Joiner
What the work is
Cuts, shapes and fits timber parts in workshops to form structures and fittings, ready for installation.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Interprets plans, specifications and drawings to determine joinery materials and methods required to meet project specifications
- Uses hand or power tools and static machines, and programs and operates computer-controlled machinery to produce joinery components
- Manufactures and assembles joinery components such as multi panelled doors, window sashes and cabinet carcasses
- Designs, manufactures and finishes wooden stairs, including stair posts, handrails and balustrades
- Assembles components using joinery methods such as clamps, cramps, pressers, packers and wedges
- Disassembles joinery components and packages them for transport
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a building and joinery business doing home extensions, decks, doors, stairs and workshop-built windows. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A staircase you built in the workshop fits the opening on the first try
- The last board of a deck goes down and the family steps out onto it at once
- A tricky roof frame comes together and every piece sits where the plan says
Hard days
- A rainy week with an open frame and a client who wants to see progress
- Finding rotten timber behind a wall nobody thought to check
- A change to the plans after the frame is up
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 372133, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.