# Overseas work?



## Shimy (May 24, 2015)

I have a few questions about *overseas* *work* as a "Journeymen Wireman" 

1. As a JW how easy is it to get *overseas* electrician *work*? What is the best path to take?

2. What is the pay scale normally?

3. Is there normally overtime? Is it time and a half or double time?

4. What are your options for contract length? 12month, 6month etc?

5. Are you given free room and board? or are you on your own? If you are on your own do they give you extra pay for these things? How much?

6. Taxes: How much tax do you pay? Is all your income or some of your income tax exempt, because of the out of country aspect? How does this *work*?

Thank you for any help.


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## active1 (Dec 29, 2009)

1. There's 2 factors.
A. Qualifying - Probably 1/3 of the people hired don't make it due to:
a. Medical - Full exam and tests including dental, vision, hearing, heart, cholesterol, body mas index, prostate (over 40), blood work, drug use, medical history, current medications, etc. There are many disqualifies while other issues could hold you up on a reviewing doctors decision. 
b. Background check. 8 year FBI background check was common. Could be 10 year, or could be a lower level of clearance. Some questions go back your entire life. Depended on the position and where you could work. Bad credit, large debit, unpaid taxes can be a fail. Be prepared to fill out about 60 pages of detailed information. Any untruthfulness is a fail.
B. Available positions. In 2010 the Afghan "surge" there was tons of positions available. Before that there was 2 war zones going on. By 2012 they were tight on funds, cutting back, tearing down was was built a few years before. Figure for every soldier there's a private contractor to support them. Right now there is barley any troops in the 2 countries. At one time contractors were happy to have licensed journeyman electricians willing to go. Not many had experience out there. Some stayed a number of years. While many others rotated in and out. The result is a huge number of people that have experience out there. Because there are so few jobs contractors can be very picky. Many ads now ask for people with several years experience working out there, have current security clearance, or a past history working for that company. To find the jobs you need to hit the internet and figure out what companies are working out there. Between the company web sites and job web sites you'll find something. keep in mind that many companies place ads for jobs they were not awarded yet. So several companies may have job listings for the same potential position. Contracting rules they need to have the workforce in place to be awarded.

2. The base pay tends to be very low. Not worth leaving town, let alone going around the world. Off my head say $23/hr. You make up for it with a multiplier for a war zone / hazard pay. Think it was 1.8 X the base. Then you would be paid 72 - 84 hours a week. No overtime rate. Then they would have bonuses. Every company can figure it a bit different. They tend to talk about the total pay for the year. It can be between low $100,000s to over $200,000. Average say $150k.

3. Many cases you put 12 hours a day 7 days a week on your time card. Every day you work. If your unlucky you could be held to working the 12 hours. More often it's not that many hours of actual work. Yet there could be some travel days that you're not really getting extra to travel. Outside the USA you will never get paid a special rate over 40 hours. In fact some pay you less over 40. Read the contract. Or don't worry about it and just think of the pay check amount.

4. For US electricians it's always 1 year. Unless it's a micro company with a smaller project working till it's done. 

5. It's a free ride. No cost. If you're with a bigger company they will cover up front travel costs (excluding your R&R vacations). Including hotels, schedule buses, plane fair, etc. A smaller company you may need to pay travel costs up front and expense them for reimbursement. Once overseas your on a base and you will be given a bunk to sleep, place shower, and food to eat. Could be a tent, container, or plywood hut your staying in. They are heated and air conditioned. How well depends on your luck. It could be very hot, windy, dusty, wet, or cold in your bunk. You only need to supply personal items like tooth paste, deodorant, shampoo, etc.

6. Taxes are exempt if you stay out of the country for almost the entire year. SS taxes are caped at around $100,000.


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## BEAMEUP (Sep 19, 2008)

Active1 covered it pretty well. The clearance can take a year or longer to get depending on what job you are hired for. The pay is better in the war zones, but you can get onto other locations that pay almost as good. I spent 6 years in Iraq & Afg, and then Oman and other middle east countries. 

It was a great experience and wouldn't trade it for the world. They are looking for Masters or better for people right now, but if you had previous time with a company or have a clearance now they will over look it. Good luck, it is a great way to travel and see the world.


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