January 25: Construction Worker

Construction Worker

This month marks ‘International LEGO day’, a day that celebrates creativity and construction! That’s why this month, we’re helping to build your future by exploring a career as a Construction Worker. This is a career designed for a more physical learner, with hands on work making up the majority of your day to day. You’ll work alongside fellow construction workers to complete projects, whilst ensuring the health and safety of your crew. If you’re a team player who prefers physical over mental challenges, this is the career you’re built for!

Job Description

Salary (Avg.) £34,000

Construction allows you to get to work right away. Starting out as a Construction Worker, you’ll begin on a building site, supporting your team with various tasks. These tasks will include preparing the site and constructing scaffolding to operating machinery such as diggers and concrete mixers. By supporting with these various tasks, you’ll play a significant role in working on projects, from foundation to completion. As you progress in your career, you can specialise in a particular area, such as carpentry or plumbing, or work your way up through the ranks to higher up roles.

Qualifications and Skills

Give yourself the tools for the role by studying Design Technology at GCSE and gain additional knowledge that will support you in a career in construction. From here you have multiple options to begin your career in construction, allowing you to enter with a minimal educational background or to continue your education.

Best paths of entry are through:

Entry level role – Begin your career in construction starting at the first rung of the ladder and working your way up, gaining valuable first-hand skills and experience as you go. A beginner role is often as a general construction operative, in which you’ll complete a wide variety of tasks, ranging from mixing and pouring concrete, moving and unloading materials, operating machinery and more, with a starting salary of around £17,000, according to Go Construct.

Apprenticeships – Through an apprenticeship, you can enter a more specific section of construction. You can enter apprenticeships of all levels, from level 2 up to level 7, in areas such as Construction Support Technician and Site Manager. This is also an option you can pursue in the future, allowing you to begin a role on a construction site, gain some experience and realise which path you would like to explore.

To work on a construction site, you will need a CSCS card, this proves that you have undergone some training to ensure you are safe and capable of working on a construction site. You can gain one through your apprenticeship or participate in a course that will award you one at the end.