By: Nick Richardson

The job requires the worker to have good math skills, and the ability to work with several different heavy machines along with all of the construction material. Other abilities highly recommended for construction worker is advanced physics, chemistry, and basic knowledge of design and law. Specialized workers will work inside doing the electrical, plumbing, and heating/cooling systems. Transporting, loading, and unloading construction materials used for the build, along with repairing damaged building or demolishing old structures will also be part of the job.

You can expect to work a 40+ hour week, working on several different worksites a month. There is a high risk of injury with all of the heavy machinery and large quantities of heavy building materials, along with having to sometimes scale large structures and work in high places. Most construction workers work seasonally doing all their work in the warmer months and then saving up enough to live on what you’ve made, or taking up another job with-in the time they don’t work as a construction worker. Work takes place both inside and outside depending on the current project that you are working on, and what the job calls for.

Construction workers pay varies anywhere from $11-$20 an hour depending on their amount of experience, who they are working for, and what project they are working on. If you get a better projects you can make a better salary. Yearly wages are generally around 50k-60k a year for a construction worker.

Buildings will always require repair, or demolition, and those that are new, will always require minor repairs or even add-ons to make the owner happy. Demand for construction workers is predicted to go up 20% in the next 8 years, and then continue to grow as people and cities expand out further. Job for this trade will always be in demand, whether its for demolition, repairs, or just starting from scratch.

To become a construction worker you require a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and once that has been obtained you will enter an apprenticeship under a construction worker or a contractor. Things that may help would be knowledge of welding, metalwork, blue print reading, drafting and design, English, physics, and mathematics. You can receive further training working with non residential companies that will train you for 2-4 years working in school and doing on the job training. Even further advancement would be going on to get certification in welding, concrete finishing, and scaffold erecting which would just give you more chance to be hired, showing a very good understand of the construction trade. Construction workers definitely need manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, good physical fitness, a good sense of balance, and an ability to work as a member of a team. Solving arithmetic equations and problems quickly is a valued skill in this trade. There’s not really an institution where you can learn to become a construction worker as it requires an apprenticeship, but you can always go to school to further your trade and shop skills.

The three careers that would be closely tied with working as a construction worker that I’d be interested in would be a Plasterer, contractor, or a Painter. Those three jobs would be closely related to working as a construction worker and they would all require the same basic skills and same mind set as working as a construction worker.. As a painter you would basically do all of the painting once a construction project was done being built. Working as a plasterer would basically be putting down the drywall and plaster for the construction site; working as a contractor would work very closely with all three of the other jobs, you would basically be over-watching day to day activities of the workers and managing the construction site. These three jobs would keep in and around the same area as a construction worker and generally you would be working with the same skills and knowledge.

I’ve been interested in working as a construction worker for a few years. I work for my dad during the summer that had run his own contracting business for about 9 years; since then he was worked as a carpenter, painter, plumber, electrician, and draftsperson. I work with him every summer and find the work very enjoyable as it keep your brain working while you get exercise and do physical work. My entire family on my dad’s side of the family has worked as contractors, construction workers, carpenter, and in other related trades for the last 6 generations, every from my grandpa to my cousin work or has worked in the laboring trades area. Basically working in one of these jobs, mainly a construction worker is in my blood!

Working as a construction worker would be ideal for me as a plan B. I have some experience in the trade and have almost achieved all of the basic high school courses required for the job; I’ve had experience working with the heavy machinery and doing almost all of the little jobs around a construction site. The pays good, the hours are reasonable, you get a portion of the year off, and you can potentially get far in the business. You would get paid for your apprenticeship and the other trades programs you can take to further your reliability aren’t very expensive. You could even possibly take another apprenticeship to achieve your certification in other trades programs which would help further your reliability.