How To Become A Builder: What It Is and Career Path

What is a builder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Builders are skilled tradesmen who are the essence of a construction site. Building might entail a number of different activities, from repairing and maintenance jobs to constructing houses from nothing, but it always involves well-coordinated and skillful physical labor.

As a builder, you work with a team, typically, on a project basis; moving from one client to the next when the job is done. Although you can be a permanent employee of a building company or even a freelance builder. You can learn the trade from the ground up, starting with simple tasks like cleaning construction areas, delivering materials, assisting or observing other workers. You can specialize in some field once you have the basics, or just continue to learn varied and more complex building phases.

Builders' shifts are quite flexible and vary, depending on the project, usually working 40 hours a week. Presently, demand for builders is increasing, due to the aging of the current labor pool, so much so that 25% of the construction industry is soon to be comprised of women. As a consequence of the workforce shortage, builders' wages are rising as well.

ScoreBuilderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,117

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.6

Growth Rate 2%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.11%

Asian 1.65%

Black or African American 7.81%

Hispanic or Latino 23.05%

Unknown 4.67%

White 61.71%

Gender

female 20.86%

male 79.14%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a builder

Explore builder education requirements

Most common builder degrees

High School Diploma

34.3 %

Bachelor's

31.9 %

Associate

16.4 %

Start to develop specific builder skills

Skills	Percentages
Work Ethic	20.55%
Safety Rules	10.96%
Construction Sites	9.81%
Windows	7.27%
Quality Standards	5.89%

Complete relevant builder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New builders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a builder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real builder resumes.

Research builder duties and responsibilities

Modify existing client websites with new HTML and CSS to achieve stakeholder requirements.
Manage the office for a small business; invoicing, accounts receivable, accounting, taxes, payroll, etc.
Operate a variety of tools, including power saws, planers, jointers, routers, and pneumatic equipment.
Boat builder Mig and tig welder

Prepare your builder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your builder resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a builder resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Builder Resume templates

Build a professional Builder resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Builder resume.

Apply for builder jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a builder job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do builders rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Builder reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2020

Pros

Working outside building houses