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Electrician - to be or not to be!


Mike
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I am planning to move, lock stock and barrel to France with my family. Our first thoughts were to run gites but that idea is fastly diminishing. I am a qualified electrician with 26 years experience and would like to hear from any electrician currently working and living in France. I would like to know what loops i would need to jump through to become qualified the French way and what it's like working with other Frence trades people.
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Not many. You don't need French qualifications to be an electrician here.

If you are employed or self-employed as an electrician in the UK, dig out your certificates and have them translated by an official translator when you arrive. For good measure, bring employer pay-slips or self-empoyed accounts to prove that you have some experience in the field.

If you don't fully understand French methods, I'd suggest that you find an electrician to "shadow".

Do a forum search and see what is required of self-employed people here (I doubt if yo will get a job). 8 in the morning and I am drowning under paperwork which I have to present to the bank at 9:30.

That said, every electrician I know (self included) is up to his eyes in work...

 

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[quote user="shawny"]Ever applied, or is yours pure presumption ?

[/quote]

My what?

That aside, are you recommending that the OP ups sticks and arrives here on the assumption that he will get a job? That is a little presumptious IMHO.

Brest is a little too far for me, which is a pity. Anyone else fancy offering me/finding me a job?

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[quote user="Nick Trollope"]

That aside, are you recommending that the OP ups sticks and arrives here on the assumption that he will get a job? That is a little presumptious IMHO.

[/quote]

[:D]

Read this, you might even recognise yourself..............

Not many. You don't need French qualifications to be an electrician here.............. So encouragement there I notice

If you are employed or self-employed as an electrician in the UK,

dig out your certificates and have them translated by an official

translator when you arrive. For good measure, bring employer pay-slips

or self-empoyed accounts to prove that you have some experience in the

field
.

Hello ! Even more encouragement there

If you don't fully understand French methods, I'd suggest that you find an electrician to "shadow". Hello, again even more encouragement there

Do a forum search and see what is required of self-employed people

here (I doubt if yo will get a job). 8 in the morning and I am drowning

under paperwork which I have to present to the bank at 9:30.  
Well here we have even more, take a look at how much work this chap has on his hands

That said, every electrician I know (self included) is up to his eyes in work... Come over to France, just look how much work we all have !!

Now what was you saying about presumption ? All that adds up to the OP seeing just how much work there is for a sparks.

I simply implied that France was crying out for skilled men, such as electricians, what the OP does about that, is for him to decide. I suggest you go in to a temping agency, especially around the big towns and see what they offer you. And that is only for starters but my bet is that you much prefer to work for yourself if truth be known

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[quote user="Nick Trollope"]I wasn't trying to discourage him, just

tell him that he is unlikely to get a job. Which bit of that didn't you understand, newbie?

[/quote]

Well, I would say, just about all of it I guess.

He won't get a job but all the sparkies are working flat out. Littlemouse

said they were crying out for sparkies near him (and his is not the only town desperate for trades people) but you said that was

too far for you but perhaps, not too far for the OP. And as I said

before look in the temping agencies, seen quite a few places advertising for Electricians around

France.

Is being called a newbie an  insult or just a sign of someone

who lost an argument and feels the desire to call someone a very silly

name ? Never mind Nick, I am saddened for you but not disillusioned by your

feeble attack.

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Hi Shawny ,

The chances of working for a French Company as a electrician in France ,without speaking french are , zilch.

The self employed route working for english homeowners on day one , is the only way until the language is mastered.

ps.

Nick Trollope has helped many people with his sound technical advice and his prudent comments and , has definately gained my respect!

 

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Hi Leo,

Sorry but when did speaking French come in to the equation ? This was, I thought, a general question and none of us actually knows if he speaks French anyway. I would think it pretty obvious that anyone with no language skills of the intended country, may well find it pretty difficult but certainly not impossible (or zilch as you put it) in something as technical as the World of electrics.

Please don''t say zilch as if it is a certainty. I know of British plumbers, sparks and chippies who have succesfully found work with a company here and their French was pretty awful in the beginning. Some of them went on to become self employed after.

[quote] Nick Trollope has helped many people with his sound technical advice

and his prudent comments and , has definately gained my respect![/quote]

Oh ! fair enough that being the case, let him feel free to insult my opinion then.

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OK so it was probably an assumption that the poster couldnt speak French and Nick doubted that he would get a job, however if he does speak it then I doubt that he would want one knowing the hours and pay making Nick's suggestion to shadow an electrician and then work self employed a far more likely scenario.
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Its not strictly true that you can't work as an electrician if you can't speak french. Its more about can you read a plan, can you do the job ,type and size of the company that your going to work for etc.Learning the language comes as you go along,I'm not saying that it doesn't help to speak the language either.Its too easy to say your chances are zilch when all circumstances are different.
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Well, sorry that I have caused such a stir!

I will be coming out to France and will go down the self-employed road.

I am taking private French lessons as is my family.

Thank you for all the responses but I'm not much better off than in the start.  However, I would like to speak with an actual electrician who has been working out there and just fire some questions if that would be ok.

If there is anyone out there who fits the description who wouldn't mind me actually speaking with them then please let me know.

Kind Regards to all, Mike. 

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