What we look for
- Hands-on RC formwork, shuttering carpentry, falsework or steel fixing (Doka, Peri, Aluma, table forms, traditional timber; forming columns, walls, cores, slabs, beams, stairs).
- Has formed a variety of RC elements — vertical (columns, walls, cores) and horizontal (slabs, beams, stairs) — not just one repetitive task.
- Can read formwork/structural drawings and build to line, level and tolerance.
- Experienced on live construction sites; erects and strikes formwork safely and follows method statements.
- A steady record in the trade — sustained employment rather than scattered short stints, and jobs seen through to the finish.
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 in formwork / shuttering carpentry
- Which elements have you formed? (e.g. columns, walls, slabs, lift cores, beams, stairs, foundations)
- Which formwork systems have you used? (e.g. Doka, Peri, Aluma, traditional timber)
- Can you work from formwork / structural drawings
- Do you hold a carpentry or formwork trade qualification, from any country? (e.g. an apprenticeship, QQI / City & Guilds, SENAI Carpintaria / Carpinteiro de Fôrmas, ITI Carpenter, TESDA NC II Carpentry, or your own country's equivalent)
Qualifications that help
None of these is essential, and a qualification from any country counts.
- Carpentry / formwork trade qualification
- Safe Pass or equivalent site safety card
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.