Construction Worker: An Overview Of The Career

By Adriana Noton

A career as a construction worker is an excellent position for those who have no desire to go through extensive educational schooling beyond the high school level. For a job at a construction site, the worker may just need to show up. Other positions need a high school diploma or specialized trade classes. Apprenticeships are a common way to get advanced experience and special skills that translate into better positions.

Union membership is helpful for about fourteen percent of construction site jobs. If you have a high school diploma and are willing to work, a manual labor job might work for your career. The application process might be helped by doing temporary work for experience or by part time work.

Every possible type of building site is in need of workers to do the basic jobs. Building sites for high-rise office buildings and for strip malls need workers. Construction jobs can be found in highway building, bridge building and tunnel excavation. Private homes in a subdivision also require common laborers to help the more skilled workers.

Entry level jobs will vary depending on the type of construction site involved. A laborer may load or unload construction supplies and equipment. Site cleaning or preparation may be a part of the general duties. Tasks are usually low skill level, but may be physically demanding. In order to qualify for higher paying jobs, the worker needs to complete extra training. This is sometimes funded by the employer. Examples of employers include Toronto contractors and Toronto associations.

Projects that employ construction personnel will usually begin with outdoor work, but may change to indoor jobs as the structure building continues. A forty-hour week is the norm, although extra time may be required if a construction project manager is trying to beat a deadline. Benefits like health insurance are rarely available to non-union workers. Some overnight travel may be required for workers on a highway construction crew.

Advancing to more specialized jobs usually requires the worker to take classes. Trade schools, vocational schools and community colleges offer classes for certification in fields such as welding. The use of other tools such as drills, jackhammers or power tools may depend more upon experience that classes. Those workers who work with hazardous materials are required to take certification classes. Underground construction jobs usually require skills and training beyond the entry level.

In general, wages for construction workers don't rise to awesome heights. The level of pay will depend somewhat upon expertise and seniority on a particular job. Some beginning jobs pay barely above minimum wage, others go up from there. The median hourly wage is fourteen dollars per hour in 2008. If you want to work into supervisory positions, you will earn about twice as much money per hour. Construction laborers don't usually get compensated for overtime work. Jobs with extra hours only happen when there is a need for meeting a near deadline.

A positive outlook is projected for the number of construction worker jobs during the upcoming decade. There are many federal projects that are being funded through the economic stimulus monies. Green jobs are also being added in construction areas that will open up even more construction positions. The number of jobs is expected to grow by twenty percent of the next ten years. The jobs are only for those who enjoy doing physical labor in every condition. - 32384

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