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Try It by Career Calling

Structural Steel Erector

LabourersUsually a certificate or some on-the-job experience

What the work is

Erects and dismantles structural steel frames of buildings and other structures.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Erects lifts and positions girders, plates, columns and other structural steel components
  • Aligns, levels and secures structural steel components
  • Lifts, positions and installs bracing, temporary supports, safety nets and scaffolding
  • Dismantles and removes steel structures and temporary structures at project completion

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a city construction site where a mid-rise building is going up, with scaffold, reinforcing steel and a crane. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • Looking up at a scaffold or steel frame you helped build and knowing it is solid
  • A big pour day when every bar is in the right place and the inspector signs off
  • Working at height with a crew you trust completely, with the whole city below

Hard days

  • Wind and rain at height when the job must still be done safely
  • Heavy steel to carry and fix, day after day, in the heat or cold
  • A builder pressing you to hurry when a check is still not finished

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 821733, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.