Job Description

Help Wanted! Construction Laborer: No experience required

Do you enjoy hands on work? Do you like to physically see the results from your hard earned labor? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then I have the perfect job for you: construction laborer! I will briefly explain the benefits and job activities you will be apart of in this exciting profession.

Many people see construction laborers as they drive around doing their errands every day. Sometimes they are doing roadwork and other times they are doing work on the outside of an unfinished building. However, despite this daily familiarity with construction laborers, many people are not aware of what the average day for a laborer looks like. A laborer is best described as the glue keeping the whole construction site together, and speaking from personal experience, it is much more exciting and rewarding than you might think. 

A construction laborer’s responsibilities boils down to three main categories:

·      Safety Checker

·      Janitor

·      Miscellaneous

Safety:

Construction is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States; therefore every site needs someone to be on top of all the safety protocols. Some of the hazards you need to look out for as a safety checker include:

·      Fire Hazards

·      Overhead/Floor Hazards

·      Security

As a construction laborer for 4 summers, I was often involved with each of those dangers. Fire safety is required all the time while you are on the site. I would constantly be keeping an eye out for any flammable material that shouldn’t be lying around and making sure that the welders had a fire extinguisher near them. Overhead/floor hazards are also particularly dangerous on the construction site because you don’t want people tripping over discarded material on the ground or hitting their head from a dangling piece of metal if they’re carrying something heavy. This is the most important part of safety as it is the most common way for someone to get hurt on site. Finally, you have to be aware of the overall site security. At the end of each day I was in charge of walking around the entire construction site making sure all the doors and windows were locked so no one could get into the site when we are not there. This would keep out any potential thieves as the equipment on site is very valuable or any homeless people looking for a place to stay the night.

Janitor:

Being the on site janitor often goes hand in hand with safety. By cleaning up the site you are at the same time making it safer for everyone on it. Cleaning the site is a constant job activity you will have because the site is continually being messed up. Cleaning up the site requires sweeping the floors, vacuuming the carpet, wiping down surfaces, and picking up miscellaneous materials. During my time as laborer I probably spent about 60% of my time cleaning up the site. While it’s not the sexiest job activity, it is often one of the most important and many of your peers on the site will be grateful for your hard work in doing it.

Miscellaneous:

Finally, we look at the miscellaneous responsibilities you will be in charge of. This part of the job was always my favorite and I’m sure it will be yours too. During my summers as a laborer I was involved with a large variety of exciting tasks. For a whole week I was in charge of constructing a bike storage room. My job was to drill holes into the concrete floor of the parking garage then put in metal rebar along with glue in order to construct the base for the storage room. Doing this project allowed me to work with power tools and other construction equipment, which was exciting to do. Another week, I was assigned to demolish an old wooden structure. This assignment was particularly fun because I had no restraints in being able to destroy this structure. I could take whatever tool I wanted from a sledgehammer to a power saw in order to break this thing down. The random miscellaneous assignments I got day to day as a construction laborer always kept me on my toes and gave me a good variety of tasks to accomplish on the job.

Finally, I know that you really want to hear about all the benefits you will get as a construction laborer. Besides the exciting and unpredictable work environment you are also able to get fantastic pay and medical benefits that allow great opportunities for advancement. By becoming a laborer you join the international union of laborers, which strongly fight for you in order to get competitive pay and medical benefits. The base salary for a laborer is around $20/hour but it provides opportunity for quick advancement to higher paying jobs and more responsibility.

Becoming a construction laborer is not for everyone. If you are a motivated self starter who enjoys working with their hands in a dynamic workplace environment then you should seriously consider applying.  The job provides an amazing work environment and long-term security through the excellent pay and benefits that you receive. If you believe you have what it takes, please contact me at kbastian@usc.edu with a brief description of why you want to work as a laborer.