Construction is one of our nation's most vital industries, providing jobs for almost nine million workers. In 2004 more than 5.2 percent of the nation's total workforce was involved in some aspect of building, renovation, or demolition. The products of this industry include single-family houses, apartment buildings, suspension bridges, electric power plants, and tunnels far beneath t…
Good jobs do not magically appear. Anyone who has been in the job market knows that landing the right job takes planning, preparation, perseverance, and patience. This is true whether you are looking for your first job, reentering the job market, trying to get a new job, or planning a mid-career change. This essay is designed to guide you through the process of finding a job, from helping you defi…
Education and Training: Trade school, apprenticeship, or on-the-job training Salary: Median—$17.43 per hour Employment Outlook: Very good Air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration mechanics install, maintain, and repair cooling and heating equipment. Air-conditioning and heating equipment makes the air inside buildings cool in summer and warm in winter. This equipment is also used in car…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$20.07 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Bricklayers build walls, chimneys, fireplaces, and other structures made of brick. They also work with concrete and cinder blocks, tile, marble, and terra cotta. Terra cotta is a ceramic material used for decoration. Bricklayers can do both construction and maintenance work. In construction, they …
Education and Training: High school and training Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Operators of bulldozers, graders, paving machines, and other heavy equipment work at many kinds of building sites. Operators use bulldozers, backhoes, and tractors for moving large amounts of dirt. They use graders, scrapers, and tamping machines to smooth and stabilize dirt and gravel in a …
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Average—$16.90 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Carpenters work throughout the construction industry. They are the largest group of the building trades workers. They saw, shape, and fasten wood to build houses and other buildings. They also build cabinets, doors, and other objects made of wood. They work on construction sites, inside buildings…
Education and Training: High school Salary: Median—$16.67 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Ceiling tile installers mount sound- and shock-absorbing materials and decorative tiles to the ceilings and walls of buildings. The tiles, strips, and panels are manufactured in standard sizes but can be cut to fit almost any installation. While most ceiling tile is installed in commercial structures…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$15.10 an hour Employment Outlook: Good Cement masons smooth and finish poured concrete. They work on foundations of buildings, in highway construction, and on sidewalks, driveways, and patios. They help make concrete beams, columns, and panels. Cement masons are needed wherever a finished surface of concrete is poured. They also apply l…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship or on-the-job training Salary: Median—$20.33 an hour Employment Outlook: Good Construction electricians assemble, install, and wire the electrical systems in new homes and buildings. Light, heat, power, air-conditioning, and refrigeration operate through electrical systems. Electricians usually install the wiring after the building is partially built. …
Education and Training: On-the-job training or trade school Salary: Median—$18.34 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Construction equipment mechanics repair and service many kinds of machines, including bulldozers, earthmovers, tractors, paving machines, pile drivers, cranes, and concrete mixers. A mechanic's job is very important because a broken machine can slow down or even stop co…
Education and Training: None Salary: Median—$12.14 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Construction laborers work in every phase of building activity. Although laborers are unskilled workers, no building project could be completed without their work. Laborers are usually the first workers to arrive at the job site and are the last to leave the completed project. They work on the construction …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Average—$21.24 per hour Employment Outlook: Poor Millwrights move and install heavy machinery. They work for industrial plants, construction companies, firms that make machinery, and companies that specialize in installing heavy equipment. Millwrights must be skilled in many construction activities. Bricklaying, painting, plumbing, w…
Education and Training: None Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Fair In the construction industry, destroying old structures is just as important as building new ones. Demolition workers tear down anything from high-rise apartment buildings to bridges or factories. Demolition includes blasting, which is the use of explosives, and wrecking with the use of machinery and equipment.…
Education and Training: On-the-job training Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Fair Since World War II, the installation of drywall, or sheetrock, has been the most popular method of constructing the inner walls of buildings. Drywall was developed as a substitute for wet plaster. It consists of a thin layer of gypsum sandwiched between two pieces of heavy paper made in standard-…
Education and Training: High school plus apprenticeship Salary: Median—$28.23 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Elevator installers build elevators, dumbwaiters, moving walkways, and escalators. They repair broken elevators, modernize older models, and perform maintenance duties. They work in all types of buildings, including skyscrapers and low-rise office buildings. Most elevators run ele…
Education and Training: High school plus apprenticeship or training Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Floor covering installers are people who put down carpet, linoleum, and tile, both in older buildings and those under construction. They also install materials made of cork, asphalt, rubber, and vinyl. In addition to floors, they sometimes cover walls and countertops. Floo…
Education and Training: None Salary: Median—$12.88 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Floor sanders and finishers make new wood floors smooth and shiny and make old wood floors look like new. They use a variety of sanders, buffers, and steel wool to smooth the floors, as well as brushes and other implements to apply finish coats of varnish, polyurethane, or wax. Floor sanders and finishers w…
Education and Training: Some training Salary: Median—$15.17 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Garage door mechanics install, repair, and service many kinds of garage doors and door openers. They may also install and service other types of mechanical doors, such as automatic sliding doors at shopping centers, remote-controlled gates, and rolling shutters that cover windows during high winds.…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$15.63 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Glaziers install glass. They work with sheet glass, plate glass, mirrors, and special products, such as leaded glass panels. They install sheet glass windows in private homes; plate glass in store windows, office buildings, and factories; and structural glass in building fronts, ceilings, and wall…
Education and Training: On-the-job training Salary: Median—$14.57 per hour for floor, ceiling, and wall insulation workers; $16.03 per hour for mechanical insulation workers Employment Outlook: Excellent The amount of energy it takes to heat or cool a building is greatly influenced by amount and type of insulation in its walls, ceiling, and other spaces. In addition, boilers, steam pipes, r…
Education and Training: On-the-job training or apprenticeship Salary: Average—$16.36 per hour Employment Outlook: Poor Lathers install the metal lath and gypsum lath boards that support the plaster, concrete, and stucco coatings used in construction. Lath is applied to the framework of ceilings and walls. It is also used as a basic frame for the construction of arches and cornices. Metal la…
Education and Training: None Salary: Median—$11.64 per hour Employment Outlook: Poor Manufactured home assemblers are factory workers who specialize in building transportable houses. The homes they construct are in great demand as efficient, economical alternatives to conventional homes that are built at a construction site. They are also popular because the construction is completed under …
Education and Training: Apprenticeship or on-the-job training Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Within the field of construction there are many specialized workers. Marble setters install marble, terrazzo panels, and structural glass in large buildings. Tile setters apply tile to walls, floors, and ceilings in homes and businesses. Terrazzo workers install a decorative con…
Education and Training: On-the-job training or apprenticeship Salary: Median—$14.55 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Painters and paperhangers apply finishes to walls, ceilings, and other surfaces. Although painting and paperhanging are two separate trades, many workers have mastered both. Painters apply paint, varnish, and other finishes with brushes, rollers, and spray machines. These fi…
Education and Training: On-the-job training or apprenticeship Salary: Median—$15.88 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Plasterers are skilled craft workers who finish the interior surfaces of homes and buildings with plaster coating to strengthen, soundproof, insulate, and fireproof them. On the outside of buildings, they use cement plasters or stucco because these materials are strong and w…
Education and Training: Vocational program or apprenticeship Salary: Median—$19.85 per hour Employment Outlook: Very good Plumbers and pipe fitters assemble, install, and make changes in pipe systems used to carry water, steam, air, and other liquids and gases. They install plumbing fixtures, such as bathtubs and toilets. They also install heating and refrigeration units. Plumbing and pipe …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$32,960 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Tool repairers service a wide range of equipment, including power drills, saws, wrenches, riveters, jack hammers, and pile drivers. Repairers may work for power tool manufacturers, construction equipment dealers, construction contractors, equipment rental companies, or repair shops. In…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$16.90 an hour Employment Outlook: Good Reinforcing ironworkers assemble and install the steel bars, known as rebar, that are used to support the concrete in large structures like buildings and bridges. They place the rebar inside forms that will be filled with concrete, tying the bars together with wire according to the building'…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$17.27 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Riggers help operate machines that move heavy objects including steel plates, bundles of steel rods, drilling towers, platforms, and the heavy construction equipment used to build and take down steel structures. Riggers have many responsibilities. They decide which pulleys, booms, braces, and cabl…
Education and Training: On-the-job training Salary: Median—$14.83 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Roofers install and repair roofs made of metal, slate, tile, and other materials. Some roofers also waterproof surfaces, such as the insides of new swimming pools. One kind of roofing material is composition (synthetic) roofing. When roofers put a composition roof on a building, they first co…
Education and Training: High school and on-the-job training Salary: Median—$30,120 per year Employment Outlook: Varies—see profile Septic systems dispose of sewage and gray water (wastewater from showers, sinks, and washing machines) from houses that are not connected to a public sewer line. A septic system consists of a sewer line, a septic tank, distribution boxes, and a drain syst…
Education and Training: High school, apprenticeship Salary: Median—$17.09 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Sheet metal workers make, install, and repair heating and air-conditioning ducts and many other building parts made of sheet metal. They also make and install roofing, siding, stainless steel kitchen equipment, gutters, and light metal partitions. These workers are different from shee…
Education and Training: On-the-job training or apprenticeship Salary: Median—$16.82 per hour Employment Outlook: Very good Stonemasons build stone walls, floors, and the exteriors of private homes and other buildings. They also make stone piers, arches, sills, steps, and hearths. Stonemasons work with both natural and artificial stone. The natural stones they use are marble, granite, sandst…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship Salary: Median—$20.40 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Bridges and skyscrapers, bank vaults and elevators, fences and stairways—steelworkers construct them all. Those who erect bridges, framework for buildings, and other supports for heavy equipment are called structural steelworkers. They are also known as ironworkers. They raise, pry, push, a…
Education and Training: High school Salary: Median—$30,380 per year Employment Outlook: Good Surveyors measure and write descriptions about land where highways, airports, and other buildings are to be constructed. Technicians help surveyors with the surveying equipment. Some technicians handle equipment that has been used in surveying for years. Instrument workers set up, adjust, and operat…
Education and Training: On-the-job training Salary: Median—$14.72 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Welding is the process of heating and melting metal parts to join them together permanently. It is used to construct and repair parts of cars, airplanes, ships, and sheet-metal products. Welding is also used to join beams when constructing bridges and buildings. Some welders work at steel mil…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$39,190 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Architectural drafters make detailed scale drawings used in construction. They draw building plans for office buildings, private homes, theaters, factories, and school buildings. Because buildings are constructed exactly as shown on these drawings, the work must be clear, complete, and…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Poor Architectural model makers create scale models of proposed construction projects. These projects include schools, shopping centers, housing developments, hospitals, bridges, and office buildings. Models are useful because, unlike blueprints or plans, they show exactly what the building will…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$43,670 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Building inspectors check to see that certain standards of safety and structural quality are being met in buildings. One of their major concerns is fire safety. They check fire sprinklers, fire exits, and alarm systems to see if they are in good condition. About half of all buildi…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Varies—see profile Construction equipment dealers sell or rent trucks, cranes, bulldozers, cement mixers, pile drivers, and other equipment to the contractors of construction jobs. They help contractors find the right machines for the job as well as help manufacturers sell their machines.…
Education and Training: High school, training, and experience Salary: Average—$50,980 per year Employment Outlook: Good Construction supervisors manage crews of skilled and unskilled workers at construction sites. Supervisors, also known as foremen or forewomen, are usually experienced construction workers. For example, an experienced bricklayer might supervise a crew of bricklayers. Superv…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$17.99 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Crane operators, like other heavy equipment operators, know a great deal about different machines and different kinds of construction. Operators are sometimes called operating engineers. Some work as tower operators and hoist and winch operators. There are several types of cranes. Some …
Education and Training: Vocational or technical school Salary: Median—$36,340 per year Employment Outlook: Fair An expediter buys building materials and makes sure that the right materials arrive at the job site at the right time. There are many reasons that all the materials used in a construction project are not delivered at once. Usually there is not enough room to store all the material…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Highway inspectors check the materials used during road construction and oversee the contractor's work to make sure each road meets its established specifications. Roads and highways are built by federal, state, and local governments. Highway inspectors work for the government and pe…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship or on-the-job training plus license Salary: Median—$20.33 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Maintenance electricians work in factories, hospitals, and other large businesses. They keep the generators, lighting, and electrical systems in working order. Electricians diagnose problems and then repair or replace defective parts. Maintenance electricians sp…
Education and Training: Apprenticeship or on-the-job training Salary: Median—$21.29 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Pile-driver operators control large machines that hammer piles into the ground. Piles are long, heavy pieces of steel or wood that support building foundations, bridges, and piers. The pile drivers can be mounted on skids, cranes, or barges. Some operators work in the oil in…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Real estate developers work in one of the most challenging areas of the real estate field—land development. They purchase large tracts of land on which they build residential communities, industrial complexes, and shopping malls or other commercial structures. Sometimes they buy negl…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Varies—see profile In what is known as the photovoltaic process, radiation from the sun is converted into electricity. Although understood by scientists for many years, this process did not receive attention until the 1950s, when the first silicon solar cell was invented. Since the energy…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$33,570 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Water well drillers sink wells into the earth to tap natural water supplies. They drill agricultural wells for irrigation, commercial or industrial wells, and wells for homes that are not served by municipal water systems. They keep records of wells drilled and, in many states, report …
Education and Training: College plus training; license Salary: Median—$60,300 per year Employment Outlook: Good Architects design, plan, and supervise the construction of buildings. They are responsible for the safety, usefulness, and aesthetics of their buildings. They must design structures that satisfy their clients' needs while conforming to the laws and regulations of the areas …
Education and Training: Bachelor's degree plus training; license Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Civil engineers plan and design bridges and tunnels, as well as highways, airfields, harbors, water and sewage systems, and buildings. They also supervise the construction of such projects to ensure that they are built according to carefully drafted plans. Civil engine…
Education and Training: Two-year college Salary: Median—$38,480 per year Employment Outlook: Good Civil engineering technicians help civil engineers plan and design roads, bridges, tunnels, airfields, harbors, and water and sewerage systems. Technicians sometimes work in urban renewal and community planning to improve the living conditions of cities or towns. They help plan the construction…
Education and Training: College plus training Salary: Median—$49,940 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Estimators predict the costs of future construction projects. The cost of a project is important because several contractors often submit bids or price quotes on a construction job. Usually the contractor who submits the lowest bid is asked to do the work. Without a good estimate, a c…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Median—$69,870 per year Employment Outlook: Good General contractors coordinate and supervise the work at construction sites from early development to final product. They own the contracting firms in charge of construction, or they may be salaried employees of property owners and developers. Sometimes they have different titles, such…
Education and Training: College Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Fair Highway engineers are civil engineers who plan and help build the thousands of miles of roads built across the country every year. There are three major branches of highway engineering: planning, research, and construction. Most highway engineers specialize in one of these areas. Planning engineers work with…
Education and Training: College Salary: Median—$53,120 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Architects design buildings to provide useful and attractive indoor spaces. The job of landscape architects, on the other hand, is to create useful and attractive outdoor environments. They use natural elements, such as land, trees, and shrubs, to create attractive settings for buildings, highways,…
Education and Training: College plus training Salary: Median—$45,015 per year Employment Outlook: Varies—see profile Specification writers describe to builders the different types of materials used in construction projects. They also instruct builders on how to use the materials. These descriptions or specifications cover everything from the type of concrete used in the foundation to…
Education and Training: College and license Salary: Median—$42,980 per year Employment Outlook: Good Even before a site is designated for construction, surveyors are on the job. They collect information about the size and characteristics of pieces of land. They may have to research old legal records and documents to determine the exact boundaries of a piece of property so a buyer knows how …
