Job profile: Gendarme

Summary:

• The gendarme's missions
• How to become a gendarme?
• Exam content
• Become a gendarme without a baccalaureate? It's possible!
• Possible career developments
• The gendarme's salary
• Specializations in the gendarmerie

The main mission of a gendarme is to ensure the protection of people and property, and security. They also participate in crime prevention, judicial investigations, rescue missions, maintaining public order, ensuring law enforcement, road surveillance, national defense…

To become a gendarme, you must pass the entrance exam to the gendarmerie school. For volunteer positions, recruitment is done through interviews and selection tests.

The conditions to pass the gendarme exam:

• Be at least 18 years old and at most 35 years old
• Hold a baccalaureate diploma
• Be of French nationality
• Not having applied more than 3 times
• Have behavior compatible with the function

The gendarmerie entrance exam consists of first practical tests: writing a general knowledge note, an MCQ and other logic questions, a foreign language test.

Following these tests, if the candidate is eligible, they must: pass an interview with a psychologist, meet with a jury about the candidate's motivations and major current events, and finally, pass a physical test.

Once the exam is passed, training at the Gendarmerie school lasts 12 months.

A baccalaureate diploma is not mandatory, as there is a specific path for young people under 26 years old who wish to invest themselves and build a career in the gendarmerie.
The Volunteer Assistant Gendarme (GAV) path gives the possibility to take the internal exam after one year of service. Thus, a GAV can aspire to become, one day, a career gendarme (non-commissioned officer).

The selection tests consist of:

• psychotechnical tests
• a general knowledge questionnaire (French, culture, calculations)
• a timed text comprehension test

It is also mandatory to prepare a cover letter to present on the day of the tests.

Career advancement within the Gendarmerie happens in different ways:
By level: This is called seniority advancement. After certain years of service at a level, the gendarme is then promoted to the next level.
By rank: To move from one rank to another, it is not mandatory to have climbed all levels (12 in total). This advancement can be done by request.
By corps: To move from the non-commissioned officers corps to that of gendarmerie officers, there are 3 possibilities:

• pass the Gendarmerie Officers exam,
• benefit from internal promotion
• be a graduate of certain schools.

The salary of a gendarme, also called "pay", depends on rank and seniority. Regardless of the level, a gendarme's salary remains attractive and comfortable.

Each rank is also divided into levels, which influence salaries; they are subject to an increase every 2 or 3 years. Here is an example of salaries according to different ranks:

Trainee gendarme: 1485.47 euros
Qualified gendarme level 1: 1527.64 euros
Sergeant major with 7 years of experience: 1923 euros
Warrant officer with 17 years of experience: 2331 euros
Chief warrant officer with 21 years of experience: 2461 euros
Major with 26 years of experience: 2600 euros

Allowances and bonuses are added to the base income. They include: types of missions, availability, family situation, mobility, job specificity…

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the different possible specializations for a gendarme after a few years of service:

• Judicial police (criminal investigation technician, portraitist, dog handler...)
• Road safety (motorcyclist, rapid intervention vehicle pilot)
• Anti-drug or ecology-environment relay trainer
• Mountain specialist (skiing, mountaineering, speleology)
• Helicopter pilot
• Patrol boat pilot or armored vehicle pilot
• Underwater investigator
• Lifeguard
• Sports instructor
• Republican Guard Cavalry
• Musician
• Communications operator
• Computer scientist
• National Gendarmerie Surveillance and Intervention Platoon (PSIG)
• GIGN member…

To summarize, the gendarme profession is a military profession with multiple missions and responsibilities in maintaining order and security. They must protect and serve their country and fellow citizens.