What we look for
- Installing containment and cable and terminating it — conduit, trunking, cable tray and basket, tray-to-panel routes, pulling and dressing cable, glanding SWA, terminating to boards, isolators, sockets, lighting, motors and machinery, and setting out a run so it is straight, supported and to spec. A CV naming the cable types, containment and voltages worked with (e.g.
- Wiring, terminating and modifying distribution boards, control panels, MCCs, starter panels and switchgear to a wiring schedule — crimping and ferruling, busbar and breaker installation, labelling, torque-checking terminations, and building out a panel so it matches the drawing.
- Works from single-line diagrams, wiring and control schematics, panel schedules, cable schedules and layout drawings, follows a circuit through a schematic to work out what a wire does, and marks up as-built changes.
- Carrying out and recording dead and live tests before energising — continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance, RCD trip times, phase rotation and functional testing — using a multi-function tester or Megger/Fluke instruments, and completing certificates or test sheets.
- Diagnosing electrical faults on live installations and plant — tracing a loss of supply, nuisance tripping, motor and starter failures, control-circuit and interlock faults, burnt terminations, sensor and limit-switch problems — working from symptoms and schematics rather than swapping parts, and carrying out planned preventive maintenance.
- Installing, wiring and maintaining motors and their controls — DOL and star-delta starters, contactors and overloads, VSDs/inverters, control circuits and interlocks, plus PLC input/output wiring and field instrumentation (sensors, transmitters, calibration, 4–20mA loops).
- Proves dead and isolates safely with lock-off and tag-out and an approved voltage indicator, works to permits to work and method statements, understands the danger of live working and refuses it, and works safely at height and around other trades.
- Working on live construction sites or operating plants — to programme, alongside other trades, handling your own materials and tools and keeping quality up under time pressure.
Questions you'll be asked
These are the questions the application form asks. You do not need to answer yes to every one — they tell us where your experience actually sits.
- How many years' experience do you have working as an electrician
- Which of these have you done, and where? (containment — conduit / trunking / tray, cable pulling, SWA glanding and terminating, lighting and power, wiring distribution boards, wiring machinery or motors)
- Have you wired or terminated distribution boards, control panels or MCCs from a wiring schedule
- Can you read and work from electrical drawings — single-line diagrams, wiring schematics and panel schedules
- Which electrical tests do you carry out, and with what instruments? (e.g. continuity, insulation resistance, earth loop impedance, RCD trip time, phase rotation — Megger, Fluke, multi-function tester)
- Describe one electrical fault you found and fixed — what the symptoms were, how you traced it, and what it turned out to be
- What experience do you have with motors and controls? (e.g. DOL / star-delta starters, contactors and overloads, VSDs / inverters, PLC wiring, instrumentation and 4-20mA loops — include makes if you know them)
- What electrical trade qualification, licence or apprenticeship do you hold, and from which country? (any country's qualification counts — e.g. a completed apprenticeship, QQI Level 6 / City & Guilds, SENAI or Tecnico em Eletrotecnica, ITI Electrician, TESDA NC II, a Master Electrician or Journeyman licence, or your own country's equivalent)
- What sites or plants have you worked on as an electrician? (type of site — factory, data centre, hospital, apartments, marine, solar — your role, and roughly when)
Qualifications that help
None of these is essential, and a qualification from any country counts.
- Completed electrical apprenticeship or national trade qualification from any country (e.g. QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate Craft - Electrical, City & Guilds, SENAI / Tecnico em Eletrotecnica, ITI Electrician, TESDA NC II, Master Electrician or Journeyman licence)
- Electrical safety training (e.g. NR-10 low-voltage safety, safe isolation / LOTO, arc flash awareness, or national equivalent)
- Safe Pass or equivalent site safety card
- Manual handling
- Working at height / MEWP (cherry picker, scissor lift)
- Confined space entry
- PLC, VSD or instrumentation training
We assess English at around CEFR A2 for this role — enough to follow instructions and raise a problem with the person you work for. That is our own standard, not an Irish legal requirement; there is no English test in the permit rules for this job.
The work permit
This role is eligible for an Irish employment permit. The job normally has to pass a 28-day Labour Market Needs Test — the employer runs that, advertising the role with JobsIreland/EURES and on a second jobs platform for 28 unbroken days. Either you or the employer can be named as the applicant on the permit itself; on our placements it is the employer. Either way the cost is not yours to carry: under section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 an employer cannot take the permit fee, recruitment costs, or travel money they have already paid you out of your wages, or ask you to pay any of it back. Doing that is a criminal offence.
Salary thresholds and any quota are set per occupation and move during the year, so we confirm the current position for your exact role with DETE before an employer advertises — rather than quote you a figure here that could be out of date by the time you read it.
How long it takes
From an employer offering the job to you starting work, in our experience the realistic timeline is 6 to 8 months if you need an entry visa — the Philippines, for example. From a country that does not need an entry visa, such as Brazil, allow about 4 to 5 months. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE permit processing, the visa and travel. DETE processes applications in date order and publishes its current dates; we do not quote a figure that could be out of date by the time you read it.
If you are already living in Ireland on a permit, the position is different — tell us on the form and we will explain where you stand.
Apply
The application takes about ten minutes. You will be asked about your experience, and you can upload a CV and record a short voice clip so we can put you forward properly.