Getting a job in one of the skilled trades is still a really popular career choice for school leavers – check out our short guides to becoming a bricklayer, carpenter or joiner, electrician, plasterer, scaffolder and tiler.

Bricklayers

Bricklayers build and repair internal and external walls for all sorts of buildings from houses to hospitals to factories and schools. They also build drain inspection chambers, tunnels, chimney stacks and walls in gardens and public spaces.You can read a case study of what it was like to work on the construction of the Olympic Park here.

Hours and salary –39 -45 hours a week, salaries can start from £15,000 a year and increase to £30,000 a year, when fully qualified and experienced or an expert in related areas like stonemasonry or architectural conservation and preservation.

Carpenters and joiners

Carpenters and joiners install wooden infrastructures on construction sites. They lay floors, build staircases and construct fixtures and fittings in places like shops and bars, as well as fitting kitchens, bathrooms, shelving and storage units in homes and workplaces. They also construct stands at large exhibitions or build sets for film, theatre, music and TV productions.

Hours and salary – working 39-45 hours a week, a carpenter can earn up to £14,000 a year to start with and once fully qualified, can expect to earn up to £30,000 a year.

Electricians

Electricians test, fit and repair electrical circuits and wiring in residential properties and businesses premises. Unlike some other skilled trades, you have to have specific, formal qualifications to become an electrician in order to comply with health and safety regulations.

Hours and salary –an electrician works around 40 hours a week. Once qualified the starting wage is around £10,000 a year and with experience this could rise to £30,000.

Plasterers

Plasterers mix and apply plaster to interior surfaces to protect them, strengthen them and make them smooth and ready for decoration. They also render external walls with protective materials such as pebbledash.

Hours and salary – A plasterer will usually work around 40 hours a week but needs to be flexible and may have to work evenings and weekends. A plasterer is a skilled tradesman and can earn between £17-22,000 a year.

Scaffolders

A scaffolder assembles metal pipes and wooden platforms around a building which builders use to access parts of a building which they can’t reach from ladders. You can become a scaffolder by gaining work as an unskilled labourer on a building site and learning your trade on the job.

Hours and salary – a scaffolder will usually work a 35-40 hour week and can earn between £10-30,000 a year.

Tiler

Tilers cover walls or floors with tiles in kitchens, bathrooms, shops, restaurants, hotels and structures like swimming pools or decorative external walls in gardens.

Hours and salary –Tilers usually work between 37 and 45 hours a week, trainees can earn up to £14,000 a year. Qualified tilers can earn between £17-30,000 a year.