42k doable. Not easy, but doable. (I suppose fairly reasonable if you're from a Parisian school, you know the area and live there already, plus you can handle the Google interviews).
My calculator gives 2336 EUR per month on 12 months. (2156 EUR on 13 months).
The thing is, you're on 12 months so it's better than the estimation I gave initially. You're lucky in a sense, many places are forcing 13 months contract nowadays, which instantly steals 1/12 of your income.
Anyway, I consider that it fits the definition of "not much more than 2k". That will plateau [counter-]exponentially fast, don't expect to get 3k anytime soon :D
Let's say you have a contract written "26k gross over 13 months".
It means, you're paid 2k per month (26/13).
In December, you'll get 4k at once. [If you're still there, and worked the whole year, and didn't give your notice, and weren't sick more than X days... There can be some pretty nasty conditions to try to not pay you].
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The dishonest way to put it (what French people think and what company say): say that the salary is 26k. Except it's really not that, you can NOT rely on that money.
The programmatic way to put it: You're paid 24k gross, 2k per month. You MAY get 1 month of [mostly] guaranteed bonus at the end of the year.
The left-France-For-Abroad way to put it: French companies not only pay bad but they try to fuck with your income and ostensibly lie to your face. Americans/London tech did not do that, they give the real number for your salary, and they add ON TOP generous bonus/RSU/profitshare plus free catered food and insurance.
My calculator gives 2336 EUR per month on 12 months. (2156 EUR on 13 months).
The thing is, you're on 12 months so it's better than the estimation I gave initially. You're lucky in a sense, many places are forcing 13 months contract nowadays, which instantly steals 1/12 of your income.
Anyway, I consider that it fits the definition of "not much more than 2k". That will plateau [counter-]exponentially fast, don't expect to get 3k anytime soon :D