting to find the perfect companies.
➡️ Is The Allyance THE place to contact when you are a foreigner and want to land a tech role in France? Nathaniel would certainly answer “yes” as well as Nicole. Let’s meet him !
— — —Who are you? Tell us everything!
My name is Nathaniel. I come from Boston, lived in Washington and moved to Paris last year, during the Olympics 2024!
My career is a bit all over the place, but I swear, there is some consistency to it. I have done a lot of different things. First, I studied music, composition and performance, then graduated with a Master’s Degree in international relations. After working as a freelance sound engineer and an international relations officer, I got the opportunity to switch to a technical data analysis job and learn to code and use different programs, which then led me to work as a consultant for the data software Tableau. Since March 2025, I have been working as a Senior Data Analyst for Opus Major, a French video game studio.
I spend most of my free time with my wife and 2 kids. You could say I’m a consultant for kids-friendly places in Paris: playground, aquariums… I know them all!
How did Caroline help you find your current job?
First, let me say that Caroline was absolutely indispensable to my job search.
Indeed, the challenge was huge: I had just moved to a new country with an untraditional CV, without my 10-year Washington network, not exactly sure what I was looking for. At least, I knew that it would have something to do with data analysis, which was a good start!
The main point we had to work on was the cultural gap between the US and France. I needed to be appropriate in my e-mails, phone calls, interviews… I had to level with French formalities to make sure that I was not too much, as Americans can be. For example, she helped me get an adequate CV for the French market.
Also, it had been 3 years since my last interview, and believe me, it’s not like riding a bike. It was very useful to practice (and screw up!) with an HR expert who could give me live feedback. Coming from the US, salary expectations and negotiations were a tough aspect of my job search. She gave me techniques and ideas of what I could ask for.
For me, job searching is very unpleasant and emotionally draining. She was truly supportive, especially when I was in a very bad place due to repeated rejection. The 6-month process was quite long, not always fun but she clearly made it easier.
She sent me to Opus Major, one of her clients, and though I’m not a gamer, we clicked because of the incredibly interesting data challenge they were offering. As their first data hire, I have to build their whole data infrastructure and am thrilled about it!
Nathaniel and Caroline celebrating his new role at Opus Major !
What made the coaching sessions with Caroline unique according to you ?
She really figured me out and was able to tell which company could match (or not) with my profile and aspirations.
I also liked the fact that she made herself available, even after hours, to answer my messages.
All of this gave me a lot of confidence to keep going!
What would your advice be for someone who’s in an active interview process in France?
Well, I already have recommended Caroline to someone I know, so reaching out to her would be my first advice.
Mostly, for non-French speakers, I would advise to look at the start-up market. They seem more interested in English speakers because that can help their growth.
What do you like about being a Senior Data Analyst?
The reason I love this job is that I get paid to solve puzzles for a living. How great is that?
The first puzzle you come across is the massive one. What should you do with each of these million pieces? Which one should you keep, move… It’s like a giant network of spaghetti that you have to arrange using code or any tool you like. So crazy and fun at the same time.
The second kind of puzzle is when the metrics don’t look good. You have to investigate how they got here, and usually go and see people from other departments, mostly on the business side. I find it so nice to communicate with other departments and get how they work on a daily basis, and how it’s related to my job.
Name a well-known person you admire. Tell us why you admire that person!
I don’t know much about him, but I like Andrej Karpathy, one of the original founders of ChatGPT. He put out a lot of videos on how to build your own LLM.
With everything that’s happening, it’s good to see how passionate he is and that he’s willing to share what he knows.
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CONCLUSION
Caroline, The Allyance CEO:
“Nathaniel took me out of my comfort zone. I usually don’t work with Analytics professionals because I don’t feel legitimate. But, when I met him, I was 100% sure I could help him.
Nathaniel is the kind of person you want to work with : skilled, kind and enthusiastic. Opus Major is the perfect place for him !”
✔️ Want more?
If you are interested in knowing more about The Allyance, feel free to get in touch with us.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ✒️ Léa C, The Allyance Contributor:
“I joined The Allyance after Caroline and I met at a ionnalee’s concert! I am a freelance translator and content writer (French, English, Spanish and German). I also work as an administrative employee in the health and data science sector. So, I am not far from Caroline’s core topic! I am very active as a volunteer in social and environmental NGOs, where I always try to put intersectionality at the center of actions because I am convinced that every cause is linked to one another. It is readily apparent that Caroline and I share a lot of common interests, which is why we as friends decided to work together!”