Electrician Jobs in Germany for English speakers and foreigners

Just as the tasks and job opportunities for electrician experts in Germany are diverse, the days as an electrician in Germany for foreigners can differ slightly from the days of a German electrician. Electricians from abroad have to learn the technical terms of electrical engineering as well as the procedure of electrical work in Germany.

 

The way each electrician organizes his day is very individual. The working days differ depending on the type of company. If the electrician works independently, he is also responsible for the administrative tasks of his small company (correspondence with customers, invoices, tax matters, scheduling appointments, etc.). If, on the other hand, the electrician works as an employee in a larger or smaller company, he only takes care of the manual tasks in direct relation to the job of an electrician.

 

What is the most important common denominator among all electricians?

Safety is always the top priority in the job of an electrician, electrical engineer or electronic technician. After all, electricity is dangerous. Therefore, good organization and a critical look at the smallest details are of great importance for the customers' own life and life of the customers.

 

What your day as an electrician could look like

You either work alone or in a team. You work alone either in private households or in smaller companies. For laborious installations such as solar systems, there is usually a team on site because the direct current side on the roof (DC) or the alternating current or three-phase current side (AC) in the basement are operated at the same time. Therefore, for an electrician job in larger companies, it is advisable to demonstrate not only your expert know-how but also your ability to work in a team. If you are more of a quiet person who likes to work alone, you might start a small company with one or two employees by yourself.

 

The standard working hours for a workman in Germany are between 7am and 5pm. Since the job of an electrician is often characterized by unpredictability, on-site work can also mean that you will be working late until late in the evening. Defective power lines, burnt cables, incorrect materials or even the housewife who wants to get repaired her defective tumbler in the evening can mean that you are working until 8 p.m. or longer. Most electricians, including electricians from abroad, offer an emergency call or on-call service. The electrician then decides himself whether his specialist knowledge is needed that same evening, on a Sunday or on a public holiday, or whether possible repairs can wait until the next day.

 

If you work at a large construction site as part of a team, the vehicles are loaded early on with materials, tools such as drills, screwdrivers and all the necessary equipment. When you arrive at the site, the site manager, other craftsmen or scaffolding builders are already there. Stations with cable drums and chargers sometimes have to be set up on site. As part of your everyday work as an electrician, you are responsible for always ensuring that your devices are battery-loaded the whole day. Otherwise, valuable working time could get lost. Before you start your work as an electrician on the construction site in the morning, you coordinate your work with other construction site workers. Many tasks follow a specific order. These coordination meetings - as is customary in Germany - often take place over a morning cup of coffee.

 

Before a system, such as a solar system, is put into operation, the electrician's job in many cases is to travel to the customer together with the energy supplier to take the meter reading.

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Your Tools

When you leave the workshop in the morning with your vehicle to drive to the customer, you first check your tools. This is also part of the day in the life of an electrician. After all, without the right tools you cannot carry out repairs, installations or testing work. Essential tools that accompany electricians on many working days are:

 

• Side cutters

• Insulating tools

• Automatic insulating pliers

• Cable cutters

• Hand cutting tools

• Pressing tools

• Self-adjusting pressing tools

• Simple pressing tool

• Various drilling devices

• Screws, dowels

• Socket material

 

This is just a small selection of work material you should have on hand in your everyday work as an electrician. The material also depends on the type of construction site and the customer environment where you carry out your work as an electrician.

 

Therefore, purchasing work materials is also part of the day as an electrician from abroad who lives in Germany. The most exciting thing about every day in the life of an electrician is the diversity of tasks. In addition to standard work such as installing sockets and switches in apartments or on large construction sites, this is just one task. Your multifaceted tasks as an electrician with expert knowledge also includes:

 

• Alarm systems

• Networks

• Telephone systems

• Battery storage

• Photovoltaics

• Electrical installations in industry

 

Office Day

The daily work in relation to electrician jobs in Germany for foreigners includes a wide range of office work. Many small self-employed electricians, therefore, often set up one office day per week on which they devote themselves exclusively to their administrative work. The craftsman, in your case the electrician, works five days a week in his trade and operates on his office work at the weekend.