Talk to your school counselor about programs and classes like woodworking that are offered at your school so you can start learning skills that will get you started in this field.

Find a class to jump-start your construction skills.

Look into training and apprenticeship programs to help you gain experience in this trade career. Check out OPCMIA or research training programs in your area.

Research cement mason apprenticeship programs.

Search online for how-to videos to see how hard this work is to master--and whether it's something you think you'd like. Does seeing this kind of work in action make you more interested in trying it?

Watch tutorials on how to do this kind of work.

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Construction Equipment Operators

Construction and Extraction Occupations

Construction Trades Workers

Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.

Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.

Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds.

Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.

Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites.

Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors.

Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds.

Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates.

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Overview

Career

What Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Do

Other Job Titles Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Overview

Career

What Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Do

Other Job Titles Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Majors Related to Career

Related Careers

Related Leaders