The smell of wood is almost intoxicating.
Especially when it's freshly cut.
A sweet scent that brings back memories of childhood, of the countryside, of parents or grandparents planing a board which will be used to assemble a shelf, a bookcase, or using wood chisels to shape furniture.
If, for some, woodworking has remained a hobby, for others it has become a daily reality, a profession: cabinetmaker.
The profession is not really experiencing the crisis, especially since Covid and this need to return to manual jobs, to concrete matters and to activities that have meaning.
Almost everywhere in France, the profession is recruiting, looking for men and women passionate about this incredible subject.
Carine Hecht, 44 years old, Norman at heart and Vaucluse by adoption, fell in love with wood a long time ago but understood it quite recently.
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A technician in a medical analysis laboratory, she no longer thrives, goes home in the evening with a lump in her stomach and frees herself from all this negative energy by… working the wood that she decides to place around her swimming pool.
She likes this contact: it’s the trigger.
“Yes, it was a revelation,” she slips.
The wood is super beautiful and the grain is something incredible.
And all of this is what nature offers us!
»
Have multiple skills
Oak, ash, beech or pine, we can work with everything.
Resistance, aesthetics and... price simply differ from one material to another, from one project to the next.
The cabinetmaker must therefore know how to do everything and offer products according to the needs of his customers and their expectations.
Tables, consoles, chests of drawers, bookcases, tailor-made storage… “Be careful, however, warn Carine Hecht again.
I went from 35 hours a week to 50. A cabinetmaker is also a salesperson who must know how to listen, but also an accountant or even a social media specialist.
Today, it’s a great way to make your work known, especially on Instagram.
»
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But if you are hesitant to start your own business directly - particularly for financial reasons (the purchase of machines, even second-hand, can well exceed 20,000 euros) - craftsmen are also recruiting and training - whether you are young or not - are not lacking.
“Thirty-year-olds don't wait for the midlife crisis to retrain.
It’s now a quarter-life crisis
(laughs)
,” says Magali Donnat, director of the Avignon School of Cabinetmaking (ESEA), in Vaucluse.
This offers one-year training sessions for around forty people.
“To work as a cabinetmaker there are prerequisites.
First of all, you have to be rigorous, have a practical sense, a good spatial vision, be creative, precise and meticulous,” explains the specialist.
As in many establishments, this year is 80% dedicated to practice in the workshops.
An 80% professional integration rate
“The repetition of gestures is important,” continues the director.
Some must become automatic.
To acquire them, you have to practice again and again.
But we also offer students the opportunity to carry out six projects.
There are five pieces of educational furniture, such as making a Louis XV console, but also a personal project.
In the latter case, we sometimes see very original things with style and real design.
»
Once you have your diploma, anything is possible.
The professional integration rate is 80%.
If 60% of students go solo, others turn to artisans in need of agile hands for beginner's remuneration of around 1,800 euros net per month.
“People who choose this profession of cabinetmaker really come to seek pleasure in working.
They are often DIY enthusiasts who do not see the time passing when they are in their garage or workshop and decide to take the plunge.
They then have the chance to bring the wood to life and create.
It is truly a profession of art and passion,” concludes Magali Donnat.
Also read: Ceramist, fashion designer, designer... art and design professions
Carine Hecht has fully found her happiness.
Its order book is full until the end of August or the beginning of September.
Moreover, at the end of the month, she is leaving the workshop she shared with another entrepreneur, in Avignon, for premises 100% her own in Sorgues (Vaucluse).
A new step for the young cabinetmaker who continues to congratulate herself on her winning choice.
UP TO YOU :
A site:
www.onisep.fr/ressources/univers-metier/metiers/ebeniste
.
A book: “Guide to wood, carpentry and cabinetmaking”, by David Day and Albert Jackson, Ed.
Flammarion, 39.90 euros, 352 pages.
HE IS RECRUITING “I am looking for two people”
Mathieu Gay, founder of the Atelier mas d'ébène in Eygalières (Bouches-du-Rhône), never stops looking for rare gems to join his company of around ten people.
THE PROFILE.
“I would like people who already have two or three years of experience, not apprentices or interns.
They must already be independent in a workshop to produce interior or exterior carpentry pieces, furniture or restoration.
We need a plurality of skills because we only do tailor-made products.
»
COMPENSATION.
“Depending on experience, the monthly net salary can range from 1,600 to 2,100 or even 2,200 euros.
And on top of that, I suggest a 4 or 5 day week for the 35 hours.
Some people don't work Monday, Wednesday or Friday.
You just have to ask me and I will see depending on the number of employees so that the company can still work.
»
EVOLUTIONS.
“I’m looking to offer some.
I would need a business manager who manages the sites, the taking of measurements, who distributes the tasks.
This is something possible if the person works well.
»
Contact: contact@ebenisteriedart.com.