Mason

Do you enjoy working with your hands? Does the brick water fountain in the city park fascinate you? Have you ever embellished your doghouse with a stone façade? Well, maybe that’s not a requirement, but if you enjoy working in a variety of locations, love the feel of stones or bricks beneath your hands, and have a spatial aptitude, becoming a Mason might be a good choice for you.

As a Mason you will work with a variety of materials, including brick, concrete, and stone. To fuse these materials together, you use mortar. You have a toolbox full of special tools, depending on what type of job you are doing. And the joy of a career choice to be a Mason, is that you can choose to specialize, or you can perform a different task each week. Specialization might mean working on residential, commercial, or public buildings exclusively. Other common projects are facades, walkways, driveways, porch and garden areas, fountains, clock towers, and chimneys.

The hands-on tasks are a huge part of your job, but the creativity starts long before you unload your truck at the jobsite. First, you meet with the potential customer and evaluate his or her needs and wishes. You inquire about budget, timeline, and material options. And with that information, you design the layout, estimate costs, and formulate a bid for the job. Upon approval of the project, you order supplies, coordinate deliveries, and employ helpers. Then you hope it doesn’t rain, and get to work. This looks like a lot of work, and so requires some additional skills, such as time management, communication, and math skills.