Whats working construction like and how did you start?

11 comments

1. It’s pretty easy for now. I started by trying to apply an electrical apprentice and failed, so I instead started at an APM with zero knowledge.

2. I found it hard, but I was a labourer.

   Just walked up to the site and asked if there were any jobs going.

3. Go to any trade union. Electrician or Plumber are among the best paying. Equipment operator would be good to. No matter what you’ll start with grunt work.

   It’s not bad work. In my area everybody tends to get a long. They send you to a jobsite. Do a half hour of orientation on site so you’re not completely blind. Report to your foreman whose number you should have and go from there.

   As long as you show up on time, and everyday, and don’t drag your feet you should do fine.

4. It’s fun when you’re young, hanging with the guys, getting paid to be in the sun and get in shape while making a decent wad of cash compared to your peers. The older you get, if you don’t move up the chain, the more it just becomes grueling labor to keep up with that wrecks your body.

   I started young, at 15 I got working for a guy who was a landscaper / LLC worker, we did everything from lawn maintainence to building walkways, planting gardens, building small structures like sheds, laying concrete, leveling gravel, did all that basic stuff, also learned how to drive a truck and operate some heavy machinery we rented.

   Then i got onto a crew as a general laborer for a company that builds houses, at first it’s pretty basic, carrying shit, lugging wheelbarrels of heavy shit, fetching supplies, placing and hammering things, pouring concrete, and the more you work, the more trust you gain from your employers and co-workers, the more you learn, before a year was up I could frame a house, insulate and sheetrock a building, build slat siding wood walls from scratch, put a roof up, etc & so on.

   But the real money, and how to preserve your body, if you’ve got the brains for it is in specializing in a trade, like HVAC or Electrical or Plumbing.

5. It’s like riding a bike….except the bike is on fire, and the road is on fire, and everything is on fire….but most days it’s not too bad.

   Started off as a laborer, worked on multiple crews, eventually said screw it and quit to start my own business, and that’s where I’m still at today, now with a few employees.

6. I went to job corps but one of the last companies I worked for was hiring fresh apprentices at $19 an hour. Id say the biggest pro is that I have had no trouble ever finding work, the biggest con is that my body now sucks at 30.

7. I work construction with my father from time to time. He’s a self employed general contractor (carpenter) and I’ve helped him out quite a bit. It’s fun sometimes and I learn alot.

8. I worker concrete construction in my early 20s. Setting forms to pour basement walls, the flat work & such. It was very physical labor & kept me in damm fine shape. After about 3 yrs I decided I hated “working” for a living so got a job as a welders assistant, they trained me to weld & from there I moved to inspection. Never looked back.
   I enjoyed the workout as a younger man but wouldn’t recommend it as a career.

9. I will never forget my first day as a labourer. Went to a site to tear down scaffold off a couple of houses that were finished. Two 6 bedroom detached with a 3 floors. 4 floors or wrap around scaffold with stairs. Took the better part of the day for 2 of us to tear it all down and then pack it all up for transport.

   That night I slept like someone had dosed me with a half a kilo of benzos. I was dead to the world for 10 straight hours. I was really out of shape when I started, with in a couple of months I had the stamina I had in my teenage years. Hard graft, but a good job depending on who youre working with.

10. I started because my dad was a contractor and if I wanted money I’d have to lay sod or dig footings or sweep out homes

11. It sucks…that is all