Ok, so once again, not a native speaker, so let me know if I don't make sense.
They are very well implanted where I live, I'm not going to say exactly where because we're on the internet, but I think it's pretty obvious. So here, they have a partnership with the national unemployment agency, and every year, they take around 10 people (sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less), and help them get a leatherworker diploma. The training goes 6 months in a specialized school and 6 month in one of Hermès workshops. After this, you automatically have a contract with them (if you are willing to work for them). The tuition is free for the attendees (I think it's partly paid by Hermès, and partly by the unemployment agency), and it gets even better: if you are eligible for unemployment benefits, you can get it during the school part of training, and if you are not, Hermès will compensate to a bare minimum (which is around $1250 per month). During your time in their workshop, your salary is fixed to by Hermès (around $2050 per month, but you'd have to pay some tax on that here).
Their recruitment process went like this:
basic math & geometry test since there are a few hundreds of person applying
logic test, which is a lot like some IQ test
practical test where you spend a morning pretending to be a leatherworker at Hermès, you have specs to follow, tasks to do etc...
personality test (you cannot get disqualified based on this test only)
interview with the HR & interview with some people from their workshops
But there are downsides : I have asked many questions along the process and there are the reasons why I'm pretty sure I will not follow up on this:
Technical:
you do not get to work on creating patterns (they obviously already have a well established line of product)
you do not get to work on the cutting steps, you kinda receive a puzzle that you have to assemble & finish
some stitch lines are machine-made, not many, but it was a disappointment
you have to make 1 bag per day, which seems insane to me
Personal:
they were unambiguous that there is no place for creativity and that work will get uncomfortable & tiring
you will be making the same item of just a few variation during several year (in order for your skill to mature)
Very personal:
I already make a lot more money, and I have a family to support, so despite the passion; and taking in consideration all the above points, it seems wiser to just keep this a hobby
I am planning to move to the countryside with my family so that the kids don't grow up in the city --> not compatible with Hermès
I was mostly interested interested in learning how to use new tools, learning new techniques, and trying new materials and products and then using this knowledge to start selling more seriously. But it seems somehow deceiving toward Hermès, and more importantly it's kind of a bet that spending a year with Hermès will make it a lot more easy to sell my crafts, and I am not really able to estimate to what extent this is true
There, you know pretty much everything. Feel free to ask any question/clarification, and if you feel like you have any advice to offer on my situation, let me know.
