Apprentice Files Scrap Metal Under a False Name

"His studies completed, he, like everyone else, dons the work overalls. In 1951, under a false identity, he works as a fitter at the Carmes factory where, in a small workshop, he files pieces of scrap metal to a hundredth of a millimeter “to learn the trade.” He arrives on foot or by bicycle, punctual, anonymous, with a bag on his back. He rotates through different positions: in “secret,” that is to say with the workers on three-shift rotations, for two years, with the “travelers” of the House for his tour of France with garages, with the drivers who shuttle between the factories of Carmes, Cataroux, and Estaing."

"The technicians’ training lasts two, three, or five years. It is inspired by methods developed by a Swiss-origin psychology consultant—the only consultant likely ever engaged by the House—Dr. r Carrard. His basic principle: the apprentice must be left to find solutions to increasingly difficult problems on their own. This obstacle course is intended to identify individuals with a sense of initiative and a taste for responsibility through concrete and practical cases."

"The survivors of the initial hiring tests are subjected to a battery of assessments. Future travelers are asked to build a bridge over the Tiretaine—a small river that runs through Clermont-Ferrand—to identify the best candidates. Future managers, summoned at five in the morning to a woodworking shop, are given a “dovetail fitting” to complete in three hours, to point out to those who fail the test that it would have been better to spend half an hour thinking before grabbing their tools. A law student candidate is asked to specify the difference between a ladder and stairs, to repeatedly catch the stick thrown at them to see where their catching hand lands, and their reflexes are tested by maneuvering a tracing point to follow a rapidly moving line."